Images

HVO conducted an overflight of the lower East Rift Zone flow field to create a thermal map, which will be posted soon on the Maps page. This wide-angle photo shows the new path of Highway 132 through the Fissure 8 lava channels.

Two HVO geologists document road cutting activities on HWY 132 on August 7, 2019. One geologist is taking visual photographs while another geologist is taking thermal photographs to make a tandem pair for comparison. The temperature of the solidified lava was measured to 425° C (800° F) at the digging site. 

Contrasting photos of Heart Spring on Geyser Hill in the Upper Geyser Basin from 1998 (left) and 2019 (right). Can you spot differences in the hot spring? Photos courtesy of the National Park Service.

The GeoGirls visit a volcano monitoring station on the east side of Mount St. Helens, finding out how scientists use different monitoring methods (seismic, GPS, tiltmeter) to understand more about the volcano.

GeoGirls 2019 group photo, with Mount St. Helens in the background.

GeoGirls hike to Willow Creek, on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain, to learn more about the ecology of the blast zone and how the area has recovered since the catastrophic May 18, 1980, eruption. Here, they look at stream characteristics and how it has influenced the return of life to the area.

The GeoGirls hike the Pumice Plain at Mount St. Helens, examining lava outcrops and volcanic sediment.

The GeoGirls create field drawings of 1980 pyroclastic flow deposits on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain.

GeoGirls venture into Ape Cave, a 2,000-year-old lava tube on the south flank of Mount St. Helens, as they learn about Mount St. Helens’ eruptive history and lava flows.

GeoGirls venture into Ape Cave, a 2,000-year-old lava tube on the south flank of Mount St. Helens, as they learn about Mount St. Helens’ eruptive history and lava flows.

Helicopter telephoto zoom of HVO technician performing routine maintenance on a web camera during yesterday's overflight.

Wide angle view of the southern wall of Kīlauea caldera, where there was previously a sulfer rich and highly altered area. The collapse events of 2018 created this exposeure that is approximately 100 m (300 ft) tall, whereas before 2018, the altered area was only exposed for a couple of vertical meters (yards).

Clear weather afforded good views of the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u. No major changes were observed in the pond, but it continues to slowly rise. The water surface was steaming, and had a temperature of approximately 70 degrees C (158 degrees F). For scale, the pond is about 70 meters (230 feet) long.

Left: Aerial view of the new extension of the Tern Lake thermal area looking southwest. Note the steam in the central part of the image. Right: FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) image of the thermal area, with the field of view indicated by the red box in the visible aerial view. Warmest areas are bright white/yellow, while cooler areas are purple.

Today's noticed overflight a recently exposed feature of a hole with a smoother slope descending below it in the eastern wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. It is unclear if this is simply a rockfall/collapse feature with a debris slope or part of the conduit that fed episode 61 activity.

Telephoto zoom on the feature in the east wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Aerial view of the new thermal area, in the center left. The existing Tern Lake thermal area is the bright white patch of ground in the upper middle part of the image. West Tern Lake is in the lower right. Research conducted under NPS Geology Programs Milestones Permit 2016-9.

View of the new thermal area from the ground. Research conducted under NPS Geology Programs Milestones Permit 2016-9.

Data depicted on this map of Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone lava flow thicknesses are derived from a 2019 USGS topographic survey that utilized a helicopter-mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor.

Water pond in Halemaumau 8-18-19

The pond within Halema‘uma‘u has notably widened and deepened since August 15, as shown in these two photos taken on August 17 (right) and August 15 (left). Note the changes in the neck between the two ends of the pond. USGS photos by D. Swanson.