This image shows incandescent lava fragments falling to earth from a 200 foot high eruption column. The cloud is mostly steam and ash created when hot lava enters the sea along a shoreline, which is also known as a littoral zone. The falling fragments fall to earth around the vent, eventually forming a cone. Other fragments fall into the sea, where they are carried by ocean currents and deposited in bays to form black sand beaches. This view is from the coastal village, Kalapana, on Hawaii's southeast coast.