An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
At the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, the gas plume produced by Halema‘uma‘u lava lake was blown southwest by normal trade winds. The lake level has been relatively high over the past several weeks and has been intermittently visible from Jaggar museum and HVO, perched on the Kīlauea Caldera rim (right center of photo).
This thermal image shows the perched lava pond in the west pit, within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater. A recent overflow from the pond is filling up a portion of the moat between the elevated pond and the crater wall.
The lava pond contained within the west pit at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō has continued to rise since the last overflight (March 27) and has formed a perched lava pond. This is apparent in the small spillovers visible around the margin of the pond. The accumulation of lava around the rim forms a levee that confines the molten lava to within the pond. The surface level of the lava pond can even rise above the floor of the west pit while still being contained within the levees.
A photo of a pāhoehoe breakout approximately 0.4 km (0.25 mile) from the episode 61g vent. As the flow inflated, the pressure cracked the rigid crust so the molten lava was able to pour out.
