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Dave Murline (left), Maya Tolstoy, and Mike Perfit in one of the blocked-off chambers of a lava tube we visited today on Santa Cruz Island. Imagine this tube filled with flowing hot lava! The walk through the tube was about 1 kilometer long, but the local people say that the tube starts near the top of the volcano and continues for many kilometers all the way to the coastline. How can lava travel so far without becoming cooling down and becoming solid? The tube insulates the lava -- just like the Thermos bottles or insulated cups that people use to keep their coffee hot.

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