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Kahauale‘a 2 flow still active northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō
View of the flow front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow, looking west. The flow front has focused into a new lobe that is slowly migrating through thick forest, triggering scattered forest fires. The smoke from these fires seems to be "seeding" the cloud above it. The active flow front was 7.4 km (4.6 miles) northeast of the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Mauna Loa can be seen in the distance.
View of the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. This small cone is also the vent area for the Kahauale‘a 2 flow. The cone has recently hosted a small lava pond, but today this seemed to be crusted over. See the time-lapse sequences below to see recent activity at this cone.
Looking northeast from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, the smoke coming from forest fires at the front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow can be seen in the distance. In the foreground, thick fume is coming from the Kahauale‘a 2 lava tube, which is supplying lava to the flow front.
Thermal image of the front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow. Yellow and white areas depict active breakouts, while red areas are cooler, inactive portions of the flow. Over the past week a new lobe has pushed east, between lobes that were active in November and January. The tip of this new lobe was 7.4 km (4.6 miles) northeast of the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Compare this view to the February 20 map (see link above).
Spattering and gas pistoning in the northeast cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō
This selection of images shows activity at the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō over the past two weeks. The lava pond was undergoing gas pistoning, a gradual buildup and release of gas in the lava pond that is often associated with spattering and lava level changes. For scale, the lava pond is about 10 m (30 feet) across.
More images of the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, taken with a time-lapse camera.
This Quicktime movie shows a time-lapse sequence of activity at the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on February 9-10. Rapid fluctuations in the height of the lava pond are caused by gas pistoning, which is the gradual buildup and release of gas in the pond. Mauna Kea is visible in the upper right portion of the frame. The sequence was captured by an inexpensive time-lapse camera, whose plastic housing was warped by the extreme heat.
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