Images

The western Kamoamoa fountain-fed lava flows advanced over 1997 lavas (dark flow in foreground) with 1965 and 1968 lavas buried by Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cinder to the far left. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is in the distant background.

An hour later, the lava had risen high enough to spill over the pond walls and expand across the crater floor.

Looking northwest at the lava pond on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. At the time of the photograph, the level of the lava pond was about 3 m (10 ft) below the floor of the crater.

After an intrusion on March 5, Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater floor subsided for several hours. Hot incandescent crater walls were exposed as the floor dropped a total of 113 m (371 ft). Frequent rockfalls into the crater triggered red ash plumes. USGS photo taken by T. Orr on March 5, 2011, at 4:32 p.m.

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō continues to host a small lava lake at the bottom of the crater. Minor spattering and overturning of the lake surface was observed by field crews today.

This thermal image was taken from the south rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, showing the lava lake within the crater. Hotter surfaces, such as the narrow zones between crustal plates, are shown by yellow and white colors. Cooler surfaces, such as the cooled lava around the lake, are shown by blue and black colors.

A small lava lake, confined by slightly elevated levees, is active at the bottom of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The lake is roughly the same size as a football field.

Lava reappeared in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on Saturday morning (March 26), covering the floor of the crater with a small lava lake.

Wes Thelen began his new job as HVO's Seismic Network Manager amidst a flurry of volcanic and seismic activity during Kīlauea Volcano's recent Kamoamoa fissure eruption, shown here on March 9, 2011.

In this close-up view of the lava lake in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, lava upwells at the west edge of the lake (bottom center of the photo) and flows toward the east (top of photo) where the mostly degassed lava sinks back down, presumably circulating back into the vent.

Sunset Crater, a basaltic cinder cone in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona, erupted in 1085 A.D.

HVO staff and volunteers map run-up elevations and inundation distances of tsunami waves that reached the shores around Hawai‘i Island following the magnitude-9.0 earthquake in Japan.

An early morning view of the fountaining we encountered at the western fissure on Sunday, March 6, at 7:20 a.m. Particles were thrown up to 15 m (50 ft) high at this point and the intensity and height increased over the next two hours.

Lava from the erupting fissure produced a large flow that is moving southeast through the adjacent forest.

Measuring the flow thickness from another section of the ‘A‘ā flow, using a 1 m (3.2 ft) orange pole for scale.

Lava fountains from the northeastern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption. Though it is an impressive sight, the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone in the background, and several hundred meters higher, puts the current activity into perspective.

Lava, erupting from the southwestern vent of the Kamoamoa eruption, fountains above the surrounding forest.

A piece of spatter ejected on March 7, 2011. Handheld GPS for scale

Ground cracks between the east and west Kamoamoa fissure segments. Geologist is about 6 ft tall.

The eastern vent complex of the Kamoamoa eruption was inactive today, but it continues to emit a thick gas plume.

The western vent complex continues to erupt, and had been doing so for about 30 hours as of the time of this photo. Lava erupting from the vent complex is flowing into a channel with levees.