Kīlauea summit lava lake - December 29, 2020

HVO field crews observing Kīlauea's summit lava lake this morning noted intermittent spattering from the west vents in Halema‘uma‘u. This photo, taken at approximately 11 a.m. HST on December 29, 2020, shows lava flowing from the west vent area into the lava lake (left side of photo). Over the past day, the main island of cooler, solidified lava floating in the lava lake (photo center) drifted slowly westward in the lake until about 10 p.m. HST last night (Dec. 28) when it stalled along with 10 or so much smaller islands to the east. The main island measured about 250 m (820 ft) in length, 135 m (440 ft) in width, and about 3 ha (7 acres) in area based on the Dec. 28 thermal map. This morning, the main island was still stalled but rotating slowly. Measurements on Dec. 27 show that the island surface was about 6 m (20 ft) above the lake surface. The inactive north vent is visible in the center of Halema‘uma‘u wall. USGS photo by L. DeSmither.