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Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - March 7, 2011

March 7, 2011

Video showing low fountaining from the dominant vent, adjacent to Nāpau Crater. Video showing the collapse of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater floor on March 5. Photos showing a broad view of the Kamoamoa fissures between Nāpau Crater and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and a collapse from the upper portion of the Halema‘uma‘u vent cavity that produced a robust brown plume.

Video showing low fountaining from the dominant vent, adjacent to Nāpau Crater

Video showing low fountaining from the dominant vent, near the southwest end of the fissure system adjacent to Napau Crater, active during the day on March 7.(Public domain.)

Video showing the collapse of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater floor on March 5

Video showing the collapse of the Pu'u 'O 'o crater floor on March 5. The video starts at 4 am and ends at 11 pm. The floor of the crater dropped about 115 meters (377 ft) in just a few hours.

A broad view of the Kamoamoa fissures between Nāpau Crater and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

A broad view of the Kamoamoa fissures. The fissures extend 2.3 km (1.4 mi) between Nāpau Crater and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The western most fissure is just out of view in this photo.
On the west end of the fissure system, spatter ramparts are forming as the lava fallout solidifies in a mound upwind from the source.
A view of the spattering source from the ground.
Lava was reaching heights above the tree line.
Lava from the erupting fissure produced a large flow that is moving southeast through the adjacent forest.
A close-up of the flow front in the forest.

A collapse from the upper portion of the Halema‘uma‘u vent cavity produced a robust brown plume

With lava retreating deeper into the Halema‘uma‘u vent cavity over the past two days, the cavity walls have experienced more frequent collapses. At 2:23pm today, a collapse from the upper portion of the vent cavity produced a robust brown plume, but did not eject any large particles.

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