Unified Interior Regions

View of ash-rich plume rising from a new vent in Halema‘uma‘u Crater in Kīlauea Caldera 5 days after the first explosion from the vent occurred on March 19, 2008. The ash is turning the formerly white steam and gas plume a dusty-brown color. Note the ash fallout down-wind of the plume. Earlier in the day, geologists reported finding Pele's hair, Pele's tears, and spatter

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. When the vent first opened on March 19, 2008, it formed a small pit about 115 feet (35 m) wide. Over the past decade, that pit (informally called the "Overlook crater") has grown into a gaping hole about 919 feet by 656 feet (280 x 200 m) in size. Click on the above

HVO technicians install a solar-powered seismic station near the summit of Kīlauea Volcano to monitor earthquake activity. The seismic data is transmitted via radio signal directly to the observatory, where the data is initially analyzed by automatic computer programs and then examined in greater detail by a seismologist. Mauna Loa Volcano in background.

The rim of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera, normally clear on trade-wind days (left), became nearly obscured by vog (right) on some non-trade wind days beginning in 2008, when sulfur dioxide emissions from the volcano’s summit increased to unusually high levels. (This photo has been edited.)

(January 26, 2008, 10:50:12 to 19:12:16) Perched lava ponds often formed atop the rootless shields built by the "Thanksgiving Eve Breakout" (TEB) lava flow. This movie shows the failure of the flank of a rootless shield on January 26, 2008, and the release of the lava contained within the perched lava pond at its summit. The inner wall of the perched lava pond come into

Sunset over the ocean near Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii.

(December 1, 2007, 02:01:38 to 16:01:36) On November 21, 2007—the eve of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday—Episode 58 changed dramatically. Lava, erupting from Fissure D into a perched lava channel, found an easier path to the surface and broke out from directly over Fissure D on what was, by then, the southern flank of the channel. This switch in the eruption led to the

(November 15, 2007, 09:00:15 to 13:00:15) Periods of overflow and levee construction at the Episode 58 lava channel were interspersed with periods when the lava level was below the channel rim. The lava surface within the lava channel commonly experienced repeated cycles of rise and fall, as shown here. During these cycles, the lava surface would rise slowly, then

(September 20, 2007, 05:00:03 to 09:00:03) As the Episode 58 lava channel developed, the upper end of the channel crusted over so that lava—extruding from the erupting fissure—flowed through a short tube before entering the channel. A small surge of lava on September 20, 2007, exceeded the carrying capacity of this tube and resulted in a small dome fountain through the

(September 8 to November 30, 2007) Within days of the onset of Episode 58 on July 21, 2008, activity localized on the easternmost eruptive fissure—Fissure D—and channelized lava began flowing to the northeast. Repeated overflows from the channel added slowly to its height, and the channel became perched up to 45 meters above the pre-existing lava surface. The images that

Aerial of eddy in channel near vent D