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Lava entering ocean creates localized air pollution (laze) <br /> <br />When molten lava flows into the ocean, it reacts vigorously with sea water <br />to create a different type of gas plume that results in hazy and noxious <br />conditions downwind of an ocean entry. Referred to as a "laze" plume (for a <br />blending of the words 'lava' and 'haze'), it forms through a series of chemical <br />reactions as hot lava boils seawater to dryness. The plume is an irritating <br />mixture of hydrochloric acid gas (HCl), steam, and tiny volcanic glass <br />particles. This hot, corrosive gas mixture caused two deaths immediately <br />adjacent to the coastal entry point in 2000, when seawater washed across <br />recent and active lava flows. Visitors should avoid this plume at the entry <br />point and downwind, as even the wispy edges of it can cause skin and eye <br />irritation and breathing difficulties. Acid rain from the plume has a pH <br />between 1.5 and 3.5, and has the corrosive properties of dilute battery acid. <br />The ocean-entry plume is blown in various directions by wind. Downslope <br />air flow from nighttime through early morning typically blows the laze plume <br />off shore and out to sea. Between mid-morning and late afternoon, however, <br />trade wind conditions blows the plume along the coast and inland, resulting in <br />locally poor air quality. <br /> <br />Sourced from: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/hvo_gas.html <br />