Unified Interior Regions
Hawaii
The Pacific Region has nine USGS Science Centers in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. The Regional Office, headquartered in Sacramento, provides Center oversight and support, facilitates internal and external collaborations, and works to further USGS strategic science directions.
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Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u 8-18-19
Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u August 18, 2019. The water level continues to slowly rise in Halema‘uma‘u, drowning many of the small rocks that were previously exposed in the center of the pond. Ripples across the water surface were evident today. The color of the water ranged from semi-translucent blue to opaque green-yellow in the western part of the pond.
Kīlauea Volcano's crater lake on August 13, 2019
This video shows a close-up of the water pond at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u on August 13, 2019. Steaming from the water surface shows the shifting winds over the pond.
Aerial view of the Halema‘uma‘u water pond
The ponded water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u has continued to slowly rise. This wide view shows much of Halema‘uma‘u and the fumaroles on the upper walls of the pit.
Kīlauea Volcano's crater lake on August 9, 2019
This video shows a close-up of the ponded water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u. USGS video by M. Patrick, 08-09-2019.
Close-Up of Ponded Water at Halema`uma`u
This video shows a close-up of the ponded water at the bottom of Halema'uma'u. Yesterday, the separate ponds joined into a single elongate pond. The water level has continued to slowly rise.
What does water in Halema‘uma‘u mean
These images look east at the pond within Halema‘uma‘u on August 8 and 14, 2019. The pond widened mainly toward the south (right). The north-south width of the pond on August 14 was about 32 m (105 ft), about 10 m (35 ft) wider than on August 8. The pond has widened and deepened slowly and steadily rate since measurements began on August 3.
HVO now tracking ponds of water, not lava, at Kīlauea's summit
A telephoto view of the ponded water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u on August 7, 2019. For scale, the largest pond is about 15 meters (50 feet) in diameter.
More imagery from August 4 field observations of Halema‘uma‘u
This video shows steaming from the main pond of water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u as captured on Sunday, August 4. Two smaller areas of ponded water were present a short distance east of this spot. Thermal images indicate that the water surface is roughly 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). USGS video by M. Patrick, 08-04-2019.
August 4 field observations of Halema‘uma‘u
This video shows steaming from the main pond of water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u as captured on Sunday, August 4. Two smaller areas of ponded water were present a short distance east of this spot. Thermal images indicate that the water surface is roughly 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). USGS video by M. Patrick, 08-04-2019.
Aerial view of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea
Aerial view of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on August 1, 2019. The small green patch visible at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u is a new pond forming at the lowest point of the crater. The pond is at about 525 m (about 1722 ft) elevation.
Kīlauea 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flow thicknesses
Data depicted on this map of Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone lava flow thicknesses are derived from a 2019 USGS topographic survey that utilized a helicopter-mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor. The post-eruption elevations measured by this survey were compared to elevations in pre-eruption surveys—which depicted both the land surface and ocean floor—to
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Halema‘uma‘u taken during a helicopter lidar survey on July 25, 2019
Telephoto views of water in the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u taken during a helicopter lidar survey on July 25, 2019 (left), when the pond was first observed, and a USGS overflight on August 1, 2019 (right). The pond grew slightly in size and depth between the two dates; an "X" marks the same rock in both photos for comparison. Left photo courtesy of Ron Chapelle, Quantum
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Breakouts remain active on flow field, changes to ocean entry lava delta
As the summer months began to wind down this year, Nature's fury began to wind up and grab much of the news cycle.
Kamokuna Lavafalls Oct 3-5
Breakouts remain active on the coastal plain and pali
Coastal breakouts put on a show
In today's age of aerial photography, satellites, and drones, bird's-eye views of geologic features are taken for granted. A century ago, such depictions posed enormous challenges.
Thirty-seven years after the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington, scientists, engineers, land managers, and Federal, State, and County officials are still grappling with a challenge created by the eruption—how to prevent potentially massive downstream flooding by the release of water from Spirit Lake, located at the base of the volcano.
Clear views at the ocean entry
Good views of Halema‘uma‘u's lava lake
This mosaic of thermal images is basically a thermal map of the lava flow surface, and reveals the exact location of all the active surface breakouts.
Deformation of the lava delta continues
Activity continues at the growing lava delta
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Locations
Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
Phone: (808) 985-6420
Fax: (808) 967-8568
Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center
Pacific Islands Water Science Center
Phone: 808-690-9600
Fax: 808-690-9599
O'ahu Field Station
Phone: 808-690-9571
Fax: 808-690-9599
National Wildlife Health Center, Honolulu Field Station
Phone: (808) 792-9520
Fax: (808) 792-9596