Images

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.

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.

A close up of the perched levee impounding the active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Photo taken on January 10, 2022, from the south rim of Kīlauea caldera. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A close up of the surface texture on the active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The classic zig-zag pattern in apparent in the incandescent spreading zones between crustal plates that form on the surface of the lava lake. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on January 7, 2022. One eruptive vent is intermittently active within Halemaʻumaʻu, along the western edge of the lava lake. When this vent is effusing lava, it pours into the active portion of the lake, colored red on this map.

Don Swanson describes the stratigraphy of Keanakāko‘i deposits near Uēkahuna Bluff at Kīlauea summit within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

(L) Green olivine crystals in lava from Mauna Loa’s 1868 eruption. (R) Microscope image of a single olivine crystal extracted from tephra at Kīlauea. This crystal is about 1 mm (less than 1/16 of an inch) tall.

Eruptive activity resumed today in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea volcano, after a brief pause of several days. This photograph shows spattering and lava effusion from the west vent, which has built a steep spatter cone. USGS image by M. Patrick.

During recent multi-day pauses in the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, a small portion of the Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake has consistently remained active: a small, ovular lava pond just north of the briefly dormant western fissure.

Two weeks of earthquake activity preceding the September 29, 2021, eruption at Kīlauea summit. The regions of interest indicated on the map include: KS (Kīlauea summit); ML (Mauna Loa summit); P (Pāhala).

On the afternoon of December 27, 2021, the summit eruption of Kīlauea was paused and showed only intermittent and weak crustal foundering in the formerly active west side of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u. This photo, looking down and toward the east, shows the topography of the formerly active pond of lava during the eruption pause.

View of the west vent in Halemaʻumaʻu and the lava lake, from the northwest rim of the caldera, looking east [V1cam]. Image taken December 23, 2021.

Activity was very low during the helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, on the morning of December 21. This view shows the west vent (near center) and the western part of the lava lake, where only a tiny portion of the surface was weakly active. The lava lake, which is in a state of pause, now has exposed walls due to a drop in the surface.

An aerial view of the western portion of Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, during the December 21 helicopter overflight. Eruptive activity is paused, and only a weak gas plume was being emitted from the west vent (center right). Just north of (below) the west vent, a tiny pad of lava remained weakly active within the lake. USGS photo taken by D. Downs.

The lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea summit, has slowly continued to rise over the past month. As the lake level rises, lava has flowed onto the lowest part of the lowest down-dropped block (right) from the 2018 Kīlauea summit collapse.

A small amount of lava spatter was thrown from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at Kīlauea summit, on December 20, 2021. Lava continued to flow into the lake from a source north (left) of the main vent cone. Multiple sources of degassing can be seen on and around the vent cone. USGS photo by B. Carr.

A small amount of lava spatter was thrown from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at Kīlauea summit, on December 20, 2021. Lava continued to flow into the lake from a source north (left) of the main vent cone. Multiple sources of degassing can be seen on and around the vent cone. USGS photo by B. Carr.

This photo from Friday, December 17, shows that the west vent remains active in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. A steep cone has been built over the vent, with lava supplied to the perched lava lake from the base of the cone. USGS photo by E. Gallant.

A close-up view of the steep cone recently built over the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Spatter was occasionally thrown over the rim onto the flanks of the cone. USGS photo taken by E. Gallant on December 17, 2021.