Site #4: 45° 55.8' / -129° 58.95'
photo of edge of collapse photo of edge of collapse photo of edge of collapse photo of rattail fish in floor of collapse area

The lava appears relatively young here. The rattail fish is mobile and does not tell us anything about lava age. The key observation for lava age is that there are no sessile animals observed anywhere, which take a long time to colonize and would indicate old lava. This is new lava. This is an area of collapse suggesting you are near the center of the new lava flow. Lava pillars are holding up the original upper crust of the lava flow in some places at the edge of the collapse.

-> New lava, collapsed

-> No biological communities, no hydrothermal vent

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