A dramatic picture shows Hawaii’s 65-foot-tall Lava Dome for the first time in a long time.

Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano’s Mauna Ulu erupted for an amazing 1,774 days, which is five years. Around 460 million cubic yards of lava were released during what was Kilauea’s longest-running eruption at the time. From 1969 to 1974, the public could see the spectacular eruption from viewing platforms. It caused a number of natural events that are rarely seen during volcanic eruptions.

The US Geological Survey just shared a picture of a dome waterfall that was taken in 1969 by J.B. Judd. There were twelve fountaining events during the first year of the eruption. The tallest was the symmetrical dome fountain, which was 65 feet (20 metres) high. It was so strong that lava flowed outward during the fountaining events that it reached the ocean 7.5 kilometres away.

There was a symmetrical dome fountain for several days from October 10 to October 13. It may have hit a height of 245 feet. What is it about this dome pond that makes it stand out? Typical fountaining effects are lava sprays that go up, like a waterfall. Instead, it is very rare to see a glowing ball made of lava that looks like Epcot Centre. The event took place on land, even though the shot makes it look like the dome-shaped fountain is moving on water. At the front, the waves are really just ripples of lava.

When gas bubbles up in the molten rock, lava erupts from a crack, vent, or lava lake. The molten rock expands and explodes, which is what causes fountaining. Mauna Ulu is no longer the volcano with the longest-running eruption. That honour now goes to Pu’u, which has been active since 1983. However, the picture shows how busy Hawaii’s volcanoes have been in the past.

From 1969 to 1974, Mauna Ulu erupted on Kilauea Volcano. Photos from the US Geological Survey’s library show this event.