Images

View from this morning's helicopter overflight of the Pohoiki boat ramp at Isaac Hale Park shows black sand, transported to the southwest by longshore currents, blocking the entrance to the small boat harbor.

Groundwater occurs in the saturated soil and rock below the water table. If the aquifer is shallow enough and permeable enough to allow water to move through it at a rapid-enough rate, then people can drill wells into it and withdraw water.

Temperature record from Echinus geyser outflow channel for October 17–20, 2017. The plot captures a time when the geyser went from occasional eruptions to semi-regular eruptions (signified by temperature spikes after about 12:00 on October 18) occurring about every 2 hours.

Lava continues to ooze into the ocean at scattered entries along the Kapoho (pictured) and Ahalanui lobes.

A sand bar has built up at the end of the Pohoiki boat ramp, but the ramp itself remains intact and there has been no significant lava advance toward the ramp in recent days.

Edge of the Kīlauea vog plume near Waikoloa Village on the west side of Hawai‘i Island as it is blown by trade winds across the island and toward the Pacific Ocean. For more information on sulfur dioxide emissions and vog, see https://vog.ivhhn.org/.

Installing dissolved oxygen sensors at the Salmon River near East Hampton, Connecticut

Today's morning overflight saw no new activity at any of the fissures in the lower East Rift Zone. Fissure 8 had only a sluggish lava puddle remaining in the cone, and other fissures, though steaming, showed no signs of reactivation.

Fissure 8 may have slowed down, but HVO scientists are still on the ground in Leilani Estates, monitoring old ground cracks and marking ones that haven't been surveyed before. Monitoring these cracks over multiple days could detect any new signs of magma movement beneath the ground, one of the indicators that fissures might reactivate.

This thermal map shows the fissure system and lava flows as of 6 am on Saturday, August 11. Residual lava in the Fissure 8 flow continues to drain, feeding numerous small ocean entries (shown in main map). In the Fissure 8 cone there were two small lava ponds (shown in small inset map). The black and white area is the extent of the thermal map.

The UAS team (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) flew a mission over fissure 8 to assess conditions within the cinder cone. As shown, fissure 8 contains two small ponds deep within its crater. One pond slowly circulates with an incandescent surface while the other pond is stagnant with a crusted top.

Clear weather this afternoon afforded a stunning view of Kīlauea's summit, which has been "quiet" since August 4, with no significant subsidence or collapses. The flat ledge shown here (center) is part of the former Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which dropped precipitously between mid-May and early August.

Map as of 2:00 p.m. HST, August 9, 2018. Given the dynamic nature of Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone eruption, with changing vent locations, fissures starting and stopping, and varying rates of lava effusion, map details shown here are accurate as of the date/time noted. Shaded purple areas indicate lava flows erupted in 1840, 1955, 1960, and 2014-2015.

As the Halema‘uma‘u Crater has collapsed, geologists have been able to see older volcanic deposits and features buried beneath decades of lava flows. For instance, two lava tubes were spotted in the southwestern wall of the collapse crater.

Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Common Murres have all been tested for and contained harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems.

The carcass of a large silver-tipped grizzly bear, which succumbed to poisonous gases in the area known as "Death Gulch" in Yellowstone National Park in 1897. Image from Popular Science Monthly Volume 54, Public Domain, accessed from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15271684.

Geologist taking a cold pāhoehoe lava sample of a August 2 overflow near Noni Farms Road.

A juvenile Bald Eagle flies away with a young Black-legged Kittiwake chick taken from its nest at Gull Island, Alaska.

Practice diving drills on Lake Huron. USGS divers regularly practice their skills and this study involves choriographed movements.

Hydrologic technician Kammy Durham reading the elevation of a known reference point at streamgage 06404998, Grace Coolidge Creek near Game Lodge near Custer, SD. One step in ensuring consistent streamflow data is verifying that the reference elevation at the streamgage stays consistent and that any changes are documented.

Student hydrologic technician Jackie Eldredge holding the rod over one of the known reference points at streamgage 06404998, Grace Coolidge Creek near Game Lodge near Custer, SD. One step in ensuring consistent streamflow data is verifying that the reference elevation at the streamgage stays consistent and that any changes are documented.