Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for April 14, 2016
Posted on April 14, 2016. Tags: halemaumau, hvo, kilauea, lava, Pu‘u ‘O‘o, usgs, volcano, volcano watch
HVO geologist uses a laser rangefinder to measure the depth of the lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea in the Overlook crater. The lake level was about 58 m (190 ft) below the crater rim this afternoon. In recent days the lake level has dropped about 35 m (115 ft) as tiltmeters at the summit have recorded a larger than usual deflationary trend. The spattering of the lava lake (middle right of photograph) was triggered by a small rockfall from the north crater wall directly above. Large rockfalls into the lake typically cause small explosions that hurl molten lava onto the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, one of the hazards of this area (for example, see January 8, 2016, entry below). The tripod in lower right supports one of the Web cams used to track activity of the lava lake. Photo taken Friday, April 8, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
One benefit of passing showers today at KÄ«lauea’s summit was a double rainbow. HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater is at the right side of the photo, and the gas plume from the active lava lake can be seen drifting towards the southwest. At the far right edge of the image, visitors take in the view at Jaggar Overlook. Photo taken Tuesday, April 12, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Views were hampered Tuesday (April 12) by sporadic downpours. Once the rain passed, areas of active breakouts were evident by the larger steam plumes coming from the surface (for example, at the top center of the photograph). Photo taken Tuesday, April 12, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
One of the more vigorous breakouts on the flow field Tuesday (April 12), producing a sheet of blue-glassy pÄhoehoe. Photo taken Tuesday, April 12, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Surface breakouts remain scattered northeast of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻÅ, with a slight retreat in the reach of active breakouts since the last overflight on March 25. Tuesday (April 12), the farthest active lava was 5.7 km (3.5 miles) from the vent on PuÊ»u ʻŌʻÅ. Much of the activity was at the forest boundary, burning trees and creating numerous smoke plumes. Photo taken Tuesday, April 12, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Mauna Loa’s summit was cold and clear this morning while HVO scientists performed maintenance on the summit thermal camera and two seismic stations. A few faint steam sources were noted in the usual locations on the caldera floor. Photo taken Wednesday, April 13, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse thermal image movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Crater looking Southwest. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Time-lapse movie of KÄ«lauea Caldera from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
(Activity updates are written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)
KÄ«lauea continues to erupt at its summit and East Rift Zone. During the past week, the summit lava lake level varied between about 31 and 58 m (102–190 ft) below the vent rim within Halema‘uma‘u Crater. On the East Rift Zone, mapping on April 12 showed scattered lava flow activity within about 5.7 km (3.5 mi) of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻÅ. These flows were not threatening nearby communities.
Mauna Loa is not erupting. Seismicity remains elevated above long-term background levels, but no significant changes were recorded during the past week. GPS measurements show continued deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa, with inflation recently occurring mainly in the southwestern part of the magma storage complex.
No earthquakes were reported felt in Hawaii this past week.
Please visit the HVO website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for past Volcano Watch articles, KÄ«lauea daily eruption updates, Mauna Loa weekly updates, volcano photos, recent earthquakes 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 from images gathered from a temporary thermal camera looking into Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. The temperature scale is in degrees Celsius up to a maximum of 500 Celsius (932 Fahrenheit) for this camera model, and scales based on the maximum and minimum temperatures within the frame. Thick fume, image pixel size and other factors often result in image temperatures being lower than actual surface temperatures. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse multi-image movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater North Flank from the North Rim. April 7-14, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO
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