Images

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.

 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

 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).

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.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of July 19 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on July 26 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.

Video of the ocean entry, showing lava spilling over the sea cliff.

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

This photograph looks towards the ocean, from a spot along the west margin of the flow, showing the ocean entry plume just minutes after lava first reached the water.

Just over two months since the start of the 61g flow, it reached the ocean on July 26 at 1:15 am HST. The narrow ocean entry was creating a small plume of gas and steam during today's overflight as the lava came into contact with the ocean.

HVO geologists in the field overnight observed lava crossing the stretch of land between the "emergency" gravel road and the sea cliff. This photograph shows the flow front a short time before lava reached the ocean.