September 12, 2022 — The active lake surface of Halema‘uma‘u

This telephoto image was taken during an early morning Kīlauea summit eruption monitoring overflight on September 12, 2022, and shows the active lake surface within Halema‘uma‘u. The orange in the image shows spattering along the margins of the lake, where the solidified plates founder and sink. Spatter from this foundering can be vigorous at time, throwing material up to 13 feet (4 meters) into the air. Field crews observing the eruption on September 9, 2022, noted that the active portion of the lake continues to be fed from the western side, with solidified plates slowly moving across the surface from west to east (right to left, in this image). USGS image by L. Gallant.