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Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - August 8, 2011

August 8, 2011

Video showing the vents on the lower west flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Video showing the vents on the lower west flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

This video shows views from today's overflight of the vents on the lower west flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. There are several vents, topped by spatter cones, that are feeding narrow, fast-moving flows that feed into a broad area of ponded lava.
This view, looking east, shows the broad area of ponded lava fed by two main channels originating from several individual vents. The fume-filled crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is in the background. The darker lava in the foreground, at the bottom of the image, is from the March 2011 Kamoamoa eruption.
One of the more vigorous vents, in the lower left, is topped by a tall (6 m, or 20 ft, high) spatter cone. The flow from this vent cascades down several steps, joining the flow from two other nearby vents, before flowing under a small bridge and into the broad area of ponded lava to the west.
Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, following the collapse of the crater floor on August 3, has been filled with thick fume. A very tiny flow, visible only with a thermal camera, was active on the crater floor.
This thermal image, looking southwest, shows the very small flow, at the bottom of the image, active in the bottom of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. In the upper right, the active flows on the lower west flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō can be seen.

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