Images

The Puhi-o-Kalaikini entry continues to put up a large plume just west of Kalapana Gardens. No active lava flows have been reported on coastal flats in nearly 2 weeks.

Kilauea's active summit vent is on the southeast side of Halema'uma'u Crater. In this photo, the floor of Halema'uma'u stretches out beyond the vent, and the summit of Kilauea Volcano is at upper right. The observation tower at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the highest bump in the photo at Kilauea's summit.

The lava lake at Halema'uma'u has maintained the same basic geometry since February of this year. This thermal image was taken during a helicopter overflight, and shows the lava surface deep within the vent cavity. The lava surface is kidney-shaped and approximately 60 x 90 meters in size, and situated about 170 meters below the rim of the vent cavity.

A close-up view of the lava stream as seen through a lava tube skylight near the top of the Pulama pali. The lava is moving from right to left, and skylight opening is about 1 m (3 ft) across.

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.

The plume from the Puhi-o-Kalaikini ocean entry is easily visible from Highway 130, on the hill descending towards Kalapana. Just in front of the ocean entry plume, the houses of Kalapana Gardens subdivision can be seen on the 1990 lava flows.

The largely crusted surface of the lava lake in the Halema'uma'u vent slowly moves from north (top of the photo) to south. During high lava stands, like that shown here, this circulation is so slow as to be nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

A wide shot of the coastal plain showing the Puhi-o-Kalaikini ocean entry in the foreground, producing a medium size steam plume. Fuming areas on the hillside mark the trace of the current lava tube, which confines the lava until it ultimately reaches the ocean. The road that abruptly ends is Highway 130, which currently hosts the County viewing area.

View of the flow field above the Pulama pali.

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.