Images

View looking east-northeast, directly down the upper end of the fissure. The fuming cones in the foreground are parts of the fissure that erupted when the fissure opened but have since shut down. The spatter beyond, where the fissure is still erupting, is reaching about 2 m (7 ft) into the air. The lava channel is visible in the background.

Lava cascades down the east flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone from a fissure that opened on the upper east flank early Wednesday morning.

A new fissure eruption in September 2011 on the east flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō on Kīlauea Volcano's east rift zone reminds us of the need to be aware of our ever-changing volcanic environment on Hawai‘i Island. The fissure—the source of the lava flow—is shown in this image. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone and crater are in the background. Aerial view is to the southwest.

The overflows were fed from the edge of an active lava lake filling the east side of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. As the lake and its containing levees has risen, an ever increasing amount of the east rim of the crater is being buried. This photo, looking roughly northwest, shows lava overflowing the east rim of the crater.

This photo shows an overflow from the northwest side of the West Gap pit advancing as a narrow channelized flow. The flow is just beginning to transition into ‘A‘ā at its terminus. The view is to the south-southeast.

A lava lake also fills the western side of the crater. This morning, lava overflowed that lake, and then filled and overtopped the northwest rim of a pit on the west side of the crater (the West Gap pit; just above and to the right side of the photo). These flows have traveled up to about 400 m down the northwest flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō to its base.

A deflation-inflation (DI) event, which began yesterday afternoon, led to a marked decrease in eruptive activity at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō overnight. The western lava lake, at upper right, became inactive, while the eastern lava lake, filling the center of the frame, dropped several meters and became very sluggish.

The level of the lava lake on the east side of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater is even with the crater's northeast rim. Standing at that spot afforded an eerie view looking across the surface of the lake. A scientist, rescuing equipment, is visible on the crater rim in the background. The view is toward the south.

Since overflows to the west began yesterday morning (9/14), perched lava ponds have developed outside of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on the cone's upper west flank. Unless something else gives, these ponds will likely continue to grow taller, impounded by chilled lava from the ponds themselves. Overflows from the ponds will continue to mantle the west flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Lava has been overflowing the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater over the last few days. These overflows have traveled up to about 500 m down Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's east flank before stalling as the slope flattens. The overflows show up in this photo as lighter gray pahoehoe and ‘A‘ā flows at the center of the image. The view is to the west.

Two vertical air photos, stitched together, show all of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater. The islands within the eastern lava lake, to the right, give it an appearance somewhat like Edvard Munch's "The Scream".

This thermal image, looking east, shows the two perched lava ponds within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The eastern perched pond was just below the level of the east rim today.

This photograph shows a close-up of the perched lava pond abutting the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The lava was just a meter (yard) or so below the low point on the rim, and was close to spilling over.

This vertical view from today's overflight shows the layout of activity within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The shiny area towards the right portion of the crater floor is the eastern perched lava pond, while the shiny area in the left portion of the crater floor (close to the center of the image) is the western perched pond.

This photograph, looking west, shows the active lava within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater in the early morning light.

Steam rises from the Mud Geyser fumarole on the northeast side of the Mud Volcano thermal area in Yellowstone National Park. Gas that discharges from Mud Geyser has the most magmatic character of any sampled feature in Yellowstone.

At 2:02 p.m., HST, on August 3, the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, which had risen significantly over the past month, forming a dome beneath the perched lava lake, started to subside. By 3:15 p.m., the crater floor and perched lava lake began to collapse. Within a couple of hours, the lava lake was no longer visible, and the crater floor was covered in rubble.

This thermal image, looking south, shows the individual vents feeding distinct channels.

One of the more vigorous vents, in the lower left, is topped by a tall (6 m, or 20 ft, high) spatter cone. The flow from this vent cascades down several steps, joining the flow from two other nearby vents, before flowing under a small bridge and into the broad area of ponded lava to the west.

Over the past few days, lava has filled the floor of the Puka Nui pit (lower left) and the MLK pit (lower right) on the west end of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Looking south toward the MLK pit (straight) and Puka Nui pit (right). Lava is only a few meters (yards) away from overtopping the pits and flowing onto the southwest flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.