Images

Lava flows are scattered across a broad area extending from about 3 to 8 km (2-5 mi) northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The active flows start just above the horizontal mid-line of the photo, but cannot be picked out easily within the broader inactive flow field due to their distance away in this photo.

The pit west of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, shown here, is overhung on most sides and may continue to widen with time. The lava pond inside is relatively placid, appearing as a black surface, usually with a few tiny spattering areas along the edge.

An HVO scientist collects a molten lava sample using a rock hammer. Molten lava on the flow field for the last several months has had a temperature usually around 1,140 ?ºC, or just under 2,100 ?ºF, when collected and can blister exposed skin when this close.

High aerial view of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, looking south-southwest. The current crater at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is about 280 m (~920 ft) long and 230 m (~755 ft) wide, with a depth of about 25 m (~82 ft). To the west of the crater is another pit 49 m (~161 ft) across that contains a small lava pond.

Raymond and Whitcomb party "making lava specimens" at Kīlauea in 1893. Photograph by J.J. Williams from the HVO photo archives.

Views into Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's current crater are often hampered by fume. To overcome this, HVO uses thermal cameras that detect heat and are better able to 'see' through the fume. This image mosaic compares the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō thermal webcamera's view with an oblique aerial photograph to show what the thermal camera is looking at.

The summit lava lake today was at a relatively low level, about 65 meters (210 feet) below the Overlook crater rim, associated with summit deflation. Spattering was active along the lake margins. This photograph shows overflows from April and May (dark lava in bottom portion of photograph) covering the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater.

Pele's hair covers the roadside along Crater Rim Drive, next to the Halema‘uma‘u parking lot, in an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park closed to the public due to proximity to the summit lava lake. The Pele's hair (long strand of volcanic glass) is emitted from the lava lake and carried upwards by the rising gas plume, and then drifts downwind.

This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto the flow field change map to show the distribution of active and recently active breakouts. The thermal images were collected during a helicopter overflight of the flow field on July 23. The June 27th flow is outlined in green to highlight the flow margin. The yellow line is the active lava tube.

An HVO geologist collects a sample of lava, quenching it in a bucket of water. Chemical analysis of the lava provides insight into changes in the magma plumbing system.

Breakouts remain active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, but on today's overflight we observed a decrease in overall activity. In particular, breakouts that had been active closer to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō on previous days, around Pu‘u Kahauale‘a, were inactive today. The active breakouts began about 4 km (2.5 miles) northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and reached nearly 8 km (5 miles).

Breakouts have further buried Pu‘u Kahauale‘a in recent weeks. The cone was originally covered in thick vegetation, but today only a single dead tree stands on the remnants of the cone rim.

A closer look at the north margin of the June 27th lava flow, where breakouts are active at the forest boundary.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow on July 7 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of July 23 is shown in red. The yellow line is the active lava tube system. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

Top image shows the forested Pu‘u Kahauale‘a cone on July 18, 2014, surrounded by the June 27th lava flow (light gray surfaces) with Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō in distance. Below, what remains of the Pu‘u Kahauale‘a cone on July 23, 2015, with only the very top of the cone visible.

Volcano monitoring station with external GPS antenna and digital seismometer (buried). Fiberglass enclosure houses power supply and communications, and is designed to withstand harsh weather.

Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat.

Gas collection from a bubbling source within Pelican Creek, Yellowstone. Inverted funnel placed over gas source, gas travels through tubing into evacuated/vacuum glas flask to be analyzed in lab.

This thermal image of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, sent by text on May 7, 2015, to USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists, is an example of the thermal camera alarm system developed at HVO. In this case, the alarm was triggered by the appearance of new lava on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, seen here as the brightly colored (hot) region in the image.

Gas flask sampling at West Astringent Creek, Yellowstone. Open tube with attached gas chamber inserted into ground, gas travels through tube into vacuum flask being held by scientist.