Images

Kīlauea's summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu is continually re-surfacing. Like the 2008-2018 lava lake, the current lava lake is exhibiting crustal foundering, when fragments of solidified lava crust on the surface break and sink back into the liquid portion.  USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Kīlauea eruption in Halema‘uma‘u on Jan. 1, 2021. The channel-like feature remains visible on the lava lake surface within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. This feature originates from the influx of lava from the western fissure. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Another telephoto view of the west vent area in Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano. The west vents are in the northwestern wall of Halema‘uma‘u crater; intermittent spattering at the vents has constructed a perched pointed cone on the crater wall. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Within an hour of the Kīlauea summit eruption starting on December 20, 2020, HVO's permanent seismic network detected a signal called volcanic tremor.

Main frame: A composite of the point clouds resulting from HVO’s terrestrial laser scanning surveys of Halemaʻumaʻu crater since January 2021, viewed from the southwest. The central region of the crater, including the lava lake, is reliably captured in all surveys.

Map of seismicity (red circles) in the Yellowstone region during 2020. Gray lines are roads, red line shows the caldera boundary, Yellowstone National Park is outlined by black dashed line, and gray dashed lines denote state boundaries.

Kīlauea's summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu continues to re-surface. This process is called crustal foundering, in which pieces of solidified lava crust on the surface of the lava lake break and sink back into the liquid portion. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

The western portion of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano summit. The island has migrated closer to the west vent area, which remains active. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

On January 1, 2021, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HVO researchers set up temporary seismic instruments around Halema‘uma‘u crater to collect data that will help them learn more about how magma travels in the shallow magmatic plumbing system beneath Kīlauea Volcano.

HVO field crews deployed a dense network of temporary seismic instruments at Kīlauea’s summit on January 1, 2021, and with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Beginning of Yellowstone-Snake River Plain hotspot track and resulting northeasterly path of the ancestral Missouri River starting about 16.5 million years ago.  Modified from Hyndman D.W., and Thomas, R.C., 2020, Roadside Geology of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing, 464 p.

The western fissure in Halemaʻumaʻu wall remains active. Glowing vents and a prominent spatter cone are visible in this photo, which shows some spattering at the vent. This view looks steeply down from Kīlauea's west caldera rim, and the lava lake surface is visible in the background. USGS photo by B. Carr on 12/31/2020. 

Kīlauea's summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu is continually re-surfacing. HVO geologists monitoring the activity in the field have observed crustal foundering, in which pieces of solidified lava crust on the surface of the lava lake break and sink back into the liquid portion. USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020. 

Left: magnified view of erupted material, including Pele’s hair and tears, as seen under a microscope (USGS Photo by K. Lynn on 12/26/2020). Middle: Zoomed in electron image of the tephra, where greyscale indicates the relative abundance of iron (Fe).

The view from Kīlauea Volcano's western caldera rim shows the eastern portion of the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The main island is visible in the bottom of the photograph, and smaller islands can be seen above it (to the east). USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020. 

View of the northern portion of the lava lake within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. Smaller islands present in the northeastern portion of the lava lake are visible. USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020. 

Experimental apparatus for reacting hot water and rhyolite. The photo on the left shows the inert gold bags into which the rhyolite fragments and water were inserted. After being sealed, the gold bag is then placed into a steel pressure vessel, which itself is loaded into a furnace (photo on the right).

Yellowstone rangers -- and tourists, too! -- can determine the height of a geyser eruption with some simple trigonometry.

This map of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea shows 20 m (66 ft) contour lines (dark gray) that mark locations of equal elevation above sea level (asl).

The western fissure in Halemaʻumaʻu wall remains active. Glowing vents and a prominent spatter cone are visible in this photo. This view looks steeply down from Kīlauea's west caldera rim, and the lava lake surface is visible in the background. USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020. 

View of the northern portion of the lava lake within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea Volcano's summit. Smaller islands present in the northeastern portion of the lava lake are visible. USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020. USGS photo by M. Patrick on 12/31/2020.