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Photos showing lava fountains from the northeastern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption, a piece of spatter ejected on March 7, 2011, and a thermal view into the Halema‘uma‘u vent.
Lava fountains from the northeastern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption
Lava fountains from the northeastern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption. Though it is an impressive sight, the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone in the background, and several hundred meters higher, puts the current activity into perspective.
Overview of the Kamoamoa eruption looking northeast toward Pu'u 'O 'o, in the background. The southwestern vent is in the foreground, while the northeastern vent is the distant fume at the base of Pu'u 'O 'o.
Overview of the Kamoamoa eruption looking south. The northeastern vent is to the left, and the southwestern vent is to the upper right. A river of lava, erupting from the southwestern vent, can be seen advancing toward the southeast through forest within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
Views into the Halema‘uma‘u vent have been largely obscured by fume over the past several days, and the only consistent views have been with a thermal camera, which can "see" through the fume. This thermal image was taken at a nearly vertical angle from a helicopter, in order to see the bottom of the extremely deep and narrow vent cavity. Prior to the drop in lava level, the lava lake was near its high lava mark, shown by the hot ring on the upper vent cavity walls. The lava level dropped considerably over the past several days, retreating to a narrow opening deep within the vent cavity.
