Images

The Kamokuna ocean lava flow entry continues, and is approximately 250 m (820 ft) wide at the point of entry. The 61g flow pāhoehoe activity on the distal half of the coastal plain continues to widen the flow field.

Photo comparison of the emergency access road from July 25, the day the lava first crossed (left), and today August 5 (right). The flow is now approximately 200 m (650 ft) wide on the road and has inflated to a few meters tall (HVO geologist for scale).

During the 2016 International Training Program on the Island of Hawai‘i, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist (center, white shirt) demonstrated how to use Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to measure precise locations of points on Earth's surface.

USGS and collaborators from Marine Biological Laboratory and Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve building research infrastructure at a salt marsh field site (Cape Cod, MA).

 Led by USGS scientist Cynthia Gardner, GeoGirls collect and sort sediments from the shore of Coldwater Lake, near Mount St. Helens, examining evidence of the May 18, 1980 landslide that dammed Coldwater Creek to create the lake.

Upslope of the ocean entry, sluggish pāhoehoe lava continued to break out in several places along the margins of the flow.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of July 26 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on August 2 is shown in red. Lava reached the ocean on the morning of July 26. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray.

During today's overflight of Kīlauea Volcano's "61g" lava flow, the ocean entry appeared less robust, with only one small flow of active lava streaming over the sea cliff. The second, smaller ocean entry point, west of this main entry (noted in our July 29 photo), was not active at the time of the overflight.

This image shows a thermal map of the flow on the coastal plain, created from airborne thermal images. White pixels are hot, and show areas of active surface breakouts. The background image is a satellite image collected before the current lava flow was active.

Erosion along the Rio Puerco during the flood of 2006 following herbicide application to control saltcedar in 2003.

On Friday afternoon, three areas of spattering on the summit lava lake surface produced abundant volcanic gas emissions, one of the main hazards near the Halema‘uma‘u Crater vent. Earlier this morning, spattering lava was visible from a safe distance at Jaggar Museum Overlook in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

This morning, slow-moving pāhoehoe lava toes and lobes continued to break out from the active flow that crossed the "emergency route" gravel road on Kīlauea Volcano's south flank. Viewing these active breakouts requires a long (8-10 miles, round trip) and hot hike. It is essential for anyone attempting the hike to carry 2-3 quarts of drinking water per person.

The 61g lava flow continues to stream into the ocean, with two entry points observed today: the original one, where lava first entered the ocean on July 26 (near center of photo), and a smaller one to the west (far left side of photo). The ocean entries are adding lava to the rubble at the bottom of the sea cliff.

A close-up view of the main ocean entry, showing the accumulation of lava and black sand at the base of the sea cliff.

Today, HVO's geology field crew gathered data near the 61g lava flow vent on the eastern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

This image shows a thermal map of the flow on the pali and coastal plain, created from airborne thermal images. White pixels are hot, and show areas of active surface breakouts. The background image is a satellite image collected before the current lava flow was active.

Lava from the 61g flow continues into the ocean along Kīlauea's south coast. Today's field crew also noted active pāhoehoe breakouts a few hundred meters (yards) upslope from the coast and road.

 Aerial photograph of active lava lake in Hale maʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano.

Perched on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and NPS Jaggar Museum (foreground) overlook the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The black lava flows to the left and right of the fuming vent spilled onto the crater floor in April-May 2015, when the lava lake briefly filled to overflowing.

The summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater continuously circulates, with lava upwelling on one side of the lake and downwelling on the opposite side, often resulting in vigorous spattering (bright spot on left side of lake).

A close-up view of the ocean entry with multiple small fingers of lava spilling over the cliff.