Pillow basalt

Doc,
I recently stumbled on a Youtube video showing lava flowing underwater in Hawaii. The flow was called 'pillow basalt', but I didn't understand how it formed. Is there a place to see this without scuba diving or being near lava flowing into the ocean? That looked dangerous!
Jim Gilbertson
Pocatello, Idaho

Jim
The video you saw may have been one of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G8W9sZtBTM or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsJn8izcKtg

They show a very small protion of a lava flow entering the ocean on the south coast of Hawai'i's  Big Island.


Pillows are blobs of lava that form underwater. The surface
hardens instantly, but glowing lava remains inside.

HOW DO PILLOWS FORM?
Pillows only form underwater, either in the sea or in lakes. Just so happens I have a whole page on my Northwest Geology Field Trips blog devoted to this very

These fabulous pillows are at Cape Disappointment State
Park at the mouth of the Columbia River.

question. I really like pillows. They are the remnants of the dynamic environment where incandescent flowing lava enters water, hissing, boiling, clouds of steam and sometimes explosions of shattered lava.

These fabulous pillows are near Orofino, ID.
Photo by Vic Camp

There are places in the US to see pillows that are now above water. You can see them near Orofino, Idaho. Another site in Idaho is on the Snake River Canyon rim a few miles downstream from Perrine Bridge
I know about sites in Washington State best, including  Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, Cape Disappointment State Park, Lopez Island in the San Juans, and many places in eastern Washington (here's an example). A search of the internet found spots in California, Oregon and Maine.
If you know of some good locations, please leave directions in a comment!
Here are some places to see basalt lava pillows on dry land:
Fishing Rock State Park, near Depoe Bay, Oregon.

Avila Point, California, south of San Luis Obispo.

Rodeo Beach, north of San Francisco.

These pillows are below the lighthouse at Point Bonito, CA

Point Bonito Lighthouse, Marin Headlands, north of San Francisco.

Lake Combie Complex in the  Sierra foothills at 38°59.034´N, 121°00.366´W

Stark's Knob off  US 4 north of Schulerville, NY.

North Haven Island, Maine