Images

Tephra blasted from the summit vent on Saturday night included lithic (solid rock) fragments from the vent wall as well as spatter (molten lava fragments) ejected from the lava lake. The light-colored lithic in the center of this photo is about 20 cm (8 in) long—the GPS unit is shown for scale.

Volcano monitoring equipment installed on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater was a casualty of Saturday night's explosive event. This pile of charred wires and metal components, surrounded by melted plastic, is all that remains of the power supply for one of HVO's gravity instruments located about 24 m (80 ft) from the crater rim.

Main hydrothermal features of the new (2016) 3-D model of the subsurface at Long Valley Caldera. This schematic is based on a survey of the electrical properties of the earth (magnetotellurics) below. Arrows show subsurface water flow, with colors keyed to changing water temperature, from blue (cold) to red (hot). Purple arrows show an extinct hot water pathway.

The explosive event blanketed the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater with a layer of tephra (volcanic rock fragments) up to about 20 cm (8 in) thick. The tephra deposit was thickest to the east of the former visitor overlook on the crater rim (shown here), where it formed a continuous layer.

In areas not completely blanketed by tephra from the explosive event, impact marks were obvious where large fragments of molten lava (spatter) had landed on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, then bounced or slid to their current positions.

Small plume of ash, steam, and gas rises from the summit crater of Redoubt volcano, Alaska, on March 15, 2009. The plume was observed during an observation and gas-measurement flight by scientists of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, probably the result of a steam explosion in the volcano's active shallow hydrothermal system.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.