Images

Kīlauea Volcano's Kamokuna ocean entry is fed by lava that erupts from the east flank of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, visible on the skyline at upper left. It travels from the vent to the ocean via a lava tube, marked in places by fume emanating from the tube roof.

Imagery shows topographic point clouds from photos, first from September 11, 2015 courtesy of California Coastal Records Project, second from March 8, 2017 (USGS photo), third from May 19, 2017 (USGS photo), and fourth from May 27, 2017 (USGS photo) 7 days following the catastrophic Highway 1 landslide.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of May 3 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of May 31 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube (dashed where uncertain).

View looking northeast at Kīlauea's summit lava lake.

Mauna Loa looms in the background behind the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Jaggar Museum complex, perched at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The cliff in the foreground is Kīlauea's caldera rim.

View looking southeast along the long axis of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u at Kīlauea's summit. The lava lake is about 260 m (285 yd) long and 200 m (220 yd) wide.

Steep aerial view of the Kamokuna lava delta.

View of the Kamokuna lava delta and the lava structure encasing the lava stream where it emerges from the mouth of the lava tube in the face of the sea cliff.

This video clip shows HVO geologist Tim Orr sampling lava from an active pāhoehoe breakout on the episode 61g lava flow. The chemistry of these lava samples provides information on the magma plumbing system. Sampling has been a regular part of monitoring Kīlauea Volcano's ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption.

Spattering is common in the summit lava lake, and this photo shows spattering in the southeast corner of the lake. Spatter accumulation on the lake margins has built up several small peninsulas that extend a few meters (yards) out from the crater wall.

Spattering on the summit lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u is ever-changing, but on Sunday (May 28), two sources could be seen—one on the north side of the lake (bright area at left) and one on the southeast side (right). A close-up view of the southeast spattering source is shown in the adjacent photo.

Sluggish pāhoehoe breakouts remain active on the coastal plain, near the base of the pali. Over the past week, these breakouts have not advanced any significant distance. There were also several small lava channels on the steep section of the pali today (May 27).

A close up of one of the typical pāhoehoe toes.

Numerous fumaroles are present near the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, and are evident by the bright yellow sulfur deposits. In recent years these fumaroles have been covered by a thick carpet of Pele's hair produced by the lava lake. Moisture emitted by the fumaroles collects as tiny water droplets on the fine hairs, resembling a thin dusting of snow.

The eruption began about 18 minutes prior to this image and the cloud rose to an altitude in excess of 40,000 ft above sea level. The white color of the eruption cloud is due to the large amount of water that is incorporated into the eruption column as the vent is located in shallow water. Image data provided under the Digital Globe NextView License.

USGS air photo of the Mud Creek landslide, taken on May 27, 2017

View from an airplane looking at the Mud Creek landslide on the Big Sur coast that occurred May 20, 2017.

View of headscarp of Red Bluffs landslide (adjacent to the Bonneville landslide), looking northwest and showing the bedded volcaniclastic sediments (gray layers) that are dipping about 7 degrees toward the viewer and in which sliding has occurred. The slightly darker gray and orange-brown unit in the top quarter of the scarp face is Columbia River Basalt.

Zooming in even closer, the top of the crusted-over firehose flow can be seen. Cracks in the hardened tube surface reveal incandescent lava flowing though the tube. Fume from the degassing lava also escapes through these cracks.

A telephoto view of where the 61g lava tube exits the sea cliff. The upper portion of the firehose flow, visible from early January to late March 2017, is now crusted over, but lava within the tube continues to feed the growing lava delta.

The March 5 breakout of the 61g flow is producing active surface flows on and at the base of the pali (cliff). The slow-moving pāhoehoe flow front (foreground) was approximately 400 meters (yards) beyond the base of the pali on the afternoon of May 23.