Images

During recent multi-day pauses in the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, a small portion of the Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake has consistently remained active: a small, ovular lava pond just north of the briefly dormant western fissure.

Two weeks of earthquake activity preceding the September 29, 2021, eruption at Kīlauea summit. The regions of interest indicated on the map include: KS (Kīlauea summit); ML (Mauna Loa summit); P (Pāhala).

On the afternoon of December 27, 2021, the summit eruption of Kīlauea was paused and showed only intermittent and weak crustal foundering in the formerly active west side of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u. This photo, looking down and toward the east, shows the topography of the formerly active pond of lava during the eruption pause.

View of the west vent in Halemaʻumaʻu and the lava lake, from the northwest rim of the caldera, looking east [V1cam]. Image taken December 23, 2021.

Hannah Kruse is a geologist with the USGS USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program who focuses on volcanic eruption chronologies past and present.

Laura Clor is a gas geochemist who works with the five U.S. Geological Survey volcano observatories.

Christopher Harpel is a geologist with the USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program.

Joseph Bard is a geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Emily Bryant works as a student intern at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Joel Robinson is a geographer and GIS specialist with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Ben Pauk is a geophysicist based at the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Sally Sennert works with the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program and the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.

Jim Kauahikaua is a volcano scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

Activity was very low during the helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, on the morning of December 21. This view shows the west vent (near center) and the western part of the lava lake, where only a tiny portion of the surface was weakly active. The lava lake, which is in a state of pause, now has exposed walls due to a drop in the surface.

Michael Albert Mitchell is a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow working with the USGS Volcano Science Center.

An aerial view of the western portion of Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, during the December 21 helicopter overflight. Eruptive activity is paused, and only a weak gas plume was being emitted from the west vent (center right). Just north of (below) the west vent, a tiny pad of lava remained weakly active within the lake. USGS photo taken by D. Downs.

The lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, has slowly continued to rise over the past month. As the lake level rises, lava has flowed onto the lowest part of the lowest down-dropped block (right) from the 2018 Kīlauea summit collapse.

E. Frank Younger is an expert in scientific instrumentation at the U.S. Geological SurveyHawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Allan Lerner is a volcano gas geochemist who has worked with several USGS volcano observatories.

Wendy McCausland is a volcano seismologist who works with the Cascades Volcano Observatory to help understand volcanic seismicity and its use in eruption forecastings.

Kevin Pesola is an administrative support specialist with the USGS Volcano Science Center. He is based at the Cascades Volcano Observatory.