Videos

This Quicktime movie shows a time-lapse sequence of activity at the northeast spatter cone in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on February 9-10. Rapid fluctuations in the height of the lava pond are caused by gas pistoning, which is the gradual buildup and release of gas in the pond. Mauna Kea is visible in the upper right portion of the frame.

This Quicktime movie is a time-lapse sequence from a camera in the HVO observation tower, and shows one week of activity at Kīlauea's summit vent in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The sequence starts on February 3 at 12:01 am and ends on February 9 at 11:59 pm.

This Quicktime movie shows typical activity at the summit lava lake. Spattering at the summit lava lake has been common over the past several years, and today's winds provided a clear view of the primary spatter area on the lake margin. The lava lake today was about 50 m (160 ft) below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater.

This Quicktime video shows a time-lapse sequence spanning from dawn to dusk on Tuesday, January 28, using images collected by our webcam near the summit of Mauna Loa Volcano (13,680 ft above sea level).

This Quicktime movie shows a lava pond, about 15 m (50 ft) in diameter, on the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Several small spatter sources are active on the pond margin, and release gas from within the pond. Lava pond activity like this is common in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

This Quicktime movie shows weak gas pistoning in the lava pond on the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Gas pistoning is the cyclic buildup and release of gas within the pond, and is common in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

This Quicktime movie shows some of the spattering associated with the gas pistoning, in which the spattering acts as an outlet for gas accumulating in the pond. Note how the crust in the center of the pond is fluctuating. Lava pond activity and gas pistoning are common in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

The lava lake in the Overlook crater, within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea's summit, undergoes frequent periods of spattering. The spattering is normally at the lake margins, and the surface crust often flows towards, and is consumed at, the spattering source.

This thermal image sequence shows the typical motion of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. For scale, the lake is about 160 meters (520 feet) wide in this view. The clip spans about 12 minutes, and is shown at 30x speed. The lava upwells along the north margin of the lava lake (in this view, near the top of the image).

This short Quicktime movie shows spattering from a cone near the south rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater as a short lava flow is erupted.

Farther down the flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō a skylight on the Kahauale‘a flow provided a view of the flowing lava stream in the lava tube.

This Quicktime movie shows exactly two years of lava lake activity in Halema‘uma‘u Crater (Feb 11, 2011 to Feb 11, 2013) in one minute of time-lapse video, using images taken from a thermal camera perched on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u.

This Quicktime movie shows a time-lapse sequence of the lava lake captured by a thermal camera on the rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater. The sequence is shown at a speed of about 30 times actual. By viewing the sequence at this speed, spotting the upwelling area in the lake is easier than in a still photograph.

Video taken during today's helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u, showing the active lava lake at a very high level (described in more detail in the caption above). Vigorous spattering on the lake margin emits a thick plume of gas.

Quicktime video, taken from the east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, showing the small lava lake that is active in the northeast portion of the crater floor. Unsteady gas escape along the lake margins drives low-level spattering and undulations of the lake surface.

Quicktime movie showing lava flowing through the active lava tube on the pali.

This video shows spattering at the west edge of the lava lake in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The crackling and popping noises are from fracturing of the rocks composing the walls of the vent caused by thermal expansion.

Video zoomed in on the spattering at the west edge of the lava lake in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u.

Heat from the high lava lake level in the 'overlook' vent in Halema‘uma‘u is causing the walls of the vent above the lava surface to expand and fracture. This is the source of the cracking and booming noises emanating from the vent in recent days.

This Quicktime movie shows the impressive spattering at the western margin of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u. The continuous spattering is often punctuated by bursts which throw lava onto the ledge (left portion of image), and this accumulating lava is building a spatter rampart.

This Quicktime movie shows spattering that is typical at the margins of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater. The slow migration of the lava lake surface is normally towards the area of spattering, where the lava sinks back into the magmatic system. Spatter in this clip is being thrown about 5-10 meters (yards) in height.