Images

The lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea, was about 30 m (98 ft) below the vent rim on the day of this photo (January 7, 2016).

View of the Silver Gate landslide complex from Bunsen Peak in Yellowstone National Park.  The landslide originates from Terrace Mountain.

Animated GIF of lava bubbling up from Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The source of the GIF comes from footage found within the USGS video: Kīlauea Summit Eruption | Lava Returns to Halemaʻumaʻu.

Animated GIF of a scientist at Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park looking back and forth using a range finder. Footage found in the USGS video: Kīlauea Summit Eruption | Lava Returns to Halemaʻumaʻu.

Scattered breakouts today (October 13) on the western 61g flow margin were mapped at 1.3 km (0.8 mi) from the closest portion of the emergency road. The small pāhoehoe breakouts put on a show as they slowly oozed out of growing cracks that were forced open by flow inflation (pictured).

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of September 21 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of October 12 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube.

Today (October 12), the Kamokuna lava delta was measured at roughly 11 acres (4.5 hectares) in size. Over the past two months, several lava tube breakouts on the sea cliff have spilled lava onto the delta.

Damage to an unreinforced rock wall at KALAHIKIOLA Church in KAP‘A‘āU, North Kohala, on the Island of Hawai‘i, following the magnitude-6.6 Kīholo and magnitude-6.0 Māhukona earthquakes in October 2006. USGS photo by J. Takahashi.

HVO geologists relocate a time-lapse camera on the rim of the west pit lava pond in the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. Over the past several months, the camera has been slowly tilting downward due to soft, altered ground beneath it, and the general instability of the rim. The new location, about 20 m (yards) to the south, appears to be more stable and less altered.

A view of the upper coastal plain breakouts on the episode 61g flow field. The majority of the active surface flows on the coastal plain are being fed by the June 26 breakout branch on the eastern margin of the flow field (right).

This map is similar to the map above but shows a thermal map over the Episode 61g lava flow. Cooler colors (blue and green) show cooled, inactive portions of the flow surface. Hot colors (red and orange) show areas of active surface breakouts.

Surface breakouts (light in color) remain active on the upper coastal plain. These breakouts are fed by both the main eastern tube—left of the kipuka and below the tube's fume trace on the pali—and from the eastern June 26 breakout branch, visible to the right of the kipuka.

Bottom: Cross-sectional view looking north. Right: Cross-sectional view looking west. Black outline is elevation profile through the summit of Mount Hood. Circles are sized with respect to earthquake magnitude. Earthquake locations from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

pāhoehoe breakouts remain scattered on the coastal plain, but have not advanced significantly in recent weeks. In addition, small channelized ‘A‘ā flows have been recently active on the steep slopes of the pali. The pali can be seen in the distance in this photo.

This video clip shows typical pāhoehoe breakouts on the coastal plain, as well as a small channelized ‘A‘ā flow on the pali.

Over the past two weeks, there have been at least three breakouts within 100 m (330 ft) of the Kamokuna ocean entry. The western-most breakout (pictured above) had no visible surface breakouts on the cliff today (October 6), but was producing a nice cascading ‘A‘ā flow off the edge of the cliff and onto the delta.

Image taken by a time-lapse camera on October 5 at 6:11 pm (HST), with the lava streams showing up nicely as the sun starts to go down.

A small channel flowing down the cliff to the delta creates an ‘A‘ā fan at its distal tip. Many lava falls over the past week have locally built up the height of the sea cliff and covered much of the blocky rigid cliff face.

There were clear views of the delta today (October 6), with only weak plumes being produced by the few ocean entries. Multiple pāhoehoe streams and drips entered the ocean on the east side of the delta (pictured).

Image taken by a time-lapse camera of multiple lava cascades on the sea cliff on October 4 at 3:31 am (HST). Just a few of the many resulting surface flows can be seen on the delta both below the cliff and near the front, which is lit by lava and moonlight.

This view of Halema‘uma‘u as it appeared in the 1917 relief model by George Carroll Curtis shows fine details around the crater, including the first road for automobiles, which ended near the crater rim. The light-colored circular feature around Halema‘uma‘u is a nearly continuous escarpment along which subsidence occurred. Photo by Burr A. Church.