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Aerial view looking west-southwest across crater of Pu`u `O`o. Fume rises from vents on crater floor and from West Gap Pit (most distant plume). In upper right are silhouettes of Mauna Ulu and smaller Pu`u Huluhulu, with wooded Kane Nui o Hamo nearer camera.
View showing individual vents on floor of Pu`u `O`o crater. Largest plume comes from East Pond Vent. January vent is hidden by fume from East Pond Vent. Beehive vent is just right of upper center, and Drainhole vent gives off slight fume just left of Beehive. West Gap Pit, site of brief lava-lake activity on October 3 (see images below), emits strong fume cloud in upper right. Dark flows erupted from January vent and East Pond Vent in past month.
New hornitos formed near site of former Cookie Monster skylight on top of upper Mother's Day lava tube. Hornitos grow as small quantities of lava are pushed up inside hollow hornito by rising gas. When lava reaches rim of hornito, gas boosts it upward above the rim, where the lava quenches within seconds in the relatively cool air. Hornitos thus grow incrementally whenever lava glob reaches rim.
Small but growing hornito (informally known to us as a carlito) on side of larger hornito. Hissing sound is strong from this and other growing hornitos. Height of active hornito is about 1 m.
Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha. Red denotes Mother's Day flow, which began erupting on May 12, 2002 and continues to the present.Through September and into early October, lava was moving along the east and west sides of the Mother's Day flow. The east-side lava (known as the August 9 breakout) came from the August 9 rootless shield, itself fed by the main Mother's Day tube from Pu`u `O`o. The west side lava, known as the Kohola arm of the Mother's Day flow, branched off the tube system below the rootless shield.In early October, the August 9 breakout stopped moving, the Kohola died back to a trickle, and the rootless shield gained prominence. By October 16, however, the shield had partly collapsed, leaving several drained perched ponds behind. Upstream from the shield, many hornitos and small flows formed over the Mother's Day tube.
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