June 14, 2023—Kīlauea summit eruption reference map
June 15, 2023
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Citizen-scientists may notice that this map's values for lava rise and volume since the eruption onset are slightly less than those provided with the first map last Wednesday, June 7. How can this be? In this case, HVO scientists believe that the lava lake was somewhat inflated during its early hours thanks to a massive amount of volcanic gas trapped within the erupted material. But over the coming hours and days, the gas escaped and the lake deflated somewhat. The dropping surface left a "bathtub ring" of crust around the edges, marking the initial high-lava level in many photos shared by HVO scientists. The full extent of new lava from this eruption—368 acres (149 hectares)—is also slightly less than reported last week, but this is simply due to revised and more detailed mapping.