Videos

Quicktime video, taken from the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, showing the small lava lake that is active in the northeast portion of the crater floor. Unsteady gas escape along the lake margins drives low-level spattering and undulations of the lake surface.

Quicktime movie showing lava flowing through the active lava tube on the pali.

Video zoomed in on the spattering at the west edge of the lava lake in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u.

This video shows spattering at the west edge of the lava lake in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The crackling and popping noises are from fracturing of the rocks composing the walls of the vent caused by thermal expansion.

Heat from the high lava lake level in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u is causing the walls of the vent above the lava surface to expand and fracture. This is the source of the cracking and booming noises emanating from the vent in recent days.

The United States has 169 active volcanoes. More than half of them could erupt explosively, sending ash up to 20,000 or 30,000 feet where commercial air traffic flies. USGS scientists are working to improve our understanding of volcano hazards to help protect communities and reduce the risks.

Video Sections:

This Quicktime movie shows the impressive spattering at the western margin of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u. The continuous spattering is often punctuated by bursts which throw lava onto the ledge (left portion of image), and this accumulating lava is building a spatter rampart.

USGS geologist, Angie Diefenbach, describes how she uses GIS, (Geographic Information Systems) software to study volcanic eruptions and their impacts on society.

Volcanic ash is geographically the most widespread of all volcanic hazards. USGS geologist Larry Mastin describes how volcanic ash can disrupt lives many thousands of miles from an erupting volcano. The development of ash cloud models and ash cloud disruption to air traffic is highlighted.

This Quicktime movie shows spattering that is typical at the margins of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. The slow migration of the lava lake surface is normally towards the area of spattering, where the lava sinks back into the magmatic system. Spatter in this clip is being thrown about 5-10 meters (yards) in height.

Photogrammetry is the science of making precise measurements by the use of photography. USGS geologist Angie Diefenbach describes how she uses a digital camera and computer software to understand the growth rate of lava domes during a volcanic eruption.

USGS technologist Rick LaHusen describes how the development and deployment of instruments plays a crucial role in mitigating volcanic hazards.

USGS volcano seismologist, Seth Moran, describes how seismology and seismic networks are used to mitigate volcanic hazards.

Debris flows are hazardous flows of rock, sediment and water that surge down mountain slopes and into adjacent valleys. Hydrologist Richard Iverson describes the nature of debris-flow research and explains how debris flow experiments are conducted at the USGS Debris Flow Flume, west of Eugene, Oregon.

The lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u has been at a relatively high level over the past week, and several rise-fall cycles (short term increases in lava level immediately followed by spattering and an abrupt drop) pushed the level even higher over the past day.

A small lava pond, set within a collapse pit, has been active in the eastern portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater for the past several weeks. At the east margin of the lava pond, lava sinks back into the system, with frequent spatter bursts sourced from this downwelling spot.

This Quicktime movie begins with a view of lava in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō made possible by a small collapse pit. The lava is swiftly moving towards the northeast, and this represents lava within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater that is entering the lava tube system which, in turn, feeds the active flow field.

This Quicktime movie shows vigorous spattering along the south margin of the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake. Lava, upwelling in the northern portion of the lake (out of view), slowly migrates to this southern margin where it sinks back into the conduit.

The video shows time-lapse changes in the lava dome and Crater Glacier from 2004-2012. The images were created from 1:12,000 scale vertical aerial photographs combined with ground control points from campaign GPS and targets. Photogrammetry software was used to collect a 3-D point cloud and combined to make a digital elevation model (DEM).

Moving magma can deform the surface of the Earth. This animation shows how a tiltmeter and GPS are used to detect the subtle signs that tell scientists something about what is going on beneath the surface.

This animation shows how gases behave in magma and how an airplane-mounted UV spectrometer can measure gases in a volcanic plume.