Images

This tall, thin hornito on the eastern side of the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu is made up of spatter. The spatter made its way through a crack in the thick, solidified lava that forms the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The yellow and white patches at the bottom are from sulfur that has come out of the magma precipitating on the lava.

A mid-morning view of the southern portion of Halema‘uma‘u, as seen by field crews from the western rim. Activity within Halema‘uma‘u has remained steady over the last week. The active lake surface sits 7 meters (~23 feet) below the surface of the caldera. A small amount of spatter along the eastern margin of the lake was visible (the red glow).

A helicopter overflight on November 17, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

View looking to the west on the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu, at the summit of Kīlauea. The foreground is covered by pāhoehoe, and the brown-colored feature in the background is the island that has persisted since the December 2020 eruption within Halema‘uma‘u. USGS photo by D. Downs.

A hornito located on the eastern side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. The colorful nature of the hornito comes from the various gases that come out of the magma and precipitate on the surrounding rock. Many of these colors are from sulfur that is abundant in Kīlauea magmas. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Telephoto image of the west vent complex within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The west vent complex continues to feed lava into the active lava lake (silvery area, top). USGS photo taken from the west rim by J.M. Chang.

Image showing the active lava lake (silvery area), the west vent complex (lower right), and the main island (upper left) within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Orange lava can be seen spattering on the east side of the active lava lake. USGS photo taken at 9:35 a.m. HST on November 10, 2022, by J.M. Chang.

Panoramic view of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, looking eastward from the west rim. HVO scientists continue to monitor Halema‘uma‘u as the summit eruption continues. USGS photo taken on November 10, 2022, by J.M. Chang.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on October 31, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor. An adjacent pond (purple) is feeding lava to a larger lake (red) via a crusted-over tube.

A helicopter overflight on October 28, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

A west-facing aerial view of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The right side of the image is framed by the scarp, above the black lava within Halema‘uma‘u, that formed during the 2018 summit collapse. In the center foreground, is the down-dropped block within Kaluapele (the summit caldera), that also formed in 2018.

A southwest-facing view of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Diffuse steam and volcanic gases are emitted from the crater floor and eruption site. The most recent Kīlauea summit sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission rate was measured on October 22, 2022, at approximately 700 tonnes per day (t/d). USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A helicopter overflight on October 28, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

Image of the Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater. The western vent complex (fuming cones in foreground), Halema‘uma‘u lava lake and south pond (silvery surface in center), and large island (darker lava in upper left) and all visible in this view from the west rim. Incandescent lava spatter is visible at the east end of the active lava lake.

Panoramic view of Halema‘uma‘u crater, looking east, at Kīlauea summit. Lava continues to erupt from the west vent complex into the active lava lake. USGS photo taken by F. Trusdell on the morning of October 12, 2022.

The eruption continues within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. This telephoto, looking east from the rim of Halema‘uma‘u, shows the active lava lake (center), with active lava ponds to the southeast (upper right) and west (lower center). The silvery surface of these three features is the active lava.

View of over half of the crater floor and active lava lake (center right) within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea on October 5, 2022. In this view looking east, all but the southwest portion of Halema‘uma‘u's crater floor is visible. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) flights on October 5, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

This photo shows a Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) unit staged for take-off on October 5, 2022. Data from this flight will be used to construct an updated high resolution map of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea.

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) flights on October 5, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

In September 2022, HVO scientists set up GPS equipment at various benchmarks on Kīlauea volcano as part of routine annual deformation monitoring. USGS photo by A.P. Ellis.