Images

Lava flow (June 27) advancing northeast across ground surface after exiting ground crack system along Kīlauea's East Rift Zone, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, Hawai‘i. Smoke from burning trees, Kahoe Homesteads in foreground.

San Francisco Mountain (peak on the left) viewed from Mount Elden to the southeast, near Flagstaff, Arizona.

This shaded-relief map, courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, shows some of the cracks, faults, and grabens (down-dropped blocks between adjacent faults; http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=graben) that are present in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone, and which are partly controlling t

This large-scale map shows the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The area of the flow on September 3 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on September 6 at ~11:10 AM is shown in red. The black dots mark the flow front on specific dates.

This small-scale map shows the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 6, 2014. The area of the flow on September 3 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on September 6 at ~11:10 AM is shown in red.

This thermal image looks west at the June 27th flow front. The active tip of the flow is at the right side of the image, moving north. Lava issued from several spots along a deep ground crack, which has been traced with the dotted line in the left portion of the image.

A wide view of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, looking northwest. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater, on Kīlauea's East Rift Zone, is the large fuming crater just to the left of the image center.

Breakouts remain scattered along the June 27th lava flow, and are not just limited to the flow front. Here surface flows have recently cut a swath through thick forest.

Following a reduction in surface activity yesterday, we observed an increase in surface flows today issuing from the ground crack. The reduction yesterday was likely due to lava filling the deep ground cracks. The flow front today was moving towards the north from the ground crack, through thick forest, creating a dense plume of smoke.

Another view of the flow front, looking west. Lava issued from several spots along a deep ground crack earlier this week, as shown by the distinct fingers of lava making up the flow front.

Preview image for video: gives a quick aerial overview of activity at the flow front.

Lava was filling another ground crack near the flow front, as indicated by a line of steam that extended a short distance west of the flow tip. At two spots along this ground crack we observed small pads of lava near the surface.

This shaded-relief map, courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, shows some of the cracks and faults that are present in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. The June 27th flow is partly transparent and shown in pink, while the active surface lava at 1 PM on September 4 are outlined in red.

Large-scale map showing the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. Flow advancement is illustrated with black dots which show the flow front on specific dates.

Small-scale map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 4, 2014. Lava on the surface at 1 PM, outlined in red, was 13.3 km (8.3 miles) from the vent and 1.2 km (0.7 miles) from the east boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve. The front of the flow was spilling into another crack, which was steaming.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 3, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on September 1 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 3 is shown in red. Last night, lava welled up out of the crack it was filling and spilled out onto the ground to feed new surface flows.

The June 27th lava flow remains active, with lava at the flow front issuing from a ground crack and advancing through thick forest, creating dense plumes of smoke. The farthest lava this afternoon was 13.2 km (8.2 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna forest reserve.

This view looks east at the far end of the June 27th lava flow. In the center of the photograph is an isolated pad of lava which came out of ground crack last week.

A closer view of the flow front, looking west. It is difficult to see the active lava surface through the thick smoke. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō can be seen in the upper left portion of the photograph, partly obscured by smoke.

One small portion of the flow front was quite vigorous, with an open stream of lava moving through the forest.

Lava from June 27 breakout flowing into deep ground crack along Kīlauea East Rift Zone, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, Hawai‘i