Small bits of molten lava in
fountains can cool quickly and solidify
into glass particles shaped like spheres or
tear drops, named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes.
Pele's tears are jet black in color and are often found on one end of a
strand of Pele's hair.
|Assorted shapes of Pele's tears collected a few kilometers
downwind from Mauna Ulu from along the Hilina Pali Road on Kilauea
Volcano, Hawai'i. U.S. dime for scale in lower right. Credit: J. D.
Griggs / U.S. Geological Survey
AND PLANETARY SCIENCE