Images

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field in relation to the southeastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the active flow field as of April 10 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of May 3 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray.

On May 3, Kīlauea Volcano's Kamokuna lava delta, which had been growing since late March, collapsed. An HVO time-lapse camera captured the sequence of events in five-minute intervals. This image shows the lava delta at 7:50 a.m. HST, a couple of hours before the collapse.

Within five minutes, between 9:55 and 10:00 a.m. HST, nearly the entire delta disappeared, collapsing into the sea. The collapsed area cut back toward the sea cliff, past the largest crack on the delta. In this image, captured at 10:05 a.m., the seawater is brown and turbulent.

The episode 61g Kamokuna ocean entry has been slowly building a new lava delta for a little over a month now. Since our April 15 post, the delta has grown substantially. Two large cracks parallel to the coast are visible on the delta (center), with the distal portion slumping slightly seaward—suggesting further instability.

Early this morning the lava lake level was measured at 12.5 m (41 ft) below the vent rim, the highest level the lake reached this month. But, at around 8:30 a.m., summit inflation switched to deflation and the lava lake level began to drop.

By mid-afternoon, when these photos were taken, the drop in the lava lake level was obvious. A "bathtub ring" of black lava forming a rim on the vent wall (between the lighter-colored rocks higher in the wall and the surface of the lava lake) provides a record of the lake's previous higher level.

Mount St. Helens monitoring station SEP buried in about 10-15 ft of snow. Station stands approximately 8 ft tall and is located to the right of the person in this photo. April 21, 2018

Mount St. Helens monitoring station SEP during temporary installation of a 20 foot mast to restore data flow after heavy snow buried the site and cut off seismic data transmission.

Ben Gaddis, a volunteer at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, works on historical documentation of volcanic products from the 1924 explosive eruption of Halema‘uma‘u Crater within Kīlauea's summit caldera. Ben recently received the U.S. Department of Interior's "Citizen's Award for Exceptional Service" for his many years of volunteer service at HVO.

The ocean entry at Kamokuna remains active, with a small lava delta. Views of the lava streams entering the water were obscured by the thick plume. Very weak littoral explosions were occurring.

A wide range of clothing and preparedness is seen amongst the estimated 1,500 people a day visiting Kīlauea's active flow field and ocean entry.

Surface flows erupting; lava bench movement measured

Lava flowing from Kīlauea again

Local volcanologist to assess Zaire eruption

Kīlauea flows are large

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of March 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of April 10 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).

A small delta at the Kamokuna ocean entry (left) continues to slowly build. Our observations this afternoon (April 10) indicate that the coastal plain breakouts that had been active since mid-February have died within the last few days. Currently, the only active surface flows are from the March 5 breakout on the upper flow field.

A field of blocks on the sea cliff above the ocean entry suggest that lava delta collapses and explosions have recently occurred. The blocks are resting on a thick layer of Pele's hair and limu o Pele, which are small glassy particles that fall from the ocean entry plume.

This video clip shows the Kamokuna ocean entry, with the laze plume blocking the view of the delta. The billowing white cloud rising from the ocean entry is a corrosive seawater plume laden with hydrochloric acid and fine volcanic particles that can irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs.

A small delta has formed at the Kamokuna ocean entry, but views of the delta have been largely obscured by the thick ocean entry plume.

A closer view of the delta. A small black sand beach is visible on its eastern side (bottom of photo).