Videos

Video of an active breakout of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō episode 61G lava flow. This breakout is below the pali on the eastern margin of the flow. Pāhoehoe lava is flowing out from the base of an inflated tumulus, and has a characteristic blue tint to its surface crust (compared to the color of solidified lava around it).

A new HVO webcam provides improved views of Mauna Loa's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo, from the northwest rim. This time-lapse sequence shows a full day on Sunday, Dec. 3, starting and ending at midnight. The full moon and sensitive low-light ability of the camera allow good views throughout the nighttime hours.

An impressive channelized breakout appeared on the pali this morning, with lava emerging from the tube and swiftly flowing down the channel towards the base of the pali and coastal plain. Breakouts like these happen occasionally on the pali and are normally short lived.

This video shows typical spattering in the summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. Spattering is driven by the bursting of large gas bubbles. The surface crust tends to flow into the spattering sites, where the crust is shredded and sinks.

A routine helicopter overflight today provided good views of Mauna Loa's summit caldera. The video starts from the northeast end of the caldera, near North Pit, and travels southwest. In the southwest portion of the caldera, the prominent 1940 cone is followed by the 1949 cone on the caldera rim. The video ends with the steep walls of South Pit.

A helicopter overflight provided good view of Kīlauea caldera. This video starts from the east, near Kīlauea Iki, and heads west towards Halema‘uma‘u Crater. Spattering in the summit lava lake can be seen by the small orange spot in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The gas plume from the lake is carried southwest by trade winds.

Time-lapse movie showing 2.5 days of lava falls onto the western side of Kamokuna delta on Kīlauea Volcano. The movie starts just before sunset on Monday Oct 2nd, 2017, and ends in the morning of Oct 5th, 2017.

Breakouts remain active on the coastal plain and pali. Pāhoehoe breakouts were scattered across the coastal plain, while small channelized 'a'ā flows have recently been present on the steep slopes of the pali.

This video shows the Kamokuna lava delta growing and sinking over a 1 month time span between 15 August 2017 and 19 September 2017. Made from one image every other day. The video is looped 10 times, with the loop number in the upper left corner.

Spattering is common in Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake, and consists of many large bursting gas bubbles. The fluid nature of the lake can be seen when lava hits the wall and flows downward like syrup. The thin, flexible nature of the crust is also shown here, as the bursting gas bubbles rip and fold the thin skin on the lake.

A shatter ring forms and grows on the Kamokuna lava delta. This video shows repeated uplift and subsidence of the delta surface by the lava supply under the surface. This process creates a large round rubble pile, called a shatter ring.

A shatter ring forms and grows on the Kamokuna lava delta. This video shows repeated uplift and subsidence of the delta surface by the lava supply under the surface. This process creates a large round rubble pile, called a shatter ring.

An Instagram Story posted to the @USGS Instagram account about Matt Patrick, Research Geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).

This video clip shows spattering along the south margin of the summit lava lake. Note the large slab of crust migrating into the spatter site, where it is consumed. Unfortunately, wind noise masks much of the spattering sound in this video.

Pähoehoe breakouts remain active on the coastal plain, a short distance from the base of the pali. Typical breakout activity was observed today. This video clip, shown at x30 speed, highlights the erratic nature of pähoehoe advance, and the process of inflation beneath the crust.

The Kamokuna ocean entry remains active. Several parallel cracks cross the delta, suggesting sagaing and instability at the front of the delta.

This movie shows a sequence of 8 time-lapse photos—one photo per day from July 6 to July 13, 2017—of the lava delta at Kīlauea Volcano's Kamokuna ocean entry. The sequence shows the front of the delta subsiding, and cracks running parallel to the coast widening, over the 8-day time period.

This video shows the recent pähoehoe breakout along the 61g lava flow on the coastal plain. The first few segments are shown at x30 speed and the final segment is a time-lapse over 10 minutes with a frame every 30 seconds

The Kamokuna ocean entry remains active, with recent lava flows spreading out over the surface of the lava delta. The spot where the lava tube exits the seacliff is visible, and a ramp of solidifed lava has been built here. Lava then flows into a tube on the lava delta, and finally flows into the water at several spots, marked by the gas plume.

This video clip shows HVO geologist Tim Orr sampling lava from an active pāhoehoe breakout on the episode 61g lava flow. The chemistry of these lava samples provides information on the magma plumbing system. Sampling has been a regular part of monitoring Kīlauea Volcano's ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption.

This time-lapse sequence shows the outgassing plume from the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. The images were captured by a camera on the flank of Mauna Loa on May 19, 2017. As the plume rose from the vent, it reached the atmospheric inversion layer, which effectively capped the height of the plume.