Images

A close-up view of the 1984 fissure that cut through the southwest side of Mauna Loa's 1940 vent cone. The crack on the right side of the cone is the 1984 fissure.

The western Kamoamoa fountain-fed lava flows advanced over 1997 lavas (dark flow in foreground) with 1965 and 1968 lavas buried by Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cinder to the far left. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is in the distant background.

After an intrusion on March 5, Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater floor subsided for several hours. Hot incandescent crater walls were exposed as the floor dropped a total of 113 m (371 ft). Frequent rockfalls into the crater triggered red ash plumes. USGS photo taken by T. Orr on March 5, 2011, at 4:32 p.m.

Close-up of spattering fissure. Lava reaching 10 m into the air.

These tephra deposits are from the Kulanaokuaiki Tephra erupted from Kīlauea Volcano about 200 to 1000 C.E. The base of a lava flow overlying the tephra is just above the person's hand. This site is located near the base of Kīlauea's summit crater wall, directly below the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and NPS Jaggar Museum.

Fissure eruption of low lava fountains from Kīlauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone in 2007, Island of Hawaiʻi.

Aerial photo of the Kamoamoa eruption on March 7, 2011. The western fissure feeding a channelized ‘a‘ā flow is visible in the lower right, while the eastern end of the fissure system and Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater are in the upper left. USGS photo by T. Orr.

Scientists collect volcanic gas data using a Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR). During the Kamoamoa eruption, sulfur dioxide emission rates from Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone reached the highest levels since the episodes of high-fountaining at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (1983–1986) with an average rate of 8,500 tonnes per day and a peak value of 11,000 tonnes per day.

A geologist collects a molten lava sample from the Kamoamoa eruption. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on March 6, 2011.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists map and measure ground cracks during the Kamoamoa eruption. USGS photo taken by N. Richter on March 6, 2011.

InSAR image Kīlauea, Hawai‘i, Mar. 2011. Kamoamoa fissure trace is indicated by the red line.

Map of Kīlauea Volcano showing the south-southeast motion, as recorded by continuous GPS sites (arrows), and earthquake epicenter between February 1-3, 2010.

Side-by-side comparison of the northwest wall of Kīlauea Caldera on a clear day (left) and a day with thick vog (right). HVO observation tower and building can be seen near the center in each photo

HVO geologist describes activity from Kīlauea Volcano during a field trip to the coastal lava flow field for members of the media in 2010.

Sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō ‘ō on Kīlauea’s east rift zone and the vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea’s summit create volcanic pollution that affects the air quality of downwind communities.  Here, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas geochemist measures Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō gas emissions using an instrument that detects ga

In July 2010, lava erupted from Kilauea Volcano's east rift zone burned vegetation on the coastal plain as active flows advanced toward Kalapana Gardens, the same area inundated by lava flows in 1990. Two homes in the subdivision were destroyed by lava in 2010 -- one in July and one in November.

Map showing the extent of the July 2007 eruption flow field relative to surrounding communities. Light red is the extent of the July 2007 eruption flow field. Reddish-brown is the extent of the currently-active Quarry flow as of July 8, 2010, while bright red shows the flow field expansion of the Quarry flow mapped by HVO geologists between July 8 and 14.

View looking southeast along the fuming trace of the TEB tube system. The growing rootless shield field is in the background just above and to the left of center frame. The low, rounded shape of the shields--especially the shield in shadow to the left--are evident in this photo.

Kīlauea volcano's summit eruption plume as viewed from the southeast flank of Mauna Loa on 11/30/2009 (top) and 12/20/2009 (bottom). The eruption plume's visible appearance is a complex function of physical eruptive vent conditions, meteorology and atmosp

Lava fountains erupt from a fissure in the southwestern part of Moku`aeoweo, Mauna Loa's summit caldera, on April 11, 1940 (view looking to the south-southeast). Patches of white snow cling to the caldera walls as fluid pahoehoe lava flows spread across

An HVO geologist samples lava from an active lava tube. These samples are analyzed routinely to track changes in lava chemistry.