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Around 3:00 a.m. HST today (June 8), lava fountains erupting from fissure 8 on Kīlauea Volcano's Lower East Rift Zone were reaching heights of 180–220 feet.
HVO's early morning helicopter overflight of Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone showed that lava continues to flow into the ocean in the vicinity of Kapoho Bay and Vacationland.
This photo of the fissure 8 Kapoho ocean entry (taken at 6:30AM HST) shows the interaction of hot lava and seawater producing a white laze plume. Laze is a mixture of condensed acidic steam, hydrochloric acid gas, and tiny shards of volcanic glass that is irritating to the lungs, eyes and skin.
Outgassing from Halema‘uma‘u produced twin pillars that rose in the still morning air and merged into a towering cap above the summit of Kīlauea just after sunrise.
Dramatic changes at Halema‘uma‘u could be seen through gases rising from the crater during HVO's overflight of the summit this morning at 10 a.m. HST. The view here looks to the southwest, with the former overlook parking lot barely visible to the left of the gas plume.
Helicopter overflight of the lava delta at Kapoho Bay
A helicopter overflight of the Kapoho Bay area on the morning of June 8, 2018, shows a flow front that is nearly a mile wide, extending south to Vacationland. Lava enters the ocean at multiple points along the flow front. The upwelling offshore suggests the presence of lava flowing on the ocean floor in that area.