Images

This video clip shows Kīlauea Volcano's Kamokuna ocean entry, with the steam plume rising from the front of the lava delta. Recent flows have covered the surface of the delta with fresh lava.

An aerial view of the Kamokuna lava delta reveals the recent surface breakouts (dark flows) that began on Sunday, June 25, with the short-lived firehose activity. These flows contrast nicely with the older, altered delta surface, which is much lighter in color.

A telephoto view of the crusted over firehose flow where it exits the sea cliff. Small cracks in the crust expose incandescence from molten lava within the tube that feeds the delta.

At the front edge of the delta, a large tube-fed stream of lava enters the ocean. Only occasional glimpses of flowing lava could be seen through the thick steam plume produced by the interaction hot lava and cool sea water. A few smaller lava streams also entered the ocean, including the one to the right of the main stream shown here.

In 2017, the massive Mud Creek landslide buried a quarter-mile of the famous coastal route, California’s Highway 1, with rocks and dirt more than 65 feet deep. USGS monitors erosion along the landslide-prone cliffs of Big Sur, collecting aerial photos frequently throughout the year.

In 2017, the massive Mud Creek landslide buried a quarter-mile of the famous coastal route, California’s Highway 1, with rocks and dirt more than 65 feet deep. USGS monitors erosion along the landslide-prone cliffs of Big Sur, collecting aerial photos frequently throughout the year.

Spattering is common in Kīlauea Volcano's summit lava lake, and is often focused along the south lake margin. But occasionally, as happened today, numerous spattering sites can appear in the north part of the lake.

A close up of spattering in the western portion of the summit lava lake.

Crustal spreading zones leave bands of changing texture on the lava lake surface, highlighted by late afternoon sunlight.

More bands of differing surface texture adjacent to a spreading zone. In the lower right corner, an additional spreading zone is migrating north (toward the upper left in this photo) and has nearly intersected the other spreading zone.

Yesterday (Sunday, June 25) between 11:39 and 11:44 HST, firehose activity started at the ocean entry and continued for less than 10 minutes. A USGS time-lapse camera, which takes a photo every 5 minutes, captured this image at 11:44 and by 11:49 the firehose was replaced by a lava channel on the delta.

This photo from June 25 shows the established lava channel at 6:49 pm HST, hours after the firehose activity. Today (June 26) HVO observers did not see any active surface breakouts on the delta and the channel has tubed over, but some narrow streams of lava were spilling into the ocean.

Field-trip guides to selected volcanoes and volcanic landscapes of the western United States - overview map.

Left: A color-shaded bathymetry map of Lō‘ihi, a submarine volcano located southeast of the Island of Hawai‘i. The summit region is marked by pit craters formed in connection with an eruption and earthquake swarm in July-August 1996.

Thermal images collected during the overflight on Wednesday, June 21, show a hot crack spanning much of the width of the lava delta at the Kamokuna ocean entry. These cracks are common on lava deltas, and suggest sagging and instability at the front of the delta.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of May 31 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of June 21 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983-2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube (dashed where uncertain).

On June 13 at about 6:00 am, there was a new pāhoehoe breakout along the episode 61g tube system approximately 1.1 km (0.7 miles) from the vent. Today (June 21), geologists visiting the site found that the ground had been cracked and uplifted about 2 m (6.6 feet) where the breakout originated (center).

The ocean entry remains active and continues to increase the size of the Kamokuna lava delta. Today, activity was concentrated towards the western side of the delta (left center), and building outward in a narrow lobe. Surface flows on the delta over the past few weeks have covered most of the delta with new lava.

Snapshot, or first frame of from a 17-minute video shot on June 20, 2017, in Madeira Beach, Florida.

Time-averaged image, or “timex,” created by averaging the intensity of light recorded at each spot, or “pixel,” during a 17-minute video taken at Madeira Beach, Florida, on June 20, 2017. Blurred white bands show where waves are breaking. Offshore band shows location of a sand bar.

“Variance” image produced from video shot at Madeira Beach, Florida, on June 20, 2017. The more the light intensity changes at a given spot, or “pixel,” during the video, the brighter the value assigned to that pixel. Motion tends to produce changes in light intensity. Note bright bands parallel to shore where waves were breaking.