Images

The 1940 cone, just above center, pokes up above the otherwise relatively flat floor of Moku‘āweoweo - the summit caldera of Mauna Loa. Mauna Kea rises up in the background.

View looking downslope at the various cones that dot Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone. The edge of North Pit, on the north side of Moku‘āweoweo, is in the foreground.

The high point of Mauna Loa, in the background at an elevation of about 13,679 ft, is actually just the highest point along the rim of the steep cliffs that surround Mauna Loa's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo, Dark-colored lava flows of recent vintage (1984) cover the floor of Moku‘āweoweo. View is looking southwest.

This edge of the cliff above Moku‘āweoweo, at an elevation of 13,661 feet, is only a few feet lower than Mauna Loa's high point (out of sight to the left). The cliff here is about 600 feet high. Mauna Kea, in the background to the right rises to an elevation of 13,796 feet, barely 100 feet higher the summit of Mauna Loa.

Close-up of the 1949 cinder-and-spatter cone as seen from the floor of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa's summit caldera. pāhoehoe lava visible in the foreground (lower half of photo) was erupted in 1940. Beyond these flows, you can see pāhoehoe flows, spatter, and tephra erupted in 1949.

This aerial view of Mauna Loa's summit shows the cinder-cone and lava flows that were erupted in 1949. The crack extending down the left side of the cone is the northeast-southwest trending 1984 fissure that bisected the southwest flank of the cone during the initial phase of the eruption. Light-brown tephra erupted from the 1949 cone thins to the west.

An aerial view of the 1940 cinder-and-spatter cone on the floor of Mauna Loa's summit caldera as seen from the southeast. The west wall of the caldera (background) is about 170 m (560 feet) high. Most of the caldera floor around the cone is covered by lava flows erupted in 1984.

Controlled burn at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

USGS employees deploys a water conductivity/temperature/depth probe (AquaTroll) for a temporary study along the Madison River, Yellowstone.

USGS scientists installed a real-time camera to view the floodwaters below the Morganza spillway. This photo was taken before one floodgate was opened on May 14, 2011.

This photo was taken before one of the floodgates on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions.

USGS scientist Errol Meche installs a temporary streamgage to measure water levels above and below the the Morganza Spillway. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions. One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011.

USGS scientists Todd Baumann and Errol Meche install a temporary streamgage to measure water levels above and below the the Morganza Spillway. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions. One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011.

USGS scientists Todd Baumann and Errol Meche install a temporary streamgage to measure water levels above and below the the Morganza Spillway. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions. One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011.

Major General Michael Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission, announces that one floodgate on the Morganza Spillway will open at 3pm on May, 14, 2011. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions.

One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions.

One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions.

A USGS streamgage sits above the spillway, while a temporary streamgage has been installed below the floodgates. USGS streamflow information is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help them make informed flood management decisions. One floodgate on the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, 2011.

Floodgates were opened on the Bonnet Carre Spillway near Norco, La. The Army Corps of Engineers uses USGS streamflow data to help them manage flood control structures.

USGS scientists take streamflow and water quality measurements downstream of the Bonnet Carre Spillway near Norco, La. The Army Corps of Engineers uses USGS streamflow data to help them manage flood control structures.

USGS scientists take streamflow and water quality measurements downstream of the Bonnet Carre Spillway near Norco, La. The Army Corps of Engineers uses USGS streamflow data to help them manage flood control structures.