Images

This image was taken on a helicopter overflight on the afternoon of November 29, 2022. It shows a lava flow cutting across the Mauna Loa Observatory Road in two places. USGS image by L. Gallant. 

Photograph of fissure 3 erupting on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone the morning of November 29, 2022. The longest and largest lava flow is issuing from fissure 3. This lava flow crossed the Mauna Loa Weather Observatory Road at approximately 8 p.m.

Pele's hairs (small filaments of quenched lava) draped across older lava flow tops near the Saddle Road, just past Pu‘u Huluhulu cinder cone. These hairs were deposited many kilometers (miles) away from the active vents by the windblown eruption plume.

An erupting fissure high on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone was issuing multiple lava flows on the morning of November 29, 2022. Fountain heights of 20-25 meters (65-82 feet) were measured by HVO field crews. A gas plume is rising off of the fissure and partially obscuring Mauna Kea in the background of the image. USGS image by L. Gallant. 

This image, taken during a helicopter overflight on the afternoon of November 29, shows the advancing flow front from Mauna Loa. This flow was erupted from a vent high up on the Northeast Rift Zone and is flowing to the north. USGS image by L. Gallant. 

Mauna Loa’s Fissure 3 gas plume, with rain clouds, as seen from the Saddle Road on November 29, 2022. The orange-brown tint near the vent is due to scattering by aerosols in the plume.

An eruption of Mauna Loa volcano started at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 27, 2022. Initial fissures covered the floor of Moku‘āweoweo caldera with new lava, but this area was mostly inactive by the time HVO field crews arrived after sunrise on Monday morning.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on November 25, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor. An adjacent pond (purple) is feeding lava to a larger lake (red) via a crusted-over tube.

A telephoto view of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater the morning on November 23, 2022, taken from the west rim and looking east. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.

A telephoto view of the west vent area within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This photo was taken the morning of November 23, 2022, at a moment when red molten material was visible in the inlet north of the west vent, which feeds into the lava lake. Incandescent material is intermittently visible in the inlet. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) flights on November 23, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) flights on November 23, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

View looking to the west on the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu, at the summit of Kīlauea. The foreground is covered by pāhoehoe, and the brown-colored feature in the background is the island that has persisted since the December 2020 eruption within Halema‘uma‘u. USGS photo by D. Downs.

A hornito located on the eastern side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. The colorful nature of the hornito comes from the various gases that come out of the magma and precipitate on the surrounding rock. Many of these colors are from sulfur that is abundant in Kīlauea magmas. USGS photo by D. Downs.

A close-up view of Halema‘uma‘u's active lava lake. The western rim of Kīlauea was visited by field crews who observed variable amounts of spattering along the eastern margin of the lake (seen here at the top of the photograph). The direction of flow is from west to east (bottom to top in this photograph).

View looking west of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea volcano the morning of November 17, 2022. This photo is taken from the overlook near Keanakāko‘i Crater, which is publicly accessible. Lava is visible in the center of the photo, to the left of the top of the shrub in the foreground.

This tall, thin hornito on the eastern side of the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu is made up of spatter. The spatter made its way through a crack in the thick, solidified lava that forms the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The yellow and white patches at the bottom are from sulfur that has come out of the magma precipitating on the lava.

A helicopter overflight on November 17, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

A mid-morning view of the southern portion of Halema‘uma‘u, as seen by field crews from the western rim. Activity within Halema‘uma‘u has remained steady over the last week. The active lake surface sits 7 meters (~23 feet) below the surface of the caldera. A small amount of spatter along the eastern margin of the lake was visible (the red glow).

A helicopter overflight on November 17, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

Panoramic view of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, looking eastward from the west rim. HVO scientists continue to monitor Halema‘uma‘u as the summit eruption continues. USGS photo taken on November 10, 2022, by J.M. Chang.