Images

Washington State Governor Proclaims May 2021 as Volcano Awareness Month.

While hiking along the rim of the 2018 collapse area at the summit of Kīlauea, HVO scientists visited a site to the southeast of Halema‘uma‘u known as Akanikōlea—a culturally-significant place that is featured in Hawaiian legends.

HVO scientists hiked along the closed Crater Rim Road on April 30th to retrieve acoustic (sound) sensors for a scientific study. This section of the road was damaged by earthquake activity during the 2018 Kīlauea summit caldera collapse. This stretch of road traverses part of the September 1982 lava flow, visible as a lobe of black rock on the right of the road.

The lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, remains active, as seen in this view looking north. Active surface lava is limited to the western (left) portion of the lake between the main island and the western fissure complex.

A close-up view of the west vent spatter cones (bottom left) and inlet where lava is entering the lava lake (center right) in Halema‘uma‘u Crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. A piece of crust, that solidified near the inlet, broke off and was being transported away from the inlet. This photograph was taken on April 26, 2021, at 1:51 p.m.

On Monday, April 26, 2021, lava continued to flow from the western vent (bottom left) into the active lava lake (center) in Halema‘uma‘u Crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The active lava lake surface continues to shrink as areas on the north (upper left) and south (center right) sides cool and solidify. This photograph was taken at 1:03 p.m.

This map of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea shows 20 m (66 ft) contour lines (dark gray) that mark locations of equal elevation above sea level (asl). The map shows that the lava lake has filled 228 m (748 ft) of the crater, to an elevation of 745 m (2444 ft) asl since the eruption began on December 20, 2020.

This zoomed-in photo of the far southwest end of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at Kīlauea's summit was captured on Thursday, April 22, and it illustrates the process by which parts of the lava lake become inactive.

Travertine sample from the Hillside Springs Group in Upper Geyser Basin, sampled under permit YELL-2020-SCI-8030. (Left) Cut and polished sample slab showing the different layers of travertine; dashed circles indicate where subsamples were taken for geochronology analysis.

On Thursday, April 22, HVO scientists observed the ongoing eruption at the Kīlauea summit from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u. This photo shows the active western portion of the lava lake, which appears to be in the process of shrinking again, with its northeast (upper-right) and southwest (lower-left) ends crusting over substantially.

Photographs of travertine in Yellowstone. A) Travertine terraces actively forming at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Map of Yellowstone National Park showing the location of major travertine deposits. The green dashed line is the outline of Yellowstone Caldera and red lines are major paved roads.

A telephoto view of the west vent and lava lake inlet within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava erupting from the west vent (upper left) continues to feed into the active lava lake through a wide inlet near the base of the cone (center right).

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater and feed the active lava lake at Kīlauea summit. Volcanic gas emissions from the west vent (lower left) remain elevated and were last measured on April 14 at about 950 t/d.

A telephoto view of the southern lava lake crust and Halema‘uma‘u crater wall at the summit of Kīlauea. Many rockfalls from the steep and unstable crater walls of Halema‘uma‘u have deposited large boulders onto the stagnant lava surface over the past few months. This photo was taken from the west rim of Halema‘uma‘u looking southeast. USGS photo taken by L.

A view of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i, showing the active western fissure with rising fumes, the active western portion of the lava lake (lighter colored area in the middle of the photo), and the big island within the lava lake (right).

A telephoto view of the northwestern point of the main island within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at Kīlauea summit. A rockfall scar (center left) remains after a small collapse of the island was observed by field geologists around 12:43 p.m. HST on April 20, 2021. A sliver of the active lava lake surface is visible at the bottom of this photo.

April 20 was the four-month anniversary of Kīlauea's ongoing summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u. This animated GIF features approximately one thermal image for each day of the eruption and demonstrates eruptive activity over the past four months. At 9:30 p.m.

An HVO geologist surveys the lava lake from the eastern rim of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The cliff that covers most of the top half of the photo formed during the collapse events of 2018, and gives a sense of the scale of that event. USGS photo by M. Patrick on April 16, 2021.

A helicopter overflight on April 16, 2021, at approximately 12 p.m. HST allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano.

A view of the south margin of the perched lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This photo was taken from the east rim of the crater, and shows the steep levee containing the lake. USGS photo by M. Patrick.