The 2022 Volcano Awareness Month calendar of programs, with descriptions, is available as a downloadable pdf file. All programs are available to view below. 

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Video Updates    •    Posted Tuesdays, 10–20 minutes duration

Tuesday, January 4

Kīlauea erupts after more than two years of quiet—twice! 

Following the lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea in 2018, the volcano remained quiet for more than two years. Lava returned to Kīlauea in December 2020, boiling off the water lake that had been present at the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater, and starting a five-month long eruption in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Another ongoing eruption began in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the end of September 2021. These two summit eruptions have showcased lava fountains and fissures, and a dynamic lava lake with islands and a “tilted” surface. Lava from these eruptions has filled Halema‘uma‘u to about half the depth of the 2018 collapse depth. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Carolyn Parcheta as she shares observations, new scientific results, and interpretations of Kīlauea's recent summit eruptions over the past year. 

Tuesday, January 11

2021: A year of earthquake activity on the Island of Hawai‘i

The last year has been a busy one for seismologists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Earthquake activity at Kīlauea summit has varied over the past year, with upticks in a variety of seismic signals providing clues to the start of the December 2020 and September 2021 Kīlauea summit eruptions. Currently observed seismic signals at Kilauea are related to ongoing eruptive activity at the summit. In the Pāhala region, swarms of deep (30–40 km or 19–25 mi) earthquakes continue to occur with high frequency and, at times, higher magnitudes. Springtime yielded an increase in the frequency of earthquakes immediately west of Mauna Loa’s summit and along the volcano’s Southwest Rift Zone. However, since that time, earthquake activity at Mauna Loa has decreased. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist Ninfa Bennington as she summarizes the earthquake activity on the Island of Hawai‘i over the past year. USGS map: Two weeks of earthquake activity preceding the September 29, 2021, eruption at Kīlauea summit. The regions of interest indicated on the map include: KS (Kīlauea summit); ML (Mauna Loa summit); P (Pāhala).

Tuesday, January 18

The ups and downs of Kīlauea’s gas emissions in 2021

Incredibly high sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission rates were measured during the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea in 2018—nearly 200,000 tonnes per day. Emissions dropped to only about 30 tonnes per day during Kīlauea’s non-eruptive quiet period from 2018–2020. Unlike the 2008 Kīlauea summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u, which was preceded by elevated SO₂ emissions, an eruption began in Halema‘uma‘u in December 2020 with no preceding volcanic gas emissions. SO₂ emission rates just after the eruption started ranged up to 30,000–40,000 tonnes per day, though those rates decreased in the following days. A similar pattern was observed during the onset of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, which began at the end of September 2021. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Patricia Nadeau as she summarizes emission rates and degassing during Kīlauea’s December 2020 summit eruption, the first few months of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption that began in September 2021, and the quiet period between them.  

Tuesday, January 25

Deformation at Hawai‘i’s volcanoes during 2021: The start of a new chapter

2021 was an interesting year for deformation at both Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes.  At Kīlauea, 2021 provided a glimpse of what the future might hold as the system recovers from the large collapses that accompanied the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption. At Mauna Loa, deformation changes over the past year were more subtle but indicated that previously unobserved, new processes were occurring. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist Ingrid Johanson as she summarizes observations from various ground deformation instruments (tiltmeters, GPS instruments, and satellite-based InSAR) during 2021 and discusses how these observations fit in with other data and affect our understanding of Hawaiʻi’s volcanoes. USGS Photo: A geophysicist deploys campaign GPS sites on the Kīlauea caldera floor in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park to measure changes in ground motion during December 2020.

Short features    •    Posted Wednesdays/Thursdays, 5–10 minutes duration

Thursday, January 6

The olivine time capsule

Olivine—the green mineral found in Hawaiian lavas—and its chemistry can tell us a lot about how, when, and where magmas move inside volcanoes before they erupt. Join Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Kendra J. Lynn as she explains what elements make up this special mineral, how we measure it, and how we “read” the olivine crystals to learn about magma histories. We’ll explore how olivine crystals from the Keanakāko‘i Tephra have helped us better understand Kīlauea’s explosive eruptive past. 

