Images

Continued degassing from fumaroles at fissures on Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone produce native sulfur crystals when sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases react and cool upon reaching the surface. The delicate sulfur crystals are 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long. USGS photos by A. Lerner, 2018.

White laze plumes mark locations where lava enters the ocean over a broad area. An open lava channel flows into the ocean at the southern-most plume (middle) near the southern flow margin. The boat ramp at Pohoiki is about 940 m (0.58 mi) farther south of the flow margin. View is toward the west-southwest.

Allan Lerner works in the USGS volcanic gas geochemistry group. The photo was taken in the crater of Mount St. Helens, with Spirit Lake and Mount Rainier in the distance. USGS photo by P. Kelly.

GeoGirls hike onto the Pumice Plain to learn more about Mount St. Helens’ historical

eruptions.

High-resolution digital elevation dataset for Newberry Volcano and vicinity, Oregon, based on lidar survey of August-September, 2010 and bathymetric survey of June, 2001.

Flow banding of Panum pumice and obsidian of the same composition.

Photograph of eddy covariance and Multi-GAS stations that were deployed in a temporary configuration near Norris Geyser Basin in 2016. Research conducted under permit YELL-2016-SCI-7082.

GeoGirls learn about how the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens impacted the ecology of the area.

Photomicrograph of sample 09RDWES301 - an andesite collected during the Redoubt 2009 eruption. A rock thin section is created by gluing a small piece of rock onto a glass slide, then grinding it down to a thickness of 30 microns (the average human hair is about 100 microns in diameter) so that light shines through it when examined under the microscope.

On May 24, 2016, two new flows broke out on the flanks of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone on Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone. The silvery sheen of new lava erupting from the northern 61f breakout (center) and eastern 61g breakout (upper left) stands out in contrast to the older flows on and around Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (right).

This building housed the Kīlauea cyclorama at the Chicago World's Fair in1893. Positioned above the entrance to the cyclorama was a statue of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, standing on a lava flow and holding a flame. For more info, please see https://chicagology.com/columbiaexpo/fair052/.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of November 29 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of December 14, based on satellite imagery, is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray.

December 13 - 14, 2016 Long Valley Caldera earthquake swarm recorded on instrument MDH1 webicorder. Swarm begins at 23:28 PST.

In July 2016, lava erupted from Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone reached the ocean for the first time in almost three years, building the Kamokuna lava delta, shown here in October 2016.

This video, at 50x speed to illustrate the motion of the lava lake surface, shows typical lava lake activity within Halema‘uma‘u Crater. Lava upwells in the northern portion of the lake (left side of image), with most of the lake surface flowing towards the south (right side). Spattering is active within a small grotto at the southeast margin of the lake.

As you watch this VIDEO CLIP, note the rocky ledge (yellow arrow) at the bottom of the webcam image. At 6:58 a.m., HST, today, this large slab of the summit vent wall, located directly below HVO's HMcam, collapsed.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Frank Trusdell (right) discusses methodologies for lava flow hazard assessment in Hawaii with a volcanology colleague from Ethiopia during the recent Volcano Observatory Best Practices Workshop in Vancouver, Washington.

The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the National Park Service Jaggar Museum are perched together near the summit of Kīlauea, about 1.7 km (~1.1 mi) from the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, producing a plume in the background.

A wide view of the ocean entry, showing the broad lava delta on the right. Lava deltas (new land formed at the ocean entry) are built on a foundation of rubble, so they can (and do) collapse without warning.

Another view of Halema‘uma‘u with its lava lake. The view is to the southeast.

Large cracks parallel to the shoreline are still visible on the Kamokuna delta, indicating instability. The view is to the northeast.