Images

Here is steeper view of the inactive lava pond, just left of center. After it was abandoned, its surface crusted over and sagged to form a gentle bowl. Skylights and points of fume just right of center mark the trace of the new tube. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at upper right. The view is toward the south-southeast.

Here is steeper view of the inactive lava pond, just left of center. After it was abandoned, its surface crusted over and sagged to form a gentle bowl. Skylights and points of fume just right of center mark the trace of the new tube. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at upper right. The view is toward the south-southeast.

Since the onset of the "June 27 breakout" flow, the central part of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater has been collapsing slowly. Thick fume and steam prevented good views, but this photo shows the edge of the ring fracture that bounds the collapse. The heavy fume comes from pits that formed where spatter cones used to be.

Perhaps the most interesting feature in the new crater at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is the pit formed on the southern side of the crater floor. There, a small lava pond roughly 10 m (~30 ft) across has been sporadically overflowing and sending lava toward the deeper central part of the crater. View is to the south.

The front of the "June 27 breakout" flow, seen here as the silvery lava at lower right, is about 2.0 km (~1.2 miles) northeast from its vent (as measured in a straight line), and surrounds what little remains of Pu‘u Kahauale‘a, a forested cone several hundred years old. View is toward the southwest, and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at upper right.

Here is a closer view showing the beleaguered Pu‘u Kahauale‘a surrounded by active pāhoehoe flows. The view is to the northwest.

Volcanic-gas "sniffer" installed at Mammoth Mountain, California measures temperature plus carbon dioxide and other gas concentration from a steaming vent.

Streamflow measurement and water sampling at Paradise Creek are part of the regular measurements taken during hydrothermal monitoring campaigns at Mount Rainier, Washington.

The A-train constellation of earth observing satellites. Included is the recently added OCO-2 mission spacecraft (leading the train at far right), which will focus on improving our understanding of the global carbon cycle by mapping Earth's CO2 distribution approximately once every 2 weeks for the next 2 years or more. Image, courtesy of NASA.

Mount Baker in the background of the Tesoro oil refinery in Padilla Bay, Washington. Volcanic hazards from Mount Baker such as ash fall could impact this refinery during a future eruption.

The June 27 breakout has remained active over the past week, emitting short lava flows from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's northeast flank. These flows have stacked upon one another creating a lava shield, which now hosts a lava pond.

Elevated pressure within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone reached a breaking point on June 27 with magma intruding through the cone and erupting from fissures on the northeast flank of the cone. These new vents fed a vigorous, but still relatively short, channelized flow that had reached about 1.5 km (0.9 miles) northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō by 11 a.m.

The June 27 breakout initially produced a channelized lava flow that reached Pu‘u Kahauale‘a (about 1.5 km, or 0.9 miles, from the vent) during the first day, but over the past two days the surface flows have retreated closer to the vent, building a lava shield (visible just above the center of the photograph).

The lava pond in the northeast portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. A lava pond has existed here for months, but it enlarged considerably during lava level drop and collapses that occurred with the start of the June 27 breakout. Today, the lava pond was about 35 meters (yards) across, and seven meters (yards) below the rim.

Preview image for video: shows activity in the lava pond in the northeast portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. A lava pond has been here for months, but it enlarged considerably during the June 27 breakout as the lava level in the pond dropped.

Until recently, surface flows were active in this portion of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow, triggering small brush fires and creating smoke plumes. With the opening of new vents on June 27, the supply of lava into the Kahauale‘a 2 tube was shut off (see photos of the tube above). There were no active surface flows anywhere on the Kahauale‘a 2 flow today.

Map showing the June 27, 2014, breakout and the Kahauale‘a 2 flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i as of June 30, 2014. The Kahauale‘a 2 flow (pale orange) is no longer active — it was beheaded when the lava level at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō dropped with the onset of the June 27 breakout.

Map showing the June 27, 2014, breakout at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. The area of the new flow as mapped on June 27 is shown in pink, while widening of the flow as June 30 is shown in red.

This comparison of the normal photograph with a thermal image shows the extent of the lava shield clearly. The lava shield is visible as the area of high temperatures (hot colors) in the thermal image. Corresponding spots are marked with small arrows for reference.

A view of the lava shield with the thermal camera.

A view from the ground of the lava pond in the northeast portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. Note the layering exposed in the wall above the pond surface.