Lava flow front slows on the coastal plain

Monday, July 11,2016 U.S. Geological Survey/Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Kilauea Volcano Status

Activity Summary: Eruptions continue at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit and East Rift Zone. The lava flow to the southeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō continues to advance slowly across the coastal plain. The flow does not pose a threat to nearby communities. The lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater continues to circulate and spatter, although the level has dropped yesterday. The summit tilt reversed and began a deflationary trend during the past day. Low rates of seismicity are observed across the volcano.

Summit Observations: Tiltmeters at the summit of Kilauea recorded a switch to deflationary tilt that began near mid day yesterday. The level of the summit lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu has since dropped about 10 meters (33 feet), and as of this morning the lake surface stood at 35 meters (115 feet) below the floor of Halema`uma`u. Minor fluctuations in seismic tremor related to variations in lava lake circulation and spattering continue. Sulfur dioxide emissions from the summit vent over the past week ranged from 3,900 to 7,300 metric tons/day.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: HVO webcams show several incandescent vents on the floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater, as usual. There were no significant changes in seismic activity at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. A tiltmeter on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō began to record gentle deflationary tilt beginning mid day Sunday. Sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents when last measured on July 8 was about 280 metric tons/day.

Lava Flow Observations: The active lava flow southeast of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō continued to move across the coastal plain on KÄ«lauea’s south flank although progress has been slow during the past two days. When mapped on Sunday afternoon, the flow front had advanced only 40 m (44 yards) since Saturday’s measurements; the flow front was still about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the ocean. Bright incandescence is visible in the overnight webcam views of the active lava flow field, marking lava tube skylights above the pali.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of June 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on July 8 is shown in red. Older Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava flows (1983–2016) are shown in gray.  The blue lines over the Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow 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 shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of June 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as mapped on July 8 is shown in red. Older Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava flows (1983–2016) are shown in gray.
The blue lines over the PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō flow 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).

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