Images

During the first few hours of the Kamoamoa fissure eruption in March 2011, lava bubbled to the surface through a ground crack that propagated along Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone. How it and other Hawaiian fissure eruptions work will be the topic of a talk at UH-Hilo on January 16, 2014.

It was remarkably clear during today's overflight of Kīlauea's east rift zone. This photo is taken from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and looks northwest. Mauna Kea is at the right, and Mauna Loa is at the left. In front of the summit of Mauna Loa, the degassing plume from the lava lake at Kīlauea's summit is rising vertically.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) and Jaggar Museum are located at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, and are visible atop the cliff to the right, on the edge of Kīlauea Caldera. HVO is about 2 km (1.25 miles) north-northwest of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, fuming (but not directly visible) at the left edge of the photo.

At 9:48 PM on Friday, August 23, 2013, a collapse of a piece of the wall above the lava lake in Halema`uma`u triggered a small explosion. The explosion bombarded the rim of Halema`uma`u around the old visitor overlook with molten gobs of spatter as big as dinner plates.

Lava enters ocean at Kupapa‘u Point, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i. Photographed with a telephoto lens, the safest way to view the interaction of lava and seawater on the edge of an active delta.

On Kīlauea's East Rift Zone, the Kahauale'a 2 flow advances slowly into the Puna Forest Reserve. The Kahauale`a 2 flow began in early May, 2013, on the north side of the rift.

The Kahauale‘a 2 flow remains active north of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, and has expanded a very minor amount into the forest, burning trees. The flow, which consists of slowly moving pāhoehoe, has widened but advanced little over the past two weeks.

Camera captures SO₂ released from Kīlauea's summit vent. HVO scientist tests the network link between the instrument and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Camera captures SO2 released from Kīlauea's summit vent. HVO scientist tests the network link between the instrument and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Do not be misguided by the risky actions of this person (upper right), who is standing on an active lava delta that could collapse without warning, amidst a plume of superheated steam, hydrochloric acid, and tiny particles of volcanic glass. To avoid these ocean entry hazards, HVO advises staying at least 400 m (one-quarter mile) from where lava enters the sea.

Pele's hair covers much of the ground in the area immediately downwind of the vent at Halema‘uma‘u Crater. Accumulations about a meter (yard) wide are found on the windward sides of the curbs in the Halema‘uma‘u parking lot, which is closed to the public because of the ongoing volcanic hazard (May 3, 2012).

An active lava lake is contained within the Overlook crater, within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The summit eruption began on March 19, 2008, and is now nearly five years old. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Jaggar Museum are visible as a small bump on the horizon in the upper right portion of the image.

Kīlauea Volcano's summit vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater was more than 500 feet across in March 2013, five years after it opened.

Tephra falling from a lava fountain on September 6, 1983, helped build the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, which eventually reached a maximum height of 255 m (835 ft) in 1986.

"Stevens and Party at Kīlauea" - U.S. Minister Stevens is second from the right. Demosthenes Lycurgus and Alex Lancaster are first and second from the left, respectively.

Tina Neal responding to Kīlauea’s Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption in November of 1983. At that time, USGS personal protective equipment standards differed.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's Recent Earthquakes Web page from Tuesday, July 31, with earthquake shown as colored circles, according to their times of occurrence.

Lava fountains, occasionally surging to heights of 45-55 m (150-180 ft), erupted south and north of Keanakāko‘i Crater (top and middle fissures, respectively) and on the floor of Kīlauea Caldera (foreground fissure) in a spectacular summit eruption on July 19, 1974.

A view of the lava lake within the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent on an unusually clear day (May 16, 2012) with the Jaggar Museum and the HVO building in the distance.

Map of the summit area of Kīlauea showing the location of the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent, and road and trail closures in response to the eruption. Kīlauea's caldera is located within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Tilt measured at the summit of Kīlauea during March 1-7, 2012, shows a series of U- and V-shaped DI events, with deflation indicated by downward tilt and inflation by upward tilt. Images from a thermal camera that overlooks the summit eruptive vent demonstrate how the lava level (noted by white dashed line), depicted by warmer colors, charges across tilt cycles.