Images

One small portion of the flow front was quite vigorous, with an open stream of lava moving through the forest.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of September 1, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on August 29 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 1 is shown in red.

Lava from June 27 breakout flowing into deep ground crack along Kīlauea East Rift Zone, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, Hawai‘i

Preview image for video: The June 27th lava flow remains active at its leading edge, where lava is spreading out slowly into thick forest and also plunging into one of the many deep ground cracks that form Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. This Quicktime video shows the activity near the eastern edge of the flow.

This wide view, looking west, shows the position of the June 27th flow front relative to the nearby Kaohe Homesteads subdivision. The front of the flow is moving through thick forest, and its position can be seen by the plumes of smoke above the center of the photograph.

Preview image for video: The Quicktime video begins with a view of the steaming ground crack, where lava is moving deep within the crack. As the view rotates west, lava can be seen on the surface burning thick forest. Finally, the camera focuses on the eastern edge of the flow, where lava is plunging into the deep ground crack.

Surface flows at the front of the June 27th flow continue slowly moving through thick forest, creating scattered brush fires. This view looks south, and the cone of Heiheiahulu is in the upper left.

Extending slightly beyond the lava flows on the surface, a steaming ground crack indicates that lava is continuing to move beneath the surface. The front of the surface flows is just above and to the right of the center point of the photograph, and the steaming ground crack runs along the vertical center line of the photograph.

Near the leading edge of the lava on the surface, there was a swiftly moving stream of lava pouring into a deep ground crack (see Quicktime videos above). Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at the top of the photograph.

A closer look at the stream of lava pouring into the deep ground crack. See Quicktime videos above.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of August 29, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on August 28 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of August 29 is shown in red. All older lava flows (1983-2014) are shown in gray. The thin yellow line marks a portion of the lava tube feeding the flow.

Steam rising from Kīlauea's East Rift Zone ground crack - lava flowing within crack from June 27 breakout. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone center horizon Kīlauea volcano, Hawai‘i.

A wide view of the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow, looking east down Kīlauea's East Rift Zone. The main body of the June 27th flow ends near the center of the photograph, where lava poured into a deep ground crack.

Temporary Global Positioning Systems (GPS) stations are deployed to determine if uplift continues in the Three Sisters area. Since surface changes were discovered in 2001, the rate of uplift has decreased to less than 1.0 cm (0.4 in.) per year.

The steaming ground crack observed yesterday suggested that lava was close to the surface within the crack, and today lava in the crack reached the surface and began spilling out into the thick forest. The leading edge of the lava today was near the abandoned well site (cleared area at left).

A closer view of the pad of lava that emerged from the ground crack earlier this week, which had renewed surface flows today.

Another wide view of the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow, again looking east. This shows the east end of the isolated lava pad. The thick smoke originates from lava filling a deep ground crack up to the surface. The smoke partly obscures the abandoned well site.

At the site of the isolated pad of lava near the leading edge of the June 27th flow, renewed surface flows today resurfaced the existing lava flow and also spilled into nearby ground cracks. In this photograph, two large streams of lava plunge into a crack that is a couple meters (yards) wide.

At the far end of the lava-filled crack, lava spilled out towards the north a very short distance. In this view from a thermal camera, the small lobe of lava moving north is easily visible. The trees surrounding the crack show brighter colors as they are heated by the lava flow, but not to the point of combustion.

The vent for the June 27th lava flow is on the upper northeast flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The vent area is now covered by lava, but the lava tube that carries lava to the flow front is easily visible by the line of blue-colored fume. In the lower right, two skylights can be seen.

Map showing the June 27th flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone as of August 28, 2014. The area of the flow as mapped on August 27 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of August 28 is shown in red. All older lava flows (1983-2014) are shown in gray. The thin yellow line marks a portion of the lava tube feeding the flow.