Images

Small-scale map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 4, 2014. Lava on the surface at 1 PM, outlined in red, was 13.3 km (8.3 miles) from the vent and 1.2 km (0.7 miles) from the east boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve. The front of the flow was spilling into another crack, which was steaming.

This shaded-relief map, courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, shows some of the cracks and faults that are present in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. The June 27th flow is partly transparent and shown in pink, while the active surface lava at 1 PM on September 4 are outlined in red.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 3, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on September 1 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 3 is shown in red. Last night, lava welled up out of the crack it was filling and spilled out onto the ground to feed new surface flows.

The June 27th lava flow remains active, with lava at the flow front issuing from a ground crack and advancing through thick forest, creating dense plumes of smoke. The farthest lava this afternoon was 13.2 km (8.2 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna forest reserve.

A closer view of the flow front, looking west. It is difficult to see the active lava surface through the thick smoke. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō can be seen in the upper left portion of the photograph, partly obscured by smoke.

This view looks east at the far end of the June 27th lava flow. In the center of the photograph is an isolated pad of lava which came out of ground crack last week.

One small portion of the flow front was quite vigorous, with an open stream of lava moving through the forest.

Lava from June 27 breakout flowing into deep ground crack along Kīlauea East Rift Zone, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, Hawai‘i

Preview image for video: The Quicktime video begins with a view of the steaming ground crack, where lava is moving deep within the crack. As the view rotates west, lava can be seen on the surface burning thick forest. Finally, the camera focuses on the eastern edge of the flow, where lava is plunging into the deep ground crack.

Near the leading edge of the lava on the surface, there was a swiftly moving stream of lava pouring into a deep ground crack (see Quicktime videos above). Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at the top of the photograph.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 1, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on August 29 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 1 is shown in red.

Surface flows at the front of the June 27th flow continue slowly moving through thick forest, creating scattered brush fires. This view looks south, and the cone of Heiheiahulu is in the upper left.

Extending slightly beyond the lava flows on the surface, a steaming ground crack indicates that lava is continuing to move beneath the surface. The front of the surface flows is just above and to the right of the center point of the photograph, and the steaming ground crack runs along the vertical center line of the photograph.

Preview image for video: The June 27th lava flow remains active at its leading edge, where lava is spreading out slowly into thick forest and also plunging into one of the many deep ground cracks that form Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. This Quicktime video shows the activity near the eastern edge of the flow.

This wide view, looking west, shows the position of the June 27th flow front relative to the nearby Kaohe Homesteads subdivision. The front of the flow is moving through thick forest, and its position can be seen by the plumes of smoke above the center of the photograph.

A closer look at the stream of lava pouring into the deep ground crack. See Quicktime videos above.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of August 29, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on August 28 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of August 29 is shown in red. All older lava flows (1983-2014) are shown in gray. The thin yellow line marks a portion of the lava tube feeding the flow.

The steaming ground crack observed yesterday suggested that lava was close to the surface within the crack, and today lava in the crack reached the surface and began spilling out into the thick forest. The leading edge of the lava today was near the abandoned well site (cleared area at left).

At the site of the isolated pad of lava near the leading edge of the June 27th flow, renewed surface flows today resurfaced the existing lava flow and also spilled into nearby ground cracks. In this photograph, two large streams of lava plunge into a crack that is a couple meters (yards) wide.

Another wide view of the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow, again looking east. This shows the east end of the isolated lava pad. The thick smoke originates from lava filling a deep ground crack up to the surface. The smoke partly obscures the abandoned well site.

At the far end of the lava-filled crack, lava spilled out towards the north a very short distance. In this view from a thermal camera, the small lobe of lava moving north is easily visible. The trees surrounding the crack show brighter colors as they are heated by the lava flow, but not to the point of combustion.