Categorized | Featured, Sci-Tech, Videos, Volcano

Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for September 20, 2012

A lava pond, about 30 m (100 ft) wide, has been active for several months within a collapse pit in the northeast portion of the floor of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater. This thermal camera image shows the lava pond within the pit, as viewed from the east rim of Pu‘u ‘O‘o. Friday (Sept 14), the crusted lava surface was slowly migrating to the east, towards the two spattering sources (white areas) on the margin of the pond. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

A lava pond, about 30 m (100 ft) wide, has been active for several months within a collapse pit in the northeast portion of the floor of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater. This thermal camera image shows the lava pond within the pit, as viewed from the east rim of Pu‘u ‘O‘o. Friday (Sept 14), the crusted lava surface was slowly migrating to the east, towards the two spattering sources (white areas) on the margin of the pond. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

[jwplayer config=”480×360-4:3″ mediaid=”73651″]
Time-lapse thermal movie of Halemaumau Overlook vent.

[jwplayer config=”480×360-4:3″ mediaid=”73671″]
Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook vent.

(Activity updates are written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

A lava lake within the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent produced night-time glow that was visible from the Jaggar Museum overlook and by HVO’s Webcam during the past week. The lava level rose and fell slightly due to a string of deflation-inflation cycles (DI events) at the summit and several brief gas-driven rise-fall cycles.

On Kilauea’s east rift zone, surface lava flows remain active at the top of the pali, within the upper part of the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision, about 6.5 km (4 miles) southeast of Pu`u `O`o. The lava pond in the northeastern pit in Pu`u `O`o crater was visible in the Webcam over the past week, with the level fluctuating slightly in response to the DI events.

There was one earthquake reported felt on the Island of Hawai`i in the past week. On September 15, 2012, at 9:52 a.m., HST, a magnitude-3.0 earthquake occurred 8 km (5 mi) northwest of Kailua-Kona at a depth of 34 km (21 mi).

Visit the HVO Web site (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for detailed Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai activity updates, recent volcano photos, recent earthquakes, and more; call (808) 967-8862 for a Kilauea summary; email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov

[jwplayer config=”550×310-16:9″ mediaid=”73666″]
Time-lapse movie of the Coastal Plain and Pali

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast