Images

During station maintenance at the Hualālai repeater, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory technicians installed a new webcam, the HLcam. This camera is located on Hualālai and provides view of Mauna Loa's northwest flank.

During the week of April 10, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory technicians upgraded the Hualālai repeater site, which is an important telemetry hub for volcano monitoring data. The site is located on the southeast side of Hualālai, at an elevation of 2,160 meters (7,090 feet) above sea level.

The Kīlauea summit eruption has been paused since Tuesday, March 7, 2023, and this reference map depicts the Halema‘uma‘u crater floor in its present noneruptive state. The eruption statistics provided here reflect activity up until the pause, since they are derived from measurements taken during a HVO helicopter overflight on Friday, March 10.

Eruptive activity was paused during the Friday, March 10, overflight of Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit. Numerous outgassing sites were present on the crater floor, but not active lava was present on the surface. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Aerial view looking northwest across the eastern part of the western pond basin within Halema‘uma‘u crater; the northern part of the southern pool basin is also visible. In the background, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists are working on the main island that formed in December 2020. USGS photo by J. Schmith.

An aerial view looking down into the frozen pool basin south of the western lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Spatter deposits can be seen all around the pool basin. The circular feature within the pool is the remains of a small, perched pond in the northern part of the pool basin. USGS photo by J. Schmith.

Close-up view of the pebbly, rubbly, and sandy texture of the tephra that formed in December 2020 when lava interacted with the water lake that was present at the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the time. Some of this tephra formed the island that then floated around the lava lake, and which is still present today. USGS photo by D. Downs. 

An aerial view of the western vent area shows the red oxidized interior walls of the ramparts with the several steaming areas. The outside southeastern side of the rampart and nearby crater floor is covered by a black apron of dust, possibly created by little tephra bits flying out of the now steaming vent (hole) in the rampart wall. USGS photo by J. Schmith.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visiting Halema‘uma‘u crater floor on March 10, 2023. While there, they visited the island of tephra material that formed in December 2020. The island is a composite of red-yellow oxidized pieces that range from sand size to up to a few feet (about a meter) in diameter. USGS photo by D. Downs. 

Aerial image of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor looking north and showing the architecture of the eastern part of the crater floor dominated by the eastern pond basin. The island from the December 2020 eruption can be seen rising in the western (left) side of the photo with the eastern vent area slightly to the east of the island.

View of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor looking south and showing the island that formed during the December 2020 eruption (foreground) and crater floor (background). The December 2020 island has a thin surface of glassy spatter and tephra from the more recent Halema‘uma‘u eruptions that started in September 2021 and January 2023.

A helicopter overflight on March 10, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. No active lava was present in the crater, with only scattered warm spots on the crater floor.

An aerial photo looking north shows the December 2020 island and eastern vent area within Halema‘uma‘u crater. For the first time, conditions allowed Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists to visit the island. The crew can be seen in orange, working on the northwestern edge of the island. USGS photo by J. Schmith.

Aerial photo looking east shows the Halema‘uma‘u western vent complex rising in the foreground. Notice how lava from the eastern end of the lake has flown around the western side and along the western went rampart. Further east is the basin that contained the active western pond and the small southern pool basin.

Aerial image taken at approximately 9 a.m. HST on March 10 during an overflight of Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea summit. The wind blew steam east, which allowed Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists to take a closer look at the features of the western end of the crater floor. This low-angle view was taken from the western end of the crater and looks east.

A helicopter overflight on March 10, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. No active lava was present in the crater, with only scattered warm spots on the crater floor.

On March 10, 2023, geologists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory visited the main island that was created during the first hours of the December 2020 eruption.

A low-angle aerial view showing the steep walls of the western basin within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. In the background, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist is working on the island that formed in the December 2020 eruption. USGS photo by J. Schmith.

This photograph shows darker-colored spatter from September 2021 and January 2023 eruptions in Halema‘uma‘u covering the lighter-colored tephra from the December 2020 eruption that makes up the bulk of the island in the middle of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. USGS photo by D. Downs. 

Lava samples collected near Mauna Loa’s fissure 3 vent (shown in this December 7 overflight photo) are glassy and contain bubbles and some very small (200 microns or 0.008 inches long) minerals like plagioclase and pyroxene, as shown in the grey-scale microscope image inset. USGS photos by Kendra J. Lynn. 

The top panel is from before the 2018 Kīlauea eruption and shows two steps corresponding to slow slip events (SSEs).  The bottom panel is from after 2018 and shows no evidence of step-like motion indicative of SSEs, although the slight curve does suggest that a post-eruption increase in seaward motion is slowly returning to background.  The inset