Images

A close up of the southwest portion of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, just south of the west fissure. The lava lake at Kīlauea's summit is perched, and is contained by a steep levee 2-3 meters (yards) high. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Sunlight interacts with volcanic gas from Kīlauea's summit lava lake and western fissure in this late afternoon view. The western fissure has built a spatter cone on the steep walls of Halema‘uma‘u, with lava spilling into the active lake, which forms the lower right portion of the photo.

A closer view of the low fountaining at the western fissure in  Halema‘uma‘u at Kīlauea's summit. The rim of the cone is built from accumulated deposits of spatter, and large chunks of the cone rim were observed to collapse from time to time. USGS photo by M. Patrick

Low fountaining continues at the western fissure, supplying lava to the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The vent has formed a spatter cone around the fountaining, with lava spilling into an open channel that plunges into the lake.

The west vent in Halemaʻumaʻu erupting and building a spatter cone complex, with lava cascades feeding a growing lava lake at Kīlauea summit. USGS photograph from January 11, 2021, by B. Carr.

A close up view of the spatter cone over the west vent, in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. This photo was taken on January 10, 2022, from within the closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists monitor the eruption from within the closed area with NPS permission. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

The arrival of nightfall at Halema‘uma‘u on January 9, 2021, provided a clearer view of ongoing eruptive activity for USGS scientists monitoring the eruption this Saturday evening.

Around sunset on Saturday (January 9, 2021), a break in the rain allowed HVO scientists to visit and monitor the ongoing eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. The west vent is still actively effusing lava, but outflow into the lava lake is increasingly sluggish, as evidenced by slow-moving crustal plates near the once-vigorous vent outlet.

This animated GIF was created from a clip within the original video showing crustal overturning at Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaii. The original video was at 20x the speed of the event, and this animation 4x faster. 

Kīlauea’s summit lava lake, in Halema‘uma‘u, just after sunset on January 8, 2021. This view is to the north, from the south rim of the crater.  HVO scientists continue to monitor the eruption within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains closed to the public for safety reasons. USGS image by N. Deligne. 

This animated GIF was created from a clip within the original video showing crustal overturning at Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaii. The original video was at 20x the speed of the event, and this animation 4x faster. 

This thermal image, looking northwest, shows the distribution of activity on the lava lake at Kīlauea's summit. The lake is slightly perched and surrounded along its perimeter by a lower ledge of cooler lava. The western fissure, in the wall of Halema‘uma‘u crater, is visible in the upper left portion of the image, just above the lake.

Aerial image of the active west vent area and the largest island in Halemaʻumaʻu's growing lava lake. During the overflight of Kīlauea's summit today (January 7, 2021) at approximately 10:30 a.m. HST, HVO geologists noted that the dome fountain, which had been persistent near the base of the west vent area, had subsided and was no longer present. USGS photo by K.

During an overflight of Kīlauea summit today (January 7, 2021) at approximately 10:30 a.m. HST, HVO geologists captured this image of the growing lava lake within Halemaʻumaʻu. Sunny weather allowed for clear views of Mauna Loa, to the west. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Islands have been observed in Kīlauea lava lakes for more than 100 years—some move and some are moored. These two photographs of Halemaʻumaʻu crater from 1917 (top) and 2021 (bottom) show islands floating in lava lakes.

This photo, taken during an overflight of Kīlauea's summit this morning (January 7, 2021), shows the southeast margin of Halemaʻumaʻu's growing lava lake. The photo shows the boundary between the active portion of the lava lake (left) and the subtle levee around the lake perimeter that allows the lake to be slightly perched.

View to the north-northwest from the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and showing the activity at the western fissure, partly obscured by a rainbow.

An HVO geologist takes Kīlauea summit eruption lake-level, spatter-cone, and dome-fountain measurements with a laser rangefinder. The top of the dome fountain in Halemaʻumaʻu was up to 5 meters (16 ft) above the lake surface. The lake elevation suggests a maximum lava lake depth of approximately 193 m (211 yd).

A helicopter overflight on January 5, 2021, at approximately 8:30 a.m. HST allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of the eruption within Halema'uma'u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The dimensions of the lava lake are 760 m (831 yd) E-W axis and 470 m (514 yd) in N-S axis.

View to the northwest from the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater showing the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. The active western fissure is visible above the lake, producing minor spatter and a gas plume from vents at the top.

Kīlauea summit KW webam image taken on January 6, 2021, just after 6:30 a.m. HST. The eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu continues and this photo shows that activity remains focused at the west vent as of Jan. 6 morning.