Images

Technology today: Geologist working at a Global Positioning System station on Mount St. Helens, Washington.

This false-color image was captured on August 19 by NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite using the Advanced Land Imager sensor. The image consists of several near-infrared and shortwave infrared channels combined in such a way as to mimic those colors expected by the human eye, with vegetation green, lava flow fields black and active surface lava flows as red.

A conference this week in Waikōloa will examine how Hawaiian volcanoes work, from their source deep within the Earth to the eruption of gas and lava at the surface. The conference is hosted by the American Geophysical Union and organized by scientists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

The USGS, in collaboration with UNAVCO and the University of Colorado, uses these data to measure channel erosion and deposition in the reach.

220 kV transmission lines running adjacent to Tongariro Volcano, New Zealand, two days after the 6 August 2012 Te Māri crater eruption.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's Recent Earthquakes Web page from Tuesday, July 31, with earthquake shown as colored circles, according to their times of occurrence.

Photo taken north of Mount St. Helens; view is to the south.

This image is a composite of a thermal image and a normal photograph, showing the coastal plain and pali. Red areas are warm portions of the flow field that were active in the past weeks or months, while yellow and white areas are areas of active breakouts.

The lava pond in the northeast portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater remains active, though the level of lava was low in the pit today. Over this past weekend, a small collapse of the rim enlarged the pit slightly. The lava pond is about 30 meters (100 feet) wide.

Andesite lava flow of Kerr Notch (near Sun Creek) developed columnar joints as it cooled after it was deposited, Crater Lake, Oregon.

Lava fountains, occasionally surging to heights of 45-55 m (150-180 ft), erupted south and north of Keanakāko‘i Crater (top and middle fissures, respectively) and on the floor of Kīlauea Caldera (foreground fissure) in a spectacular summit eruption on July 19, 1974.

USGS geologist uses a UV spectrometer to detect gases from fumarole at Crater Rock, Mount Hood.

Exploring Mount Rainier: living near a volcano provides an opportunity for field-based learning.

Surface flows remain active on the coastal plain, but have retreated inland compared to their position last week. The active front is now about 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the ocean.

In addition to the active flows on the coastal plain, lava flows were also active on the pali and at the base of the pali. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and the Halema‘uma‘u plume are visible near the top of the image.

The lava lake on the northeastern edge of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater floor is about 30 m (100 ft) across. It's level rises and falls with changes in pressure in the magma storage body beneath Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Today, the lava lake was at a relatively low level, compared to its condition over the last few months.

Several openings on the floor of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater and along the Peace Day flow tube system continue to degas profusely. The only visible lava, however, is the small lava lake confined to a pit on the northeastern side of the crater floor. The lava lake has been present for the last several months.

Back at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory office, these data are merged with airborne LiDAR data to calculate lake volume.

A view of the lava lake within the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent on an unusually clear day (May 16, 2012) with the Jaggar Museum and the HVO building in the distance.

A narrow channelized flow cascades down the steep lower portion of the pali in Royal Gardens subdivision. This flow was close to the former location of Paradise St.

Lava flows remain active on the pali and coastal plain, but the flow front has made no significant progress towards the ocean over the past week. This image is a composite of a thermal image and a normal photograph, with active breakouts shown by yellow and white areas, and recent, but inactive, flows shown in red and purple.