Images

The summit lava lake level has continued to rise over the past week with inflation, and was about 30 meters (roughly 100 feet) below the Overlook crater rim.

A narrow stream of lava pours from the top of a tumulus (roughly 3 meters, or 10 feet above the surroundings), attesting to the fluid pressure in the interior of the flow. This view looks north, towards the area that lava is burning forest. Mauna Kea is faintly visible in the distance.

Clear skies today had bright sunlight filtering through the thick fume on the rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater.

(Left) Multiple degassing sources in the crater and on the flanks of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō create a plume that fills the sky above Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone eruption site on December 30, 2015. (Right) Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u Crater discharges a particle-rich plume of noxious sulfur dioxide on December 9, 2015. USGS photos.

The USGS Coastal and Estuarine Dynamics Group will be deploying a Nanopod at Pea Island DUNEX experiment site to collect oceanographic information.

Three images showing Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the island of Hawaii; 2016 satellite image mosaic

Before and after photos by Menzies Dickson of a Mauna Loa lava flow cascading into and ultimately filling a stream bed near Hilo in July 1881. Photos courtesy of National Park Service, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

An 1891 map of Hilo, produced by Surveyor E.D. Baldwin, is superimposed on a recent Google Earth image of the town to show the location of the Kalanakamaa gulch relative to the ALENAIO and Waiākea streams.

In this shaded relief and bathymetric map of the Island of Hawai‘i, colors indicate water depth, from shallow (orange and yellow) to deep (blue and purple), and shades of gray indicate the land area above sea level. From: U.S.

This is a simplified diagram of regional range front faults as they intersect the Long Valley Caldera.

In this shaded relief and bathymetric map of Maui County, colors indicate water depth, from shallow (orange and yellow) to deep (blue and purple), with shades of gray indicating island areas above sea level. From: U.S.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow field on January 5 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on January 19 is shown in red. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto a map of the flow field near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō to show the distribution of active and recently active breakouts. The thermal images were collected during a helicopter overflight on January 19. The June 27th flow field as mapped on January 5 is outlined in green for comparison.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow field on January 5 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on January 19 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

An HVO geologist collects spatter deposited around the base of the hornito for geochemical analysis.

Scattered breakouts remain active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with the farthest active lava today at 5.9 km (3.7 miles) distance from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Much of the activity is at or near the forest boundary, creating numerous areas of burning. This view looks southwest, with Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō visible in the upper left portion of the image.

This photograph was taken from the western pit at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and shows the small lava pond (roughly 20 m in diameter) contained within the pit.

Colorful sulfur deposits have formed recently around one of the cracks on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater.

A hornito has recently formed over the lava tube on the north flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, at the spot of the breakout that occurred on November 25.

A view of the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater, with the small circular pit that contains the active lava pond. HVO's cameras are on the rim at the right side of the photograph.

Incandescence was visible in the small pit that formed recently on the upper northeast flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.