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Today, Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake level was 21 m (69 ft) below the vent rim. A long stretch of active spattering was visible along the east lake margin from the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, an area that remains closed to the public due to ongoing hazards. The usual spatter source to the southeast was small by comparison. In the afternoon light, the dark lava flows on either side of the vent rim were quite visible. These flows spilled onto the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater in April-May 2015, and again in October 2016, when the lava lake level briefly rose above the vent rim several times.
A telephoto view of the east lake margin showed that the spattering was focused in small embayments created by promontories of cooled, congealed lava jutting from the vent wall.
At times, spattering along the east lake margin reached heights of 6-9 m (20-30 ft), as shown in this telephoto image.
The 61g flow breakout that started on February 10 on Pulama Pali was still active today. The flow front (shown here) is approximately 2.3 km (1.4 mi) from the base of the pali and 1.2 km (0.75 mi) from the ocean. The flow front is on the eastern side of the 61g flow field, and is outside the National Park boundary.
An FTIR instrument is set up on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater to measure volcanic gases from the summit lava lake. The open-path Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer continuously measures the gases in a volcanic plume, measuring the relative abundance of each. Most of the gas emitted during a volcanic eruption is water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide(SO2).
HVO's geochemist uses a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) instrument to track volcanic gases emitted from the lava lake with Halema‘uma‘u Crater. These measurements help detect changes in gas composition, which can provide insight into the inner workings of Kīlauea Volcano.
View of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u Crater from the FTIR spectrometer monitoring location. At Hawaiian volcanoes, magma ascends from the mantle more than 60 km (about 40 mi) below the surface, to a reservoir less than 2 km (about 1.2 mi) deep. As the pressure decreases, the gases dissolved in the magma bubble out and escape. Magma continues to rise through a shallow conduit to the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake, where it continues to degas (the blue haze is indicative of sulfur gases).
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