Tectonic–climatic interaction have sculpted their local and regional environments. Aside from admiring their majestic beauty, one might wonder how these geologic wonders work and what role they play in changing the landscape and atmosphere. Principally, volcanoes are geologic features that exude magmatic material from below Earth's surface onto the surface. Upon reaching the surface, the term "magma" disappears and "lava" becomes the common nomenclature. This lava cools and forms igneous rock. By examining igneous rocks, it is possible to derive a chain of events that led from the original melt of the magma to the crystallization of the lava at Earth's surface.
Hell's Half Acre Lava Field few as two fissure vents. Hell's Half Acre was created when basaltic pāhoehoe quickly flowed out of the volcanic rift. At least eight lava lobes have been identified by geologists. As magma and volcanic gases drained from underneath the lava field, the field subsided—leaving behinds hummocks, or "hills" of lava (a feature which Hell's Half Acre retains today). There is evidence that lava filled and drained the lava lake numerous times, and that lava repeatedly overflowed the lake. Lava from the fissure vent tended to flow downhill toward the southeast, covering part of the fissure. Lava tubes extend in a