Images

Emily Bryant, a geologist and field engineer visiting from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, installs an upgraded webcam on the east rim of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lava lake is in the western half of the crater, in the upper right portion of the photo.

View of the western side of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, on January 21, 2022. The image shows the west vent cone (lower left) and orange lava cascading from a pond just north of the west vent into the larger active lava lake to the east (right). USGS photo taken on the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u by J.M. Chang.

View of the west vent cone and adjacent pond of lava flowing into the larger active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. A small amount of spatter can be seeing erupting from the vent. USGS photo taken on the south rim by J.M. Chang.

Close-up view of spattering lava at the margin of the active lava lake in the western side of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Blue-tinged sulfurous fumes can be seen emanating from the active lava lake. USGS photo taken on the south rim by J.M. Chang.

Telephoto view of the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater after it resumed erupting in the late morning of January 18, 2022. A lighter gray gray recent lava flow is visible emanating from the west vent, and active lava upwells from the lava pond adjacent to the west vent in the upper left part of the photo.

Telephoto view, from the south rim of the Halema‘uma‘u crater, of the upwelling lava pond cascading into the broader lava lake. This photo was taken approximately an hour and a half after the Kīlauea summit eruption resumed at approximately 11 a.m. HST on January 18, 2022. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

The large island that formed in December 2020 remains visible within Halema‘uma‘u crater in this telephoto image.

The active lava lake surface in Halema‘uma‘u crater has lowered during the eruption pauses that have been occurring recently at the summit of Kīlauea.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists arrived at the summit of Kīlauea shortly after the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater resumed on January 18, 2022.

Pressure waves from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption on January 15 recorded on two USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) infrasound sensors located south of Kīlauea volcano summit.  The record is about 4 hours long. USGS graphic.

A telephoto lens captured this view of crustal plates forming on the lava lake surface within Halema‘uma‘u on January 14, 2022. The plates are being transported southeast (to the top of the photograph) into the larger lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS image by C. Parcheta.

In this photo, an HVO technician adjusts a volcanic gas analysis instrument that was specifically designed for this Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) unit, which carries three one-liter analysis bags. The instrument transmits gas concentration information in real-time during flight.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists prepare an Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) unit for launch at Kīlauea summit on January 14, 2022. Imagery collected by the UAS will be used to generate a 3-dimensional model that will be used to evaluate the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u for changes.

An Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS) unit surveys the eruption site at the summit of Kīlauea on January 14, 2022. UAS photos, data, and samples help scientists to understand ongoing volcanic processes and their associated hazards, and to detect changes that might indicate shifts in the character of activity.

Active lava in Halema‘uma‘u is visible in this image, with rubble from Kīlauea's 2018 collapse events prominent in the foreground. The background of the photo is framed by the fault scarps that formed within the caldera during the 2018 summit collapse events at Kīlauea. USGS image by M. Warren.

Eruptions within Halema‘uma‘u crater over the past year have filled in the deepest part of Kīlauea caldera that collapsed during 2018. This image shows the young lava lake surface bounded by fault scarps that formed within the caldera during 2018.

Close-up view of the margin of overflows from the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. These overflows are encroaching northwards onto the lowest of the down-dropped blocks that formed during Kīlauea's 2018 summit collapse events. USGS image by K. Kamibayashi.

This monitoring station partially survived the 2018 collapse events at the summit of Kīlauea. Located on one of the blocks that “down-dropped” during those events, the station was lowered in elevation by over 150 m (almost 500 ft) in 2018.

On January 13, 2022, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff conducted a mission to rescue monitoring equipment that was being threatened by overflows from the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea.

Patricia (Tricia) Nadeau is a gas geochemist who works with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Despite several brief pauses over the past month, lava lake activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava is erupting from the west vent, which has built a steep spatter cone. The active lake is perched slightly above the surrounding solidified lava. USGS photo by M. Patrick.