Videos

Is there a wrecked ship rising out of Yellowstone Lake or is it an April Fool's joke? Watch to learn more!

Volcanic ash in Kansas? It's true there's thick deposits there, but where are the source volcanoes? Geologists began puzzling over this in the late 1800s when these deposits were first recognized. 

If a geyser erupts and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Of course it does, and now we can hear it no matter when it happens thanks to a new monitoring station in Yellowstone National Park.

In this monthly update of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, we present our take on the top five headlines for 2023.

0:12 - Earthquakes, Deformation

1:20 - Steamboat Geyser Eruptions

2:30 - New Monitoring for Hydrothermal

3:24 - Volcanic Eruptions at Yellowstone

4:34 - Magma Chamber below Yellowstone

Steamboat Geyser is the tallest geyser in the world. It has been putting on a show the last few years for visitors at Yellowstone National Park with a record number of water eruptions, 48 eruptions each in 2019 and 2020. But it's only had eight eruptions in 2023. Is Steamboat losing steam? 

Mauna Loa 2022 eruption anniversary video. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano and covers just over half of the Island of Hawaiʻi. It erupted most recently in November-December 2022, and it will erupt again.

Mauna Loa 2022 eruption anniversary video. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano and covers just over half of the Island of Hawaiʻi. It erupted most recently in November-December 2022, and it will erupt again.

Lava flows are one of the coolest (or maybe hottest!) features about volcanoes, but what would a lava flow look like if you could peel away the surface and take a peek underneath?

Yellowstone is a geologic wonderland with over 2 billion years of Earth's history recorded in the rocks. But some of that history is missing. Where did it go? We’ll look into that mystery in the October 2023 update from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Several vents continued to erupt on the western side of the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera on September 6, 2023.  The roughly east-west trending active vents span approximately 0.5 miles (750 m) and had lava fountain heights of up to about 10 meters (32 feet).

During an HVO eruption monitoring overflight on September 12, 2023, HVO geologists landed on the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera and searched for a safe place to collect a lava sample.

During the morning of September 11, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted an overflight of the new eruption within the Kīlauea summit caldera. The eruption is occurring in the east portion of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and on the downdropped block to the east, which formed during the 2018 summit collapse.

The new eruption at the summit of Kīlauea volcano continues. Numerous fountains remain active on the downdropped block east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

During an HVO eruption monitoring overflight on September 11, 2023, HVO geologist were able to land on the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera. They observed the line of erupting vents, several of which are visible in this video, as they searched for a safe location to collect a lava sample.

Another eruption at the summit of Kīlauea volcano began at 3:13 p.m. on September 10, 2023. This video, captured by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's B2cam on the east rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, shows the opening phase of the eruption. A lava fountain bursts from a degassing area in the eastern portion of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

The B1cam, located on the east margin of the down-dropped block within Kīlauea caldera, captured the start of another eruption at the summit of Kīlauea volcano that began at 3:13 p.m. on September 10, 2023. This video shows a lava fountain bursting from a degassing area in the eastern portion of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, with the downdropped block in the foreground.

This video, captured the evening of September 10, 2023, from near the Uēkahuna overlook within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, shows the new eruption within Kīlauea caldera. After approximately an hour of elevated earthquake and ground deformation, the eruption began at 3:13 p.m. on September 10, 2023.

What geologic hazard is most likely to occur in the Yellowstone region on human timescales? The answer might not be what you think.

What geologic hazard is most likely to occur in the Yellowstone region on human timescales?

Geysers and hot springs are some of the most dynamic geologic features on the planet. They are always changing and sometimes that change happens in places where we can see and appreciate it. This has been the case on Geyser Hill, near Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park.

HVO scientists conducted an overflight of the new eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano, within began the morning of June 7, 2023. This aerial video shows that multiple vent sources are active on the crater floor, much of which has been covered with new lava over the past several hours.