Images

Paulina Lake, in the caldera of Newberry Volcano. View looking south-southeast.

This hand-tinted telephoto image of Kīlauea Volcano's "Old Faithful" lava fountain in Halema‘uma‘u Crater was taken by volcanologist Frank A. Perret on July 23, 1911. USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory photo archives.

This video clip, filmed on August 12, 2016, shows a typical pāhoehoe breakout on Kīlauea Volcano's "61g" lava flow (actual speed).

"The whole Eastern Half of the lake is in a state of continuous activity with Old Faithful playing 10 to 20 feet every 35 to 45 seconds." J.M. Lydgate wrote these words and sketched this map of Halema‘uma‘u Crater in the Volcano House Register (a collection of hotel guest comments) in July 1909 to document his observations of Kīlauea Volcano.

Kīlauea Volcano's active lava flow continues to bury more of the emergency access route (Chain of Craters Road) in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Early this morning, slow-moving breakouts were oozing across the road on the west side of the flow.

Kīlauea Volcano's older "61g" lava flows have now inflated (left side of photo), creating jagged terrain that rises as much as 3 m (10 ft) above the road. Today, new lava (right) was covering additional areas of the gravel road.

At the summit of Kīlauea, the weather cleared, but inflation turned to deflation and the lava lake level dropped, so the spattering that had been visible from overlooks in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park the past two days is no longer visible today. But, it was a beautiful day to view Halema‘uma‘u Crater from the Jaggar Museum Overlook!

In concert with inflationary tilt, the level of Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake rose over the past day and was measured at 28 m (92 ft) below the vent rim this morning.

Zooming in on the lava lake, a closer camera view of the spattering lake surface late this afternoon.

USGS scientist measures Earth's gravity field at a benchmark on the west flank of Mount St. Helens. Sediment-filled channel of South Fork Toutle River is visible in the distance. The drainage was heavily impacted by mudflows spawned by the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Drew Downs in Iceland with a glacier in hte background.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field at the coast. The area of the active flow field as of August 12 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on August 19 is shown in red. The base is a Digital Globe image from January 2016.

Aerial view of the Kamokuna ocean entry. Lava is reaching the sea along a broad area about 1 km (0.6 miles) long. In this view, the 61g lava flow is lighter gray in color compared to older lavas.

HVO geologist conducts a VLF (very low frequency) survey across the episode 61g lava tube to measure the depth and cross-sectional area of lava flowing within the tube.

Aerial view of the Kamokuna ocean entry and the Emergency Access Road cut by the 61g lava flow. 61g lavas are lighter in color than older lavas on the coastal plain. Upslope, a trail of fume marks the lava tube as it passes over the pali.

HVO geologist uses a handheld device that can receive very-low-frequency (VLF) radio waves in order to measure lava discharge within a tube. This device, simply called a VLF, measures the shape of the electromagnetic field induced around an active lava tube by transmissions from very-low-frequency radio transmitters scattered around the globe.

On August 6, a rockfall from the steep walls of Overlook crater, which contains Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake, triggered an explosive event that deposited spatter (molten lava) and solid rock fragments on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater. That event was just the latest in a series of explosions that began in 2008.

This aerial video footage, filmed by USGS in late July 2016, features Kīlauea Volcano's summit vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater.

The beauty of Kīlauea Volcano's eastern Kamokuna ocean entry can be enjoyed from a safe distance upwind of where lava flows into the sea. The eastern entry site (shown here) has created a lava delta that is now about 5 acres in size; as this delta grows larger, so does the risk of a sudden collapse.

During a special media briefing today, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists (left) and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park rangers (right) talked about the hazards associated with Kīlauea Volcano's active lava flow and ocean entries, the exciting scientific opportunities posed by flow 61G, and how visitors can safely hike to and view the beauty of lava flowing o

People who venture too close to Kīlauea's Kamokuna ocean entry—by land or by sea—are at risk from multiple hazards associated with lava flowing into the sea. The white plume formed by the interaction of lava and seawater is a corrosive mixture of super-heated steam, hydrochloric acid, and tiny particles of volcanic glass, all of which should be avoided.