Images

Today (October 12), the Kamokuna lava delta was measured at roughly 11 acres (4.5 hectares) in size. Over the past two months, several lava tube breakouts on the sea cliff have spilled lava onto the delta.

Damage to an unreinforced rock wall at KALAHIKIOLA Church in KAP‘A‘āU, North Kohala, on the Island of Hawai‘i, following the magnitude-6.6 Kīholo and magnitude-6.0 Māhukona earthquakes in October 2006. USGS photo by J. Takahashi.

HVO geologists relocate a time-lapse camera on the rim of the west pit lava pond in the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. Over the past several months, the camera has been slowly tilting downward due to soft, altered ground beneath it, and the general instability of the rim. The new location, about 20 m (yards) to the south, appears to be more stable and less altered.

Surface breakouts (light in color) remain active on the upper coastal plain. These breakouts are fed by both the main eastern tube—left of the kipuka and below the tube's fume trace on the pali—and from the eastern June 26 breakout branch, visible to the right of the kipuka.

This map is similar to the map above but shows a thermal map over the Episode 61g lava flow. Cooler colors (blue and green) show cooled, inactive portions of the flow surface. Hot colors (red and orange) show areas of active surface breakouts.

A view of the upper coastal plain breakouts on the episode 61g flow field. The majority of the active surface flows on the coastal plain are being fed by the June 26 breakout branch on the eastern margin of the flow field (right).

Bottom: Cross-sectional view looking north. Right: Cross-sectional view looking west. Black outline is elevation profile through the summit of Mount Hood. Circles are sized with respect to earthquake magnitude. Earthquake locations from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

pāhoehoe breakouts remain scattered on the coastal plain, but have not advanced significantly in recent weeks. In addition, small channelized ‘A‘ā flows have been recently active on the steep slopes of the pali. The pali can be seen in the distance in this photo.

This video clip shows typical pāhoehoe breakouts on the coastal plain, as well as a small channelized ‘A‘ā flow on the pali.

Over the past two weeks, there have been at least three breakouts within 100 m (330 ft) of the Kamokuna ocean entry. The western-most breakout (pictured above) had no visible surface breakouts on the cliff today (October 6), but was producing a nice cascading ‘A‘ā flow off the edge of the cliff and onto the delta.

Image taken by a time-lapse camera on October 5 at 6:11 pm (HST), with the lava streams showing up nicely as the sun starts to go down.

A small channel flowing down the cliff to the delta creates an ‘A‘ā fan at its distal tip. Many lava falls over the past week have locally built up the height of the sea cliff and covered much of the blocky rigid cliff face.

There were clear views of the delta today (October 6), with only weak plumes being produced by the few ocean entries. Multiple pāhoehoe streams and drips entered the ocean on the east side of the delta (pictured).

Image taken by a time-lapse camera of multiple lava cascades on the sea cliff on October 4 at 3:31 am (HST). Just a few of the many resulting surface flows can be seen on the delta both below the cliff and near the front, which is lit by lava and moonlight.

This view of Halema‘uma‘u as it appeared in the 1917 relief model by George Carroll Curtis shows fine details around the crater, including the first road for automobiles, which ended near the crater rim. The light-colored circular feature around Halema‘uma‘u is a nearly continuous escarpment along which subsidence occurred. Photo by Burr A. Church.

The 1917 Curtis relief model of Kīlauea Volcano's summit shows many well-known geologic features, including the summit caldera (large depression), Halema‘uma‘u (crater within the caldera), Kīlauea Iki (crater at far right), and elaborate drainage patterns (foreground). Photo by Burr A. Church.

Aerial view of Spirit Lake (center) looking north from above the crater of Mount St. Helens. The lake's outlet to the west (left) was blocked by the 1980 landslide, which required a new engineered outlet to maintain the lake at a safe level. A tunnel was drilled through a bedrock ridge on west side of lake in 1984-1985. Glacier covered Mount Rainier in distance.

A view of the breakout point of the easternmost of two short-lived breakouts that began on September 23. This thin pāhoehoe breakout (lighter flow in center of photo) started approximately 45 m (49 yards) upslope of the sea cliff, and on the eastern side of the lava tube that feeds the ocean entry.

This western breakout also began on September 23, at a distance of approximately 90 m (98 yards) from the sea cliff. This pāhoehoe (bottom edge has a yellow dotted outline) was more viscous than the breakout to the east, so the surface texture is less smooth and reflective, making it harder to distinguish between the older flows.

A weak plume today (September 26) on the far (west) side of the delta provided great views of changes at the ocean entry. Over the past few weeks there have been repeated breakouts on the delta which have resurfaced over half of the roughly 10 acre (4 hectare) delta, as mapped on September 21.

HVO geologists change data cards on a time-lapse camera positioned on the rim of the west pit within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater. A lava pond has been active in this pit for over a year, and the time-lapse camera tracks changes in the pond activity.