Today at KÄ«lauea Volcano’s episode 61g Kamokuna lava delta, there was no lava entering the ocean or breakouts on the delta. The tiny tube breakout that started over the weekend, approximately 840 m (0.5 mile) from the emergency road, was weakly active today. Closer to the base of the pali, there were more active surface flows, as well as on and above the pali. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
This thermal image shows the lack of active breakouts or lava streams on the Kamokuna lava delta, which has been inactive for several days. Farther upslope, scattered breakouts are active on the coastal plain and pali. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
A channelized flow broke out on PÅ«lama Pali today from the eastern tube (June 26 breakout). This flow quickly advanced down the steep part of the pali. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
A telephoto view of the channelized breakout source on PÅ«lama Pali. While the fluid lava rushes downslope, gas escapes through bubbles at the surface (seen near the breakout point). As the lava cools, it forms a crust which develops over the channel starting along the edges. If the breakout persists, it could completely crust over to form a lava tube. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
A view of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ŠCrater looking west, with the main crater in the center of the photo. In the background the west pit – which has an active lava pond inside – can be seen adjacent to the larger crater. The northeast spillway vent is in the lower right. A lava stream was previously visible inside this pit, but no lava could be seen on today’s overflight. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Telephoto view of one of the spattering sites on the west pit lava pond margin, in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Šcrater. Molten spatter is being thrown in the air, and landing on the thick pond crust. Solidified pieces of spatter around the source on both the pond surface and the ledge above have a mottled appearance. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Today, HVO geologists performed routine maintenance on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Šwebcams. This photo is taken on the north rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Šlooking south into the main crater, which is heavily fuming in the background. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
This video shows the channelized flow that was active on the pali. Photo taken Wednesday, November 22, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. November 30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse thermal image movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of KÄ«lauea Caldera from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
(Activity updates are written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)
This past week, KÄ«lauea Volcano’s summit lava lake level fluctuated with summit inflation and deflation, ranging about 30–40 m (99–131 ft) below the vent rim. On the East Rift Zone, the 61g lava flow remained active downslope of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Å, with scattered breakouts on the pali and coastal plain. The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.
Mauna Loa is not erupting. Small-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the summit caldera and upper Southwest Rift Zone at depths less than 5 km (3 mi), with a few deeper earthquakes scattered beneath the volcano’s southeast and west flanks at depths of 5-13 km (3-8 mi). GPS measurements continue to show deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone. No significant changes in volcanic gas emissions were measured.
One earthquake was reported felt on the Island of Hawaiʻi this past week. On November 25, at 12:48 p.m. HST, a magnitude-2.8 earthquake occurred 12 km (7 mi) south of Kapa‘au at a depth of 27 km (17 mi).
Please visit the HVO website (https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo) for past Volcano Watch articles, volcano updates and photos, recent earthquake info, and more. Call for summary updates at 808-967-8862 (KÄ«lauea) or 808-967-8866 (Mauna Loa). Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.
Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie from a camera positioned on the southeast flank of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻÅ, looking toward the active flow advancing to the southeast. The breakout point is at the left edge of the image, and the mid-field skyline at the right is roughly coincident with the top of the pali. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse image movie from a research camera positioned on Holei Pali, looking east towards Lava Flow 61G and Kalapana. November 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
This map shows recent changes to KÄ«lauea’s East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of October 29 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of November 22 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Šlava flows (1983–2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube. The Kamokuna ocean entry was inactive today.
The blue lines over the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘Šflow field are steepest-descent paths calculated from a 2013 digital elevation model (DEM), while the blue lines on the rest of the map are steepest-descent paths calculated from a 1983 DEM (for calculation details, see http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1264/). Steepest-descent path analysis is based on the assumption that the DEM perfectly represents the earth’s surface. DEMs, however, are not perfect, so the blue lines on this map can be used to infer only approximate flow paths. The base map is a partly transparent 1:24,000-scale USGS digital topographic map draped over the 1983 10-m digital elevation model (DEM).
This map is similar to the map above but shows a thermal map over the Episode 61g lava flow. Cooler colors (blue and green) show cooled, inactive portions of the flow surface. Hot colors (red and orange) show areas of active surface breakouts. Areas of the Episode 61g flow not covered by the thermal map – because of clouds, rain, or incomplete image coverage – are shown as dark gray.
The thermal map was constructed by stitching many overlapping oblique thermal images collected by a handheld thermal camera during a helicopter overflight of the flow field.
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