Images

This photo looks downslope towards Highway 130. The leading tip of the flow has widened over the past few days, and branched into two fingers - both of which are heading in the same general northeast direction.

In addition to active surface lava at the leading tip of the flow, breakouts were active about 2 km (1.2 miles) upslope of the leading tip. These breakouts were scattered and feeding several small lobes.

Even farther upslope, in the area of ground cracks, there were two small breakouts burning vegetation on the north margin of the flow. This photograph looks west, and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō can be seen on the horizon.

Still farther upslope, about 3 km (roughly 2 miles) northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, scattered breakouts were active.

A comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image showing an HVO geologist collecting an active lava sample. The lava is quenched in the bucket of water. Lava samples like this are routinely collected for chemical analysis, which provides insight into the magmatic system feeding the eruption.

This is an example of a lidar image created from the “point cloud” that shows objects’ reflectivity near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the mouth of the San Lorenzo River.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow. The area of the flow on December 16 at 11:15 AM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on December 18 at 11:15 AM is shown in red

Preview image for video: provides a brief aerial overview of the active flow front.

The leading tip of active lava on the June 27th flow continues downslope, through thick vegetation, towards the northeast. The active front this morning was 1 km (0.6 miles) upslope of Pahoa Marketplace, as measured along the line of steepest descent.

This shows a comparison of a normal photograph looking downslope with a thermal image. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image. In the thermal image, white and yellow pixels show active surface lava, which is focused along the leading edge of the flow.

Kīlauea Volcano's active lava flow, shown here on December 12, continues to advance toward the community of Pāhoa. Updates on this lava flow will be included in several presentations offered during Volcano Awareness Month in January 2015. See https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/ for details.

In addition to the active flow front, scattered breakouts were present about 2 km (1.2 miles) upslope, and consisted of several fingers branching a short distance off from the main body of the flow.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on December 9 at 2:30 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on December 16 at 11:15 AM is shown in red.

This photograph looks downslope towards Pāhoa, and shows the active flow front moving through dense vegetation upslope of Pāhoa Marketplace and Highway 130.

A comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image of the leading edge of the active flow. Plumes of smoke upslope of the front mark the locations of scattered breakouts. The thermal image shows that active lava is focused along the leading margin of the flow.

The leading tip of the flow has widened over the past day. Yesterday, the leading tip of the flow was roughly 80 meters (87 yards) wide, but today the leading tip was roughly 200 meters (220 yards) wide.

A vertical view into one of the skylights on the lava tube upslope. A swiftly moving stream inside the lava tube confirmed that lava continues to be supplied downslope this morning.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow. The area of the flow early yesterday morning (December 15) is shown in pink, while advancement of the flow as mapped on December 16 at 11:15 AM is shown in red.

This large-scale map shows the distal part of Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The area of the flow on December 9 at 2:30 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on December 16 at 11:15 AM is shown in red.

The active flow front continues to advance to the northeast, in the general direction of Pāhoa Marketplace. This morning, the leading tip of the active flow was 1.5 km (0.9 miles) from Pāhoa Marketplace, as measured along the path of steepest descent.

HVO geologists walk over the lava tube on the northern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō while conducting a very low frequency (VLF) survey. Measurements are taken along a line of points (at flagged rocks) crossing perpendicular to the tube.