Images

Preview image for video: provides an aerial overview of the flow front.

Preview image for video: was captured at the flow front, and shows a small channelized portion of the pāhoehoe flow pouring over the dirt road embankment. Gas trapped within the flow is released via occasional small bubble bursts.

This satellite image was captured by the Advanced Land Imager instrument onboard NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see. Bright red pixels depict areas of very high temperatures, and show active lava. White areas are clouds.

Photograph shows a USGS scientist navigating an all-terrain vehicle equipped with GPS, collecting topographic data on Rio Del Mar State Beach in Aptos, California. Gathering this type of information helps USGS scientists to document the changes in beach and nearshore morphology (or form and structure), caused by seasonal variations and storms.

Preview image for video: shows the small explosion of spatter that occurred at Halema‘uma‘u on Sunday, October 19. Spatter landed around the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook (closed to the public).

This large-scale map shows the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The area of the flow on October 17, 2014, at 7:40 AM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 20 at 1:00 PM is shown in red.

Panoramic view from the cliffs above the San Lorenzo River and east of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Main Beach. Santa Cruz municipal pier and other buildings are visible in the background.

The June 27th lava flow remains active, with no significant advancement of the flow front since Friday, Oct 17. The flow is active along the northern boundary of Kaohe Homesteads subdivision, with brush fires along the flow margins creating thick plumes of smoke.

A comparison of a normal photograph of the flow front with a thermal image. Although the leading edge of the flow has advanced only a slight amount over the past week (about 100 m, or 110 yards), active portions behind the flow front have moved at a faster rate.

Upslope from the flow front, several breakouts are active around the crack system. These surface flows (marked by the smoke plumes) have filled in a ground crack that is immediately north of another crack. The southern crack, marked by the white dotted line, is the main crack that lava is traveling along below the surface.

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater remains filled with thick fume, but recent views with the naked eye and thermal camera confirm that little change has occurred in the crater over recent weeks. The fume masks a handful of small incandescent openings on the crater floor.

A collapse of rock from the wall of Halema‘uma‘u Crater occurred yesterday (Sunday, October 19) around 1:15 am, with rocks impacting the lake and triggering an explosion of spatter. The scar left by this collapse is visible as the light-colored area marked in the photo.

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 the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 17, 2014, at 7:40 AM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 20 at 1:00 PM is shown in red.

This small-scale map shows the June 27th lava flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on October 17, 2014, at 7:40 AM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 20 at 1:00 PM is shown in red.

A USGS scientist guides a personal watercraft toward Seabright Beach near the Santa Cruz Harbor entrance during bathymetric surveys.

The June 27th lava flow remains active, but has advanced only a minor distance - about 50 m (55 yards) - over the past two days. Activity persists around the flow front, however, with numerous scattered breakouts. The flow front this morning was 1.1 km (0.7 miles) from Apa‘a St., as measured along a straight line.

Another view of the flow front, looking downslope towards Pāhoa. The smoke plumes are created by individual breakouts burning vegetation at the flow margin.

A closer look at the flow front, showing the leading edge moving through thick vegetation.

A comparison of a normal photograph of the flow front with a thermal image. The white box shows the extent of the thermal image. The thermal image shows that numerous active breakouts (white and yellow areas) are scattered behind the flow front.

A close view of the north margin of the flow, just behind the flow front.

This small-scale map shows the June 27th lava flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on October 15, 2014, at 10:30 AM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 17 at 7:40 AM is shown in red.