Images

Coconut grove and campground on the southern shoreline of Kīlauea Volcano at Halapē before 1975 magnitude 7.7 earthquake. Halapē was a popular hiking destination in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Shaded relief map of Kīlauea Volcano's summit with caldera bounding faults delineated.

Surveyor Frank Dodge's 1894 cross-section of Halema‘uma‘u overlaid on his 1892 cross-section. The 1892 lava lake was measured at 73 m (240 ft) below the rim of Halema‘uma‘u pit and by early-1894, the lava lake had filled the pit and frequently overflowed onto the caldera floor.

Photograph taken on March 20, 1894 looking up at the Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake perched atop a low dome on the floor of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera).

View of lava dripping into the ocean on the western edge of the 'Ili'ili ocean entry delta.

Close-up view of the Puhiokalaikini entry.

Close-up view of the 'Ili'ili entry.

The Puhi-o-Kalaikini ocean entry, which is almost 1 km (0.6 mi) long, continues to host a medium size steam plume near the center of the delta. Hidden from view in this photograph, another small plume to the west rises from the same delta, where a stream of lava enters the ocean.

In addition to filling in several small bays, lava has infiltrated small caves in the seacliff as well. Just a week ago this was a blowhole that occasionally shot seawater high into the air. Fresh lava, visible at the bottom of the pit, has since filled in the cave connecting the blowhole to the sea.

The western ocean entry, named Puhiokalaikini, has continued to build its delta to the west. Over the past day, lava filled in this small bay at a remarkable rate. The promontory in the upper right corner of the photograph hosted a popular fishing spot.

Steep view looking west into Pu' u 'Ō 'ō crater. The dominant degassing, obvious in this photo, is from a hole on the eastern wall of the crater.

View looking southwest across the Kalapana Gardens subdivision toward the ocean entries in the background. The slightly lighter-colored surface just past the houses and topped by burned trees marks the area recently covered by lava.

By August 17, the breakout which started on August 16 had reached the end Highway 130. The flows, however, had slowed considerably and were making little forward progress.

The small western entry point at Puhi-o-Kalaikini stopped this week, leaving just main entry point at the central tip of the delta. The delta is now 985 m (3230 ft) long and reaches up to about 170 m (560 ft) out into the ocean from the old sea cliff. It has a surface area of 28 acres.

Lava burns through thick brush just north of Highway 130, near Kalapana Gardens.

Over the past several days, the lava surface within the vent in Halema'uma'u has occasionally, and temporarily, reached to within about 115 m (375 ft) below the floor of Halema'uma'u Crater, as seen in this photo. During these high-lava stands, the gas plume is generally fairly wispy, providing the rare naked-eye view of the lava surface.

Panorama of Pu'u 'O 'o crater from the south rim of Pu'u 'O 'o cone. Active lava flows (light gray) cover much of the crater floor and are erupting from the degassing vent at the far left.

Close-up view of the erupting vent in Pu'u 'O 'o crater. Lava is not visible because it is going directly into tubes beneath the crusted surface to the right and feeding small lava flows near the flow front.

Lava burns through thick brush just north of Highway 130, near Kalapana Gardens.

The Puhi-o-Kalaikini ocean entry and delta. The light colored lava on the delta behind the plume is from recent surface flows.

Pu'u 'O'o was not as fumy today as usual, allowing decent views of the crater floor. The Pu'u 'O'o webcam, GPS station, and other equipment are the white dots on the crater rim.