Lava flows, Kilauea volcano, Hawaii 1980

The island of Hawaii (the "Big Island") is the location of the currently active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea.The Hawaiian lavas are of two distinct forms, although chemically they are the same: a'a (viscous, rough) and pahoehoe (smooth, ropy, billowy). This image shows a mixture of shiny grey pahoehoe (right-hand corner), already colonised by some small ferns, and a'a (darker black flow). In the centre-right of the image is a remnant of forest untouched by the lava flows - this is called a kipuka -very important in terms of providing islands of survival for bird an animal life during and after eruptions. Kipuka have been shown to be very significant in terms of influencing the evolutionary biology of Hawaii's native fauna (birds and insects), which can vary slightly from kipuka to kipuka.