Halemaʻumaʻu Crater

By Michael B. Hardie

Piece description from the artist

Halemaʻumaʻu Crater is a pit crater located within the much larger summit caldera of Kīlauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. The roughly circular crater floor is 770 meters (2,530 ft) x 900 m (2,950 ft) and is 83 m (270 ft) below the floor of Kīlauea caldera. Halemaʻumaʻu is believed to be the home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, according to the traditions of Hawaiian mythology. Mark Twain hiked to the floor of the crater in 1866 and penned these words peering into the lake of lava: “It was like gazing at the sun at noon-day, except that the glare was not quite so white. At unequal distances all around the shores of the lake were nearly white-hot chimneys or hollow drums of lava, four or five feet high, and up through them were bursting gorgeous sprays of lava-gouts and gem spangles, some white, some red and some golden—a ceaseless bombardment, and one that fascinated the eye with its unapproachable splendor. The mere distant jets, sparkling up through an intervening gossamer veil of vapor, seemed miles away; and the further the curving ranks of fiery fountains receded, the more fairy-like and beautiful they appeared.”