Tuesday, January 12

Kīlauea’s recent explosive history

Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory retired geologist Don Swanson on a virtual field visit to an exposure of the Keanakāko‘i Tephra near the summit of Kīlauea. This exposure shows deposits of explosive eruptions of Kīlauea between 500 and 230 years ago, from just after the modern caldera formed to the lethal explosive eruption of 1790. USGS photo: Don Swanson describes the stratigraphy of Keanakāko‘i deposits near Uēkahuna Bluff at Kīlauea summit within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Wednesday, January 13

Three-dimensional mapping of Kīlauea

Structure-from-motion techniques use photographs taken from different angles to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of an object. At Kīlauea, this technique has been used to rapidly generate maps of eruption activity from aerial imagery, allowing scientists to quantify changes over time such as the volume of lava erupted and surface area covered by lava. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Brett Carr as he describes how structure-from-motion techniques have been applied while monitoring Kīlauea’s recent eruptions, and what we can learn from the data. USGS map: Aerial visual imagery collected during an overflight of Kīlauea volcano's summit was used to create a preliminary topographic model that can be compared to pre-eruption topographic models to determine how much lava filled the base of Halema'uma'u crater.

Thursday, January 20

HVO’s ongoing recovery from the 2018 Kīlauea events

Communities on the Island of Hawai‘i continue to recover from Kīlauea’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse as does the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). During the events of 2018, HVO instruments were lost, monitoring infrastructure was impacted, and HVO staff had to evacuate the observatory, which was damaged beyond repair. The USGS received funding through the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (H.R. 2157) to support recovery and rebuilding activities in the wake of 2018. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Deputy Scientist-in-Charge David Phillips as he discusses the three main activities funded: bolstering volcano monitoring and eruption response capabilities, conducting scientific investigations, and building new HVO facilities. 

Wednesday, January 26

Mauna Loa: are you ready for the next eruption?

Mauna Loa is an active volcano, though it has been quiet for almost 30 years. An eruption is not imminent, but patterns of ground deformation on Mauna Loa over the past year may indicate that new, previously unobserved processes may have occurred. Mauna Loa lava flows have the capacity to disrupt lives and commerce throughout the Island of Hawai‘i. What resources are available to help you prepare for the next eruption of Mauna Loa? Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Frank Trusdell, who has studied Mauna Loa for two decades, as he presents his talk about Earth’s largest volcano. USGS photo: Aerial view of the 1940 cinder-and-spatter cone on the floor of Mauna Loa's summit caldera as seen from the southeast. The west wall of the caldera (background) is about 170 m (560 feet) high. Most of the caldera floor around the cone is covered by lava flows erupted in 1984.

Thursday, January 27

Video throwbacks of the past decade on Kīlauea

The past ten years have seen historic changes on Kīlauea volcano, spanning from the summit, down the East Rift Zone, and to the coast. Throughout this time, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists have been documenting the activity with high-resolution video, which provides detail as to eruption processes or allows for comparison of long-term changes over time. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Matt Patrick as he shares some of the highlights of the activity at Kīlauea over the past decade, including roiling lava lakes, fountaining fissures, ocean entries, and fast-moving lava flows. USGS photo: Early evening view of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano on January 30, 2018, when the lake level was 27 m (88 ft) below the crater floor. The bright yellow area of spattering marks the location where the circulating lava descends into the lake, thereby releasing gases trapped beneath the solid black crust on the lake surface.

Storymap

Wednesday, January 19

Mauna Loa: Preparing for the next eruption of Earth’s largest active volcano: https://geonarrative.usgs.gov/maunaloa/

Storymaps, or geonarratives, are web maps that incorporate interactive maps with supportive text and photos. This geonarrative provides an overview of Mauna Loa’s eruptive history and hazards and includes interactive maps and datasets to help Island of Hawai‘i residents prepare for the next eruption.  Mauna Loa erupted most recently in 1984, and will erupt again in the future, posing significant risks to people living on the flanks of the volcano. The geonarrative text is adapted largely from the USGS Fact Sheet “Mauna Loa—History, Hazards, and Risk of Living With the World’s Largest Volcano” (Trusdell, 2012). 

Check the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Website (usgs.gov/hvo) for these short presentations that will be shared throughout January 2022.

Questions? Email askHVO@usgs.gov