Images

Flows continue to be active on the pali and are advancing southward. The flow front this morning was approximately 1.4 km (0.9 miles) north of the County viewing area. Letters A and B denote corresponding points in the photograph (top) and thermal image (bottom). The active flows show up clearly in the thermal image.

Lava flow breakout

View of the currently active flows on the pali, east of Royal Gardens subdivision. The corresponding thermal image highlights the active flow area clearly. The active flows are traveling down the east margin of the Thanksgiving Eve Breakout (TEB) flow field. The flows are being fed by a lengthening lava tube, which is marked by a line of fume.

View of the active vent in Halema`uma`u Crater. The remains of the visitor overlook fence are on the crater rim just below the vent. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Jaggar Museum on visible on Uwekahuna Bluff in the background. The broad slope of Mauna Loa's east flank forms the skyline.

The terminus of the active flows from Kilauea's east rift zone, the lighter color lava seen here, have reached down to about the 1100-ft elevation just east of the older TEB flow field. If these flows continue to push forward, they will likely end up back on top of the older TEB flow field at the base of Pulama pali close to the end of the Kalapana access road.

After a short pause in surface activity late last week, breakouts resumed over the weekend and continued through this week. Scattered pahoehoe flows were located above the pali, about 1.6 km (1 mile) north of Royal Gardens subdivision.

No surface flows were active anywhere on the flow field today, due to summit deflation and a reduction in lava supply over the past few days. Summit inflation resumed yesterday, and an increase in lava supply should lead to resumed breakouts over the next several days.

This image was collected from a thermal camera at the Halema`uma`u Overlook, and shows the current activity at the summit. The active lava pond, about 40 m across, is situated deep within the vent cavity, at a depth of about 200 m. The lava surface consists of slowly migrating crustal plates, with a spattering source on the east margin of the pond.

A lava flow burns what little vegetation is left in this small kipuka at the top of the pali.

The forward looking infrared (FLIR) image on the right is a close-up infrared image of the current flow field, shown on the left. FLIR is an imaging technology that senses infrared radiation.

The upper TEB flow field, looking south. The fuming hole in the foreground is the TEB vent. The other fume sources, which help delineate the lava tube, are coming from collapsed areas down the tube system.

A small active pāhoehoe flow overplating an older 'a'ā flow on the upper TEB flow field. There were a few small scattered breakouts above the pali, but the majority of the surface activity was flowing through Royal Gardens and onto the coastal plain.

Janelle Dyer dispenses a filtered ash leachate sample into a sample bottle for ion chromatography analysis for anions such as fluoride, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate.

Scientist Christoph Kern adjusts the alignment of optics on the active long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) instrument. LP-DOAS sends a beam of ultraviolet or visible light to a reflector located tens to hundreds of meters away.

The USGS operates a real-time lake elevation monitoring gage on Spirit Lake to ensure water level does not exceed a safe limit. In 1985, the U.S.

The lava flows on the coastal plain, which show up as the light colored flows in the foreground, are erupted into the TEB tube system from the D fissure which first opened up in July 2007. This vent is faintly visible as a fuming source in the background near the upper left corner of the photo.

Lava, showing up here as the light colored area, continues to creep across the coastal plain toward the national park, having now reached about 1.3 km (0.8 miles) out from the base of the pali.

The currently active flows on the pali continue to chip away at the few remaining streets in the beleaguered Royal Gardens subdivision. Those visible here are pretty much all that's left, with the exception of one small kipuka out of sight to the right.

Lava flows remain active within the Royal Gardens subdivision and onto the coastal plain below. The number of surface flows has decreased however, due in part to a probable decrease in activity related to the ongoing deflation of Pu`u `Ō `ō, and because the new lava tube branch feeding the flows is becoming better developed.

As the lava tube becomes better established, the surface flows on the pali will probably die out while the flows on the coastal plain continue to move toward the ocean.

Lava flow moving down a steep portion of the pali, burning vegetation in the remaining portion of the Royal Gardens subdivision. As the slope decreases, the 'a'ā flows fan out onto the coastal plain.