Images

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow, which began just over a year ago, remains active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Activity on the flow seems to have diminished slightly over the past two weeks, following deflation at the summit.

On the left, a normal photograph shows the front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow. On the right, a thermal image shows a similar angle but in the infrared. Warm, but inactive, portions of the flow are shown by the purple and red colors, while the white and yellow areas shows active breakouts.

A near-vertical look at the margin of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow. Numerous trees surrounded by the slowly moving pāhoehoe lava were burned through at their base, causing them to eventually fall over onto the flow itself.

New flows on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater over the past few weeks threatened cameras positioned on the crater's north rim. Two cameras—a thermal camera observing the crater and a regular webcam observing the active Kahauale‘a 2 flow in the distance—were moved to a safer location partway up the steep northwestern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone.

A lava flow fed from a spatter cone on the south part of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater floor (the South spatter cone) continues to advance toward the east-southeast, and is about 700 m from its vent. The flow is the silvery lava that crosses the center of the photo.

The flow from the South spatter cone has buried part of the southern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, leaving little of the original tephra that composes the cone visible. Compare this photo to the one taken just a few months ago, on March 7.

The distal tip of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow, shown here, was 8.6 km (5.3 miles) straight-line distance northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō when mapped today. The flows advanced about 300 m (0.2 miles) since April 28.

The flow from the South spatter cone has buried part of the southern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, leaving little of the original tephra that composes the cone visible. Compare this photo to the one taken just a few months ago, on March 7.

New flows on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater over the past few weeks threatened cameras positioned on the crater's north rim. Two cameras—a thermal camera observing the crater and a regular webcam observing the active Kahauale‘a 2 flow in the distance—were moved to a safer location partway up the steep northwestern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone.

The distal tip of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow, shown here, was 8.6 km (5.3 miles) straight-line distance northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō when mapped today. The flows advanced about 300 m (0.2 miles) since April 28.

Bathymetric the islands and seamounts that make up the Mariana volcanic island arc (left) and the area of Ahyi seamount in the northern part of the arc (right). Susan Merle of NOAA's Earth-Ocean Interaction Program created these maps.

Lava flows from two different vents in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater have spilled out of the crater and down the flanks of the cone over the past week. This photo shows the new flow, easy to identify with its light gray color, originating from the south spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater (the spatter cone is visible as a bump on the crater floor).

The lava flow from the north spatter cone ran over old cinder deposits from the early fountaining phases of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō in the 1980s. Cinders sticking to the front of the pāhoehoe lava were lifted up as the front of the pāhoehoe toes inflated.

The northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater remained active, but the lava pond (featured in many recent photographs posted here) has crusted over, leaving only a small circular opening venting gas.

A closer look at the small opening at the top of the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. Although the lava pond is crusted over, fluid lava is likely present just a short distance below the opening. Delicate lava stalactites have formed just inside the rim.

Map showing the Kahauale‘a 2 flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i as of April 28, 2014. The most distant active front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow was just over 8.3 km (5.2 miles) straight-line distance northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Two other flows were also active on the flanks of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, each erupting from a different vent.

The north spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater fed a new flow, starting Tuesday evening, that covered much of the northern part of the crater floor and spilled over the crater rim towards the north. The right side of the north spatter cone has been present for many months, but the left side, which was spattering this morning, is new as of this week.

Despite the recent changes in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater over the past week, the Kahauale‘a 2 lava flow remains active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and continues to advance slowly through remote forest. The active flow front today was 8.3 km (5.2 miles) northeast of the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is visible near the top of the photograph.

The lava flow from the north spatter cone, in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, began on Tuesday night and came close to the north rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, where our webcams are situated. Because of this proximity, several of the webcams and other pieces of equipment were moved to higher ground on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Columnar jointing in the basalt cliffs at Latourell Falls, Oregon. The basalt columns formed when thick lava flows cooled after emplacement.

Flood basalt lava flow in stacked layers viewed eastward across the Columbia River from Rowena Crest Viewpoint, Oregon. Basalt in the lava flows has formed columnar jointing.