Images

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists prepare an Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) unit for launch at Kīlauea summit on January 14, 2022. Imagery collected by the UAS will be used to generate a 3-dimensional model that will be used to evaluate the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u for changes.

In this photo, an HVO technician adjusts a volcanic gas analysis instrument that was specifically designed for this Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) unit, which carries three one-liter analysis bags. The instrument transmits gas concentration information in real-time during flight.

An Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) unit surveys the eruption site at the summit of Kīlauea on January 14, 2022. UAS photos, data, and samples help scientists to understand ongoing volcanic processes and their associated hazards, and to detect changes that might indicate shifts in the character of activity.

Eruptions within Halema‘uma‘u crater over the past year have filled in the deepest part of Kīlauea caldera that collapsed during 2018. This image shows the young lava lake surface bounded by fault scarps that formed within the caldera during 2018.

Close-up view of the margin of overflows from the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. These overflows are encroaching northwards onto the lowest of the down-dropped blocks that formed during Kīlauea's 2018 summit collapse events. USGS image by K. Kamibayashi.

This monitoring station partially survived the 2018 collapse events at the summit of Kīlauea. Located on one of the blocks that “down-dropped” during those events, the station was lowered in elevation by over 150 m (almost 500 ft) in 2018.

Patricia (Tricia) Nadeau is a gas geochemist who works with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Active lava in Halema‘uma‘u is visible in this image, with rubble from Kīlauea's 2018 collapse events prominent in the foreground. The background of the photo is framed by the fault scarps that formed within the caldera during the 2018 summit collapse events at Kīlauea. USGS image by M. Warren.

On January 13, 2022, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff conducted a mission to rescue monitoring equipment that was being threatened by overflows from the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea.

Despite several brief pauses over the past month, lava lake activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava is erupting from the west vent, which has built a steep spatter cone. The active lake is perched slightly above the surrounding solidified lava. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A close up of the perched levee impounding the active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Photo taken on January 10, 2022, from the south rim of Kīlauea caldera. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A close up of the surface texture on the active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The classic zig-zag pattern in apparent in the incandescent spreading zones between crustal plates that form on the surface of the lava lake. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on January 7, 2022. One eruptive vent is intermittently active within Halemaʻumaʻu, along the western edge of the lava lake. When this vent is effusing lava, it pours into the active portion of the lake, colored red on this map.

Kyle R. Anderson is a Volcano Geophysicist who works at the USGS California Volcano Observatory.

John Pallister is a Geologist Emeritus with the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.  He served as the VHP Director as well as the Director for the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program. He is based out of the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, WA.

Alexa Van Eaton is a physical volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Map of seismicity (red circles) in the Yellowstone region during 2021. Gray lines are roads, black dashed line shows the caldera boundary, Yellowstone National Park is outlined by black dot-dashed line, and gray dashed lines denote state boundaries.

Plots showing the correlation between Kīlauea summit sulfur dioxide emissions (SO₂) in tonnes per day (top panel), ground tilt in microradians (middle panel), and seismic tremor (RSAM) (lower panel) for the period of November 1, 2021, to January 22, 2022.  Eruptive pauses and highly diminished activity are highlighted in blue. USGS plots.

Types of explosive clasts found in the debris fan deposits at the summit of Mauna Loa: (A) unaltered ponded lava flow, (B) unaltered pāhoehoe, (C) altered ponded lava flow, often has a red to pink hue, (D) thermally altered pāhoehoe, often has a red-to-pink hue, (E) gabbroic xenolith, the most crystalline rocks we found, (F) bread-crust outer surfaces and vesicular

Map of explosive deposits at the edge of Moku‘āweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa. Map showing the size distribution of ejecta, sorted by maximum length in centimeters (one inch is about 2.5 cm). The colors indicate the different size fractions in centimeters. The largest blocks were found closest to the rim.

Boiling River near Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park.  Photo by R. Robinson.