Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - June 2, 2006

By Kīlauea June 2, 2006

Gas pistons within the Drainhole vent at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Gas pistons within the Drainhole vent at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
(June 2, 2006, 18:30:02 to June 3, 2006, 02:00:03)Gas-pistoning is an interesting phenomenon seen at Kīlauea and some other basalticvolcanoes. It is caused by the accumulation of gas near the top of the lava column within a volcanic vent (Swanson and others, 1979). The shallow accumulation of gas causes the lava surface to rise (the "piston"). Eventually, the gas breaches the surface and escapes, typically as a forceful jet of fume and spatter. The lava then drains back into the vent. Gas pistons can occur as single events or as a repeating series comprising dozens or even hundreds of events. During mid-2006, eruptive activity at the informally named "Drainhole" vent, on the floor of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, was often characterized by periods of gas-pistoning. This movie sequence is an example of the gas pistons that were occurring at that time.The images that make up this movie were acquired by a time-lapse camera positioned on the northern rim of the pit that hosted the "Drainhole" vent. The opening in the pit floor is about 5 meters across.Movie Details: Image interval = 1 minutePlayback speed = 10 frames/secMovie duration = 00:00:45Camera Coordinates (WGS84):Lat: 19.3886ºLong: -155.1060ºView direction = ~186º

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.

Hawaii News

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory News

Kīlauea News

Natural Hazards News

United States of America News

Volcano Hazards Program News