Images

Helicopter transport is the only way HVO scientists and technicians can install and maintain many monitoring instruments on the Island of Hawai‘i, conduct field experiments or map new volcanic deposits in inaccessible areas, and make direct observations of eruptions.

Lush thicket of staghorn coral in the Dry Tortugas National Park

The Volcano Distater Assistance Program (VDAP) maintains an equipment cache located at the USGSS Cascades Volcano Observatory. The volcano monitoring equipment can be rapidly deployed worldwide when needed.

An aerial image of the east Kamokuna lava delta this morning shows lava entering the ocean at the front of the delta. Photo by Rick Hazlett, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

Looking down from the helicopter, cracks are visible on the surface of the east Kamokuna lava delta. These cracks are reminders that lava deltas are inherently unstable features that can collapse without warning.

At the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Electronics Lab, technicians build, test, and prepare scientific instruments to be deployed for monitoring volcanoes worldwide.

Seismometers (instruments for recording earthquakes) are tested and fitted at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory before going out into the field.

The east Kamokuna ocean entry was still active on October 25, with multiple entry points spread along the eastern side of the lava delta. Lava dribbling into the sea at the front of the delta creates a billowy white plume, which looks harmless, but is actually a mixture of superheated steam, hydrochloric acid, and tiny shards of volcanic glass.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist puts the finishing touches on a new permanent GPS station on the slopes on Mauna Loa. The GPS antenna, protected from the elements by the grey radome, is solidly attached to the ground via a cement-reinforced steel rod. GPS is a critical tool for tracking ground motion on Hawaiian volcanoes. USGS photo.

The west Kamokuna lava delta was completely inactive, with no lava entering the ocean.

The summit lava lake erupts in the Overlook vent, which is about 250 meters (820 ft) across. In this photograph, the lava lake surface is about 6 m (52 ft) below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The Overlook vent is about 1.6 km (1 mi) from the viewing area of Jaggar Museum (lower right).

Kathryn Smith of the USGS St.

USGS scientists Lauren Toth and Jen Flannery of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center discuss how they study corals to better understand past climate change. The Center participates in the St. Petersburg Science Festival each year. 

Sunset at Sage Lot Pond Salt Marsh Observatory marks the end of 16 hour field effort. During this sampling, USGS researchers captured the exchange of materials between the marsh and estuary. This field site provides infrastructure to keep sensors deployed nearly year-round so changes across seasons and extreme events, such as large storms, are captured.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of September 20 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on October 19 from satellite imagery is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray.

A marking pen is shown for scale to indicate the size of this solid rock fragment hurled from the vent during the explosion.

Today's explosion, triggered by a rockfall from the south-southeast wall of the summit vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater, blasted spatter (molten lava) and rock fragments on to the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, as well as on to the closed section of Crater Rim Drive, about a quarter-mile from the vent.

A close-up of spatter and rock fragments blasted from the summit vent during the recent explosions. These pieces of rock and lava, now scattered among the Pele's hair that blankets the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, remind us of the hazards that still exist in this area.

After completing their work on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists try to stay on pathways to avoid making footsteps in the Pele's hair that blankets the landscape, just as one shies from marring pristine snow.

Spatter and "ribbon bombs" (stretched fragments of molten lava) up to 30 cm (about 12 inches) long fell to the ground surface on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater during the two most recent explosions from Kīlauea's summit lava lake.

Looking into the sun, as in this photo from the Ka‘ū Desert, Pele's hair has a golden sheen impossible to describe or photograph adequately. The scene often resembles a mowed field of "amber waves of grain." But, looking away from the sun, one sees almost nothing, certainly no color and not even much hair without close observation. USGS photo.