Images

The summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater dropped slightly last week in response to summit deflation, but has returned to higher levels with resumed inflation. Fluctuations like this have been common during the summit eruption. The lake is currently at a level that has been typical for the past year.

The lava pond at the northeast cone had several spatter sources active on the pond margin, throwing spatter to a height of a few meters (yards).

This thermal image shows the front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow. Summit deflation a week ago caused a reduction in lava supply to the flow and the flow front stalled, and is now inactive. Over the past few days, resumed summit inflation has driven new breakouts (shown by white and yellow colors) on the flow that are behind the stalled flow front.

Several other spatter cones were active in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater today, producing loud jetting and hissing sounds as gas is forced through narrow incandescent openings.

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow has been advancing through forest northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō for the past several months, but last week deflation at the summit of Kīlauea led to a reduction in lava supply and a shutdown to the flow front as active breakouts diminished.

The summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater dropped slightly last week in response to summit deflation, but has returned to higher levels with resumed inflation. Fluctuations like this have been common during the summit eruption. The lake is currently at a level that has been typical for the past year.

Colors ranging from pink to purple indicate the water depth around the islands, while shades of gray show land topography above sea level. Red areas on the Island of Hawai‘i indicate lava flows erupted within the past 200 years.

Preview image for video: The lava lake in the Overlook crater, within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea's summit, undergoes frequent periods of spattering. The spattering is normally at the lake margins, and the surface crust often flows towards, and is consumed at, the spattering source.

A photograph of Mount St. Helens, as viewed from Elk Rock on January 18, 2014.

Mount Rainier volcano looms over Puyallup Valley, near Orting, Washington.

Mount Rainier volcano looms over Puyallup Valley, near Orting, Washington.

Scientists conduct a stream channel cross-section survey of the Toutle River on the north side of Mount St. Helens (view to the southwest).

Colors ranging from red to purple indicate the water depth around the Island of Hawai‘i, while shades of gray show land topography above sea level. Red shows lava flows erupted over the past 200 years. The Puna Ridge represents the submarine extension of Kīlauea's east rift zone.

During the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption, an ‘a‘ā flow about 457 m (1500 ft) wide and 9 m (30 ft) high headed straight for the village of Ho‘ōpūloa on April 18, as shown here. By the next day, the lava flow had destroyed a dozen houses, a church, and the wharf, and had nearly obliterated the bay. 

View of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, looking southwest. The vent for the Kahauale‘a 2 flow is on the near side of the crater, close to the center of the photograph (but obscured by white fume).

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow remains active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with the flow front this week consisting of a narrow finger that has reached 7.5 km (4.7 miles) northeast of the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The flow front has cut a narrow swath through the forest, and is igniting numerous small fires.

Map showing the submarine shape of the Hawaiian hotspot track, which extends from the Hawaiian Islands, through a prominent bend in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The inset shows the volcanoes in the main Hawaiian Islands.

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow remains active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with the flow front this week consisting of a narrow finger that has reached 7.5 km (4.7 miles) northeast of the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The flow front has cut a narrow swath through the forest, and is igniting numerous small fires.

During the first few hours of the Kamoamoa fissure eruption in March 2011, lava bubbled to the surface through a ground crack that propagated along Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone. How it and other Hawaiian fissure eruptions work will be the topic of a talk at UH-Hilo on January 16, 2014.

Erupting vents on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone near Pu‘u‘Ula‘ula (Red Hill) on Mar. 25, 1984—just hours after the eruption began—sent massive ‘A‘ā lava flows moving toward Hilo at 4 miles per hour. By the time the eruption ended on April 15, lava flows had reached to within four miles of Hilo city limits. USGS photo.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismologists will talk about Hawaii's history of destructive earthquakes in two public presentations. Paul Okubo (right) will speak at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo on November 20, and Wes Thelen (left) will speak in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on November 26.