Images

A three-day long eruption in July 1974 sent lava flows onto the floor of Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera, where they spread out beneath the western caldera wall.

Low fountains and repeated overflows at the Mauna Ulu crater build the shield higher. Lava flows were mostly brief and short, thereby increasing the relief between the top of the shield and its base. The perched lava pond shown in the previous photo is bypassed by the two rivers.

Perched lava pond forming between Mauna Ulu and Pu'u Huluhulu, January 25, 1974. Several episodes of renewed growth in height of Mauna Ulu occurred in early 1974. The first sent much lava toward Pu'u Huluhulu, where a perched lava pond developed. This photo shows lava in the pond spilling over the enclosing levee and making it higher.

Note the two smaller vents on the west (left) side of the crater above the lake, which is about 150 m (500 ft) across.

Three Fingered Jack (2390 m or 7840 ft) is a volcanic peak in central Oregon near Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters.

Map shows floods in the Aguadilla-Aguada area, northwestern Puerto Rico. The image is from USGS Hydrologic Atlas 457, created in 1972.

Perched lava lake above former ‘Alae Crater, September 8, 1972. Summit of Mauna Ulu shield fumes west of ‘Alae, and wooded Pu‘u Huluhulu looms in background.

Lava pours into deep west pit of Makaopuhi Crater from a fissure system cutting the floor of the larger east crater. August 9, 1972. Lava fed by flows from 'Alae repeatedly cascaded 200 m (650 ft) into the deep pit of Makaopuhi Crater, 1.1 km (0.7 mi) from 'Alae, in 1972, nearly filling it by August.

Spattering in Mauna Ulu crater and at vent B along the trench February 28, 1972. 'Alae is the large dark oval area southeast (right) of vent B. This is the first major spattering to have occurred in the trench during the eruption. At times vent B supplied lava that moved westward in the trench and spilled into Mauna Ulu crater.

This was only about 4 days after eruptive activity resumed at Mauna Ulu after temporarily ending on October 15, 1971. Lava flowed down the trench and reoccupied the lava tube into 'Alae.

The puddle was all that remained of the lava lake in the crater, and it had disappeared by October 15, when the eruption temporarily paused.

As erupting fissures migrated down Kīlauea's southwest rift zone in September 1971 for the first time in 52 years, many spectators hiked into the Ka‘ū Desert for a closer view of the rare event. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park rangers patrolled the area on horseback to keep people a safe distance from the lava fountains. Photo courtesy of NPS.

Seaward sliding of Kīlauea's south flank over many thousands of years has resulted in large ground displacements along shallow faults that break the surface, as shown by the cliffs ("pali" in Hawaiian) seen here. Most of the movement along the faults occur during sudden slip that cause large earthquakes.

Mauna Ulu trench, with crater in background. Looking west, May 25, 1971. The trench developed by collapse along the lava tube between Mauna Ulu and 'Alae, but the process was very complicated. It was separated from the summit crater by a partition of rubble.

Littoral explosion formed by lava entering the ocean from Mauna Ulu through 'Alae Crater, April 12, 1971. Water was briefly trapped below lava, flashed to steam, and powered the explosion.

Skylight in lava tube carrying lava from ‘Alae crater onto to Kīlauea's south flank, October 21, 1970. For much of 1970 and into 1971, lava flowed through a tube from Mauna Ulu into a complex lava lake in 'Alae Crater. The lake built natural levees, which allowed lake level to rise much higher than the old crater rim.

These spires developed on the surface of the lava fill in the crater. Since there was a fissure active in the crater on April 9, 1970, it is uncertain if these spires were true hornitos or were fed from the fissure.

A burping driblet spire (hornito) in 'Alae Crater on May 20, 1970. In volcanology, a hornito is a rootless vent developed on, and fed by, a lava flow or lake. There was no recognized deeper vent in 'Alae Crater, so this feature is probably a real hornito.

Today ‘Ālo‘i is unrecognizable except by keen observers.

The only surviving segment of the fissure system active on the first day of the eruption. View looks west and shows the fissure segments, stepping right, and spatter rampart along right (uphill) side of the segments. No spatter rampart formed on the downhill (left) side of the segments, because falling spatter was carried away by lava flows.

Collapse sinkhole in a salt dome in Daisetta, Texas (September 2008). Salt is particularly susceptible to rapid dissolution causing large bowl-shaped sinkholes. Injection of fluids into this salt dome increased the dissolution of the salt causing a 60-foot deep sinkhole that covered several acres and destroyed many buildings.