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Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō breakouts continue, but no significant advancement
The two breakouts that began at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō yesterday (May 24) are still active. This morning, the active portions of both flows remained relatively short, extending no more than 1 km (0.6 miles) from their breakout points. The northern breakout, shown here, changed course slightly overnight, but is still directed towards the northwest in an impressive channel, with lava spreading out at the flow front. This video was taken at 8:30 a.m., HST, today (May 25).
As of 8:30 a.m., HST, today, May 25, 2016, lava continued to flow from two breakout sites on the flanks of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, which was shrouded by rain and steam during HVO's morning overflight. At the northern breakout (see maps at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html), a new lobe of lava broke out of yesterday's active channel and was advancing to the northwest. This new lobe of lava had advanced about 950 m (0.6 mi) as of this morning. Yesterday's channel—now inactive—is visible to the right of today's flow.
In this thermal image of the northern breakout, the active lava channel and flow front are clearly revealed as bright yellow and pink colors. The channel that was active yesterday, but now stagnate, is visible as a bluish-purple line to the right of today's active flow.
This morning (May 25, 2016), the northern breakout on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was feeding an impressive channel of lava that extended about 950 m (0.6 mi) northwest of the cone. This channel was about 10 m (32 ft) wide as of 8:30 a.m., HST.
The second flow from the eastern breakout on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō—in the area of the "Peace Day" flow that broke out in September 2011—remained active as of this morning, and its total length was about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long. This lava flow was slowly spreading laterally, but the flow front had stalled.
A slightly closer view of the lava flow from the eastern breakout on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. This flow has not advanced significantly since yesterday, but it is slowly widening.
Despite heavy rain, which resulted in blurry spots on this photo due to water droplets on the camera lens, HVO scientists were able to do some of the work they hoped to accomplish during this morning's overflight. Here, an HVO geologist maps the location of active lava from the eastern breakout on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.
Amidst steam created by rain falling on the hot lava, another HVO geologist uses a rock hammer to collect a sample of the active flow. Analyses of this sample will yield data on the temperature and chemical makeup of the lava, information that is needed to help determine what's happening within the volcano.
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