Images

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. 

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).

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.

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.

Topography of Halema'uma'u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, on December 26, 2020 (left), and January 5, 2021 (right). These Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are created from aerial imagery collected during helicopter overflights. They show that the lava lake within Halema'uma'u continues to rise and deepen.

View through the laser rangefinder from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano summit, and showing the “dome fountain” and west vent effusive lava flow around 3:30 p.m. HST on January 5, 2021. A glowing vent is also visible at the top of the spatter structure. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

View looking north across Kīlauea caldera from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u, showing the ongoing eruption around 5:30 p.m. HST on January 5, 2021. The west vent activity included the “dome fountain,” effusive lava flows from a mid-elevation vent, and weak strombolian spattering activity from the high-elevation vent. USGS photo by K. Lynn. 

Telephoto view of the lava flow and “dome fountain” activity at the west vent of the ongoing eruption in Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano summit, at 5:45 p.m. HST on 5 January, 2021. USGS photo by K. Lynn. 

Early this morning, the west vents in Halema‘uma‘u spattered from two places at the top of a small cone plastered on the northwest wall. This process can be seen in Kīlauea Volcano's summit F1 thermal webcam view of the lava lake.

The west vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater continues to erupt at Kīlauea’s summit. These telephoto images from December 29 (left) and December 30 (right) compare the lava lake surface below the west vent. The west vent is supplying lava to the lake through a crusted over channel, which was starting to form by December 30. USGS photos by H. Dietterich.

At Halema‘uma‘u, the west vents (visible in the foreground of this photo as two glowing holes on a cone-shaped feature) erupt occaisional spatter.

View of the west vent area and lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

Telephoto photograph of the west vent area and lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

With the onset of the eruption at Kīlauea summit on December 20, 2020, the HVO monitoring network has been recording volcanic tremor, a signal that travels through the subsurface as magma degasses and erupts from vents to fill a lava lake at the summit.

Main frame: A composite of the point clouds resulting from HVO’s terrestrial laser scanning surveys of Halemaʻumaʻu crater since January 2021, viewed from the southwest. The central region of the crater, including the lava lake, is reliably captured in all surveys.

On January 1, 2021, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HVO researchers set up temporary seismic instruments around Halema‘uma‘u crater to collect data that will help them learn more about how magma travels in the shallow magmatic plumbing system beneath Kīlauea Volcano.

HVO field crews deployed a dense network of temporary seismic instruments at Kīlauea’s summit on January 1, 2021, and with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Kīlauea's summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu continues to re-surface. This process is called crustal foundering, in which pieces of solidified lava crust on the surface of the lava lake break and sink back into the liquid portion. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

The western portion of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano summit. The island has migrated closer to the west vent area, which remains active. USGS photo by M. Patrick.