Kamoamoa bench. Surface of eastern part of Kamoamoa bench is littered with blocks and black sand hurled onto the bench by recent storm waves. Even during relatively calm conditions, rogue waves splash onto active lava benches, throwing rocks ashore and creating hot steam clouds.

East Kapapa`u bench. Lava spills into the sea from the side of a flow that has largely covered the former black sand beach. Seaward tip of the bench is in upper left. The snout of the flow is only 30 m from the visitor overlook—an excellent lava-viewing day!

Fume rising from skylights on Pulama pali marks the locations of lava tubes feeding the Kamoamoa and East Kupapa`u entries. View shows two branches of the tube that supplies lava to the Kamoamoa bench; the western branch (left) began developing in October and is not yet a major player.  An estimated 300,000 cubic meters of lava flows each day through the entire tube system, including the large East Kupapa`u tube complex..

Kamoamoa bench. Westward view of bench shows steam plume blowing from a major entry point of lava into the sea. The bench began to grow in late September and is now 360 m long by 130 m wide. The 3-5-m-high cliff on the mauka (landward) side of the bench is the former sea cliff.

East Kupapa`u bench. Aerial view of the East Kupapa`u bench looking northeastward. Hawai`i County's access road and viewing area are visible in the larger images. The bench began to form in early May but has changed little since June. It is about 600 m long and 130 m wide.

A new 3-m tall hornito formed at the 2,300-foot skylight along the main lava tube. A hornito is a mound of spatter above a rootless vent—in this case, a break in the roof of the lava tube. A hornito is hollow but commonly roofed. Incandescence can be seen in a small skylight at base of this hornito.

Steam from three entry points at tip of Kamoamoa bench merge into one glowing plume in predawn light.

Three entry areas visible just before dawn from west of Kamoamoa bench. The smaller two are at the tip of the bench. The larger glow includes a small surface flow that also sends lava into the water.

A little later, but still a few minutes before sunup, glow at the point of the bench pales by comparison with the lava falls at the western entry. Nineteen minutes later, a green flash appeared an instant before the sun made its Christmas Eve arrival.

Looking northeast to Pu`u `O`o across the broad shield built on the west and south flank of the cone between 1992 and 1997. Kona winds blow the gas plume northeastward out of the crater, permitting the best view of this side of Pu`u `O`o in some time. The large scallop in the Pu`u `O`o cone is the headwall of Puka Nui (see image below.)

Looking east to Puka Nui, the large collapse feature on the southwest flank of Pu`u `O`o (large scallop in right side of image). Pu`u `O`o's main crater is filled with fume in distance. A small, deep pit is visible through a gas veil in the west gap of the crater rim. A larger pit is west (left) of Puka Nui.

The last full moon of 2001 sets over Kilauea, watching lava flow down Pulama pali (background) and across the coastal flat 1 km inland of the East Kupapa`u ocean entry.

A toe of lava, falling like a teardrop, bids adieu to a sorrowful year. The toe is 50 cm across--a large tear by human standards but not by that of Pele.