Geo 365: May 19, Day 139: We Have Big Balls

Viewing the two lava balls in the left of yesterday's photo from a different angle. I'll reiterate that I'm not sure if "lava balls" is a term used broadly among volcanologists; Lava Butte is the only place I've seen it. At the same time, I want to acknowledge that the mechanism described on the interpretive sign there seems logical and the best explanation *I* can think of. The rabbit brush is typically 2-3 feet in height, so these are pretty big- maybe 10-15 feet in diameter. The thought of these incandescently hot, rolling down an active lava flow, is quite intimidating.

Photo run through Paint.Net's autolevel routine. August 21, 2011. FlashEarth location.