Images

2020 Volcano Awareness Month Schedule Overview. Details are posted on the USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's website at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/.

Still image from January 2, 2020, YVO video update.

Map of seismicity (yellow circles) in the Yellowstone region during 2019. Gray lines are roads, red line shows the caldera boundary, Yellowstone National Park is outlined by black dashed line, and gray dashed lines denote state boundaries.

The December 18 overflight provided updated thermal images of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the warm surface of the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u crater. A band of warm temperatures persists along the new cliff formed during the 2018 subsidence.

The December 18 overflight provided updated aerial photographs of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the current size of the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u crater. The label "downdropped block" shows the large portion of the caldera floor that subsided, along with the Halema‘uma‘u region, during the 2018 eruption.

An HVO geologist uses a high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to collect latitude, longitude, and altitude data on a down-dropped portion of Kīlauea's caldera.

USGS scientists collaborate with Sri Lankan scientists from the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) on the installation of rainfall and soil moisture instrumentation on an active landslide in southwest Sri Lanka. The station provides real-time data including rainfall and soil moisture content of an active landslide.

After collecting a sample from the well using the narrow sampler shown, HVO staff transfer the water sample into a container. The water is collected periodically for chemical analyses so that changes in the water composition can be tracked. For more information about the Keller Well, please see HVO's Dec.

The communications hub at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is precariously perched on the north rim, which is actively collapsing. This hub, and the PN cam behind the hub (to the left of image) will ultimately fall into the crater as the north rim continues to collapse.

Joseph Terrano of the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center prepares water level loggers to install near the marsh shoreline in Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mississippi.

On Tuesday, December 10 HVO staff visited Keller Well, a deep borehole at the summit of Kīlauea, to take quarterly measurements and samples. This photo shows an extra long measuring tape, which has a sensor attached to the end, being lowered into the well to measure the distance to the top of the water table.

Established in 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Coral Assessment Network (USGS-CAN) provides data on coral-growth (calcification) rates throughout the Florida Keys. Pictured here is a coral at Crocker Reef in the upper Florida Keys.

Angel Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park. Travertine deposits are abundant in the area. Photo by JoAnn Holloway, 2003.

Water collected from the lake at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u is prepared for laboratory analyses at the USGS California Volcano Observatory. Results thus far reveal chemistry indicative of complex reactions among the water, magmatic gases and Kīlauea's basaltic rocks. 

The sampling mechanism (on blue tarp) is prepared and the Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) is inspected just before take off to collect water from the Halema‘uma‘u crater lake. Brightly colored flagging tape tied to a cable attached to the UAS indicated depth as the sampling tool was lowered into the water. 

USGS-HVO scientists and DOI UAS team members collect samples of water from the Halema‘uma‘u crater lake. 

On November 15, 2019, USGS HVO field engineers rapidly deployed a new data-telemetry hub near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. A crack near an important telemetry hub at near the summit of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was observed to be growing over the past several weeks and HVO field engineers prepared a contingency telemetry hub to install nearby if necessary.

USGS scientists measured gases in an area uprift of the 2018 fissure system on November 8. In this area, vegetation has died because of lingering heat and steam. In some areas of Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone, residents report smelling gases that are likely generated by decaying organic matter rather than magma degassing. USGS image by P. Nadeau.

On November 8, 2019, USGS volcano scientists visited Kīlauea's Lower East Rift Zone to measure ambient gases, as well as the soil carbon dioxide (CO2) flux and temperature. This photo, looking in a southeast direction, shows some steaming uprift of the 2018 fissure system.

In Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone, a closed chamber was used to measure the rate of CO2 emitted directly from the ground near a crack emitting steam. USGS scientists continue to track changes in Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone after last year's eruption. USGS image by P. Nadeau.

Sediments in estuarine and marsh environments contain organic peat, or material derived from life, that plays an important role in ecosystem health. Here, USGS geologist Chris Smith of the St.