Images

These Pele's hairs were collected along the Saddle Road many kilometers (miles) away from the eruptive vents. They were carried downwind and deposited across the landscape. Each hair is less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) wide and they form as lava pulls and stretches as it cools during eruption. Photo taken at around 10:45 a.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.

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.

A view of fissure 4 erupting on the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa, taken at approximately 8 a.m. HST November 29, 2022. Fissure 4 formed at approximately 7:30 p.m. HST November 28, and this morning the fountains there were 5-10 m (16-33 ft) tall. USGS photo by F. Trusdell. 

A morning view of Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone eruption plume from Hilo. Volcanic gas emissions are generating an eruption plume primarily being blown to the North this morning. USGS photo by K. Hon on November 29, 2022. 

A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist documents a lava flow from the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa the morning of November 29, 2022. The ‘a‘ā lava flow, on the northeast flank of Mauna Loa, is several feet thick. 'A'ā flows have a rough rubbly surface composed of broken lava blocks called clinkers.

Aerial view of the lava flows on the northeast flank of Mauna Loa, taken during a morning overflight on November 29, 2022. These lava flows are moving in a northeast direction, being fed by fissure vents on the Northeast Rift Zone. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

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. 

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. 

This image shows an erupting fissure high on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone. Fountain heights of 20-25 meters (65-82 feet) were measured by HVO field crews on the morning of November 29, 2022. USGS image by L. Gallant.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.