
Photograph by J.D. Griggs on 26
March 1984
In less than 24 hours, these low lava fountains built
a spatter rampart along the sides of the eruptive fissure on
Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawai`i. Note person for scale in lower
left.
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Spatter rampart
Lava fountains that erupt from an elongate fissure will build broad
embankments of spatter, called spatter ramparts, along both sides of
the fissure. The spatter commonly sticks together, or agglutinates, when
it lands and is buried by later spatter. In contrast to these low linear
fortifications, spatter cones are more circular and cone shaped--the
only real distinction between the two structures is their shape.
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