Images

This image shows a thermal map of the flow on the pali and coastal plain, created from airborne thermal images. White pixels are hot, and show areas of active surface breakouts. The background image is a satellite image collected before the current lava flow was active.

This nitrogen-fixing lichen, Stereocaulon vulcani, is frequently abundant on ‘A‘ā lava flows on the Island of Hawai‘i, particularly in wet environments. Photo courtesy of Tim Tunison.

This satellite image was captured on Wednesday, July 13, by the Advanced Land Imager instrument onboard NASA's Earth Observing 1 satellite. The image is provided courtesy of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see.

Surface breakouts remained active on the pali and coastal plain, but the leading tip of the flow has advanced little since mapping on Sunday. This morning, the flow front was about 940 m (0.6 miles) from the ocean. Activity upslope of the flow front was widening the flow margins. In this photo, the active flow is the lighter colored area.

Above the pali there are no surface breakouts, and lava is carried downslope within the subsurface lava tube system. The trace of the lava tubes is evident by the line of fuming point sources along the flow. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and the vent for the current flow, are in the upper left portion of the photo.

The leading tip of the flow has moved only 40 m (130 feet) since yesterday's mapping and the lava activity at the tip was still very weak. The leading lava lobe had a dull surface and rough texture suggesting that it may have cooled somewhat within the flow interior.

About 200 meters (yards) upslope of the leading tip of the flow, more typical pāhoehoe was present - with a shiny, smooth surface.

The flow front activity was relatively weak today, but still active and advancing. The flow front at midday was about 1 km from the ocean (0.6 miles), having moved about 130 m (140 yards) since yesterday's mapping.

This pāhoehoe lava flow was advancing slowly across the gentle coastal plain on the southern flank of Kīlauea. The flow front was about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the ocean, having moved about 130 m (140 yards) since yesterday's mapping.

One of the many breakouts upslope of the flow front.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of June 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on July 8 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray.

A wider view of the fume-filled crater at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The deep hole near the crater rim (see photo at left) is just left of center in this image.

Channelized ‘A‘ā lava flows were still active on the steep sections of the pali. Dark brown areas are recently active ‘A‘ā, and the shiny gray areas are pāhoehoe lava.

A deep hole remains open on the upper northeast flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, revealing a forked stream of swiftly moving lava (just visible in this photo). Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater is visible in the upper part of the photo.

After rapidly advancing across about half of the coastal plain, the flow front slowed considerably over the past day. The front moved only moved about 90 m (300 feet) since yesterday's mapping, and activity at the leading tip of the flow was fairly weak today. The position of the lava flow front relative to the shoreline can be seen in this aerial photograph.

View of an ‘A‘ā flow surging down the face of the pali. Narrower ‘A‘ā channels are visible below.

As Kīlauea Volcano's active pāhoehoe flow spreads across the coastal plain on July 6, the new lava appeared more shiny or silvery compared with the older lava beneath it. Molten "toes" of lava breaking out from the leading edges of the flow can be seen in the lower right quadrant of the photo. USGS photo.

The flow front remains active, and consists of slow-moving pāhoehoe lava. This afternoon (July 7) the flow front was roughly 2.2 km (1.4 miles) from the base of the pali, 1.2 km (0.7 miles) from the ocean, and 1 km (0.6 miles) from the road.

This map of Kīlauea Volcano's lava flow shows the locations of Hawai‘i County's designated lava-viewing and parking areas (http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/), as well as the lava flow's location relative to the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park boundary (green line).

The hardened crust of this pāhoehoe lava is pushed upward as the flow advances, exposing the incandescent lava beneath.

The flow front remains active, and was more than half way across the coastal plain today (July 6). This afternoon, the flow front was roughly 2 km (1.2 miles) from the base of the pali, and 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the ocean. The front consisted of slow moving pāhoehoe.