Tephra from the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea summit

The recent eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea Volcano's summit has deposited tephra downwind of the vent within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Much like the 2008–2018 lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea resulted in tephra deposition locally downwind of the vent, the ongoing eruption is depositing small volcanic glass particles such as Pele's hair downwind of the activity. This photo shows a solar panel for a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Monitoring station, which is located close Halema‘uma‘u crater rim. On December 21, at around 4:00 p.m. HST, the panel was coated in less than half an inch (about 1 cm) of volcanic glass particles which had accumulated since the start of the eruption at 9:30 p.m. the night before. USGS photo by S. Warren.