Images

More bands of differing surface texture adjacent to a spreading zone. In the lower right corner, an additional spreading zone is migrating north (toward the upper left in this photo) and has nearly intersected the other spreading zone.

Spattering is common in Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake, and is often focused along the south lake margin. But occasionally, as happened today, numerous spattering sites can appear in the north part of the lake.

A close up of spattering in the western portion of the summit lava lake.

Crustal spreading zones leave bands of changing texture on the lava lake surface, highlighted by late afternoon sunlight.

This photo from June 25 shows the established lava channel at 6:49 pm HST, hours after the firehose activity. Today (June 26) HVO observers did not see any active surface breakouts on the delta and the channel has tubed over, but some narrow streams of lava were spilling into the ocean.

Yesterday (Sunday, June 25) between 11:39 and 11:44 HST, firehose activity started at the ocean entry and continued for less than 10 minutes. A USGS time-lapse camera, which takes a photo every 5 minutes, captured this image at 11:44 and by 11:49 the firehose was replaced by a lava channel on the delta.

Field-trip guides to selected volcanoes and volcanic landscapes of the western United States - overview map.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of May 31 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of June 21 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 (dashed where uncertain).

Left: A color-shaded bathymetry map of Lō‘ihi, a submarine volcano located southeast of the Island of Hawai‘i. The summit region is marked by pit craters formed in connection with an eruption and earthquake swarm in July-August 1996.

Thermal images collected during the overflight on Wednesday, June 21, show a hot crack spanning much of the width of the lava delta at the Kamokuna ocean entry. These cracks are common on lava deltas, and suggest sagging and instability at the front of the delta.

On June 13 at about 6:00 am, there was a new pāhoehoe breakout along the episode 61g tube system approximately 1.1 km (0.7 miles) from the vent. Today (June 21), geologists visiting the site found that the ground had been cracked and uplifted about 2 m (6.6 feet) where the breakout originated (center).

The ocean entry remains active and continues to increase the size of the Kamokuna lava delta. Today, activity was concentrated towards the western side of the delta (left center), and building outward in a narrow lobe. Surface flows on the delta over the past few weeks have covered most of the delta with new lava.

Jacob Lowenstern, Scientist in Charge of YVO 2002-2018

The episode 61g flow continues to enter the ocean and build the delta at the Kamokuna ocean entry. Small streams of lava along the front of the delta interact with the ocean and produce a large steam plume and occasional littoral bursts.

The scattered breakouts that have been active on the steep part of the pali and at the base over the past few weeks were not visible this afternoon. The recent surface breakouts (pictured) were still warm, but no longer actively flowing.

Photo of a crack (center right) in the sea cliff inland of the ocean entry.

A masked Tim Orr, on his last day of field work as a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist, collected a sample from Kīlauea Volcano's active lava flow on May 31, 2017. The face mask and heavy glove on his left hand provide protection from the intense radiant heat of molten lava.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory broadband-seismic stations located at the summit of Kīlauea have been significantly upgraded over the past three years. During the upgrades, HVO field engineers (inset) complete the wiring connections of the solar power and telemetry systems at each site, which are about 10 m (33 ft) from the seismometer.

This satellite image was captured on Friday, June 2, by the Sentinel-2 satellite operated by the European Space Agency. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see. Bright red pixels depict areas of very high temperatures and show active lava. White areas are clouds.

Steaming Pavlof volcano and Pavlof Sister as viewed from the west shore of Unga Island, Alaska. View is to the west.

The activity in the summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u has been typical in recent weeks, with the normal fluctuations in lava level. The low sun angle during the late afternoon provided good views of the different surface textures on the lake.