Images

A small lava flow erupted from the septum between two vents on the east wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on Sunday, February 6. The hole on the right, which is no longer active, was the original east wall vent. The fuming hole behind the new lava flow is the current east wall vent.

This week, the northwest vent was producing lava flows on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The northeast cone is in the background, as well as the small lava flow that ran down the east wall of the crater.

A new rootless shield is building along the TEB tube above the pali. Lava began erupting in the area on February 4, and has built up a shield and lava pond about 10 m (33 ft) high.

Photo of vigorous boiling of the lava surface in Kīlauea's summit vent following vent wall and rim collapses earlier in the day. The rim of the vent on the floor of Halema‘uma‘u is about 150 m (yards) across. The lava surface is about 100 m (yards) below the rim.

Lava began erupting from the septum between the two openings on the east wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater the morning of February 17, just after 7:00 am.

A closer view of the recent activity from the east wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater.

The spattering source on the east wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater.

Flows from the more northerly vent are crossing a small portion of the crater floor and filling in the southern opening.

A view looking south at this morning's new breakout. The southern opening is completely filled in and the flows are expanding across the crater floor. The geologist on the opposite rim is 1.8 m (6 feet) tall.

At the same time the vent on the east wall was erupting, a small lava pond fed by the northeast vent began to overturn.

After recovering from last week's DI event, the lava surface in the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent returned to about 80 m (260 ft) below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The north/northwest rim of the vent (right side of photo) is still noticeably overhung, making future collapses very likely.

A view of the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent from the north.

The northeast vent on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is once again producing lava flows that are repaving portions of the crater floor. The fuming area on the back wall is the main source of last week's activity in the crater.

A close-up of the northeast vent in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, spattering and sending lava flows into the crater.

A near-vertical look at a lava cascade inside the vent cavity of the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent.

View from above Mauna Loa's upper Northeast Rift Zone looking across an unnamed cone toward Mauna Kea.

Shield-volcano Mauna Kea viewed from the northern slope of Mauna Loa (cinder cones in the foreground) shows off its broad shield shape. The bumps on its profile are large cinder cones.

The floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater continues its slow rise as lava pours out of a new vent at the base of the east wall. The height of the floor has risen 20 m (66 ft) over the past two weeks.

A close-up of the spattering source on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. A small spatter rampart has formed along the east side of the vent.

Aerial view of the perched lava lake in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. Small fluctuations in the lava lake level lead to frequent overflows. These serve to build the levee around the lake even higher, amplifying the perched appearance.

A low-angle view of the perched lava lake shows how it is elevated above the floor of the crater, like an above-ground swimming pool. The levee around the stands some 8-10 m (26-33 ft) above the surrounding crater floor. Also visible as the bottom of the photo is a new vent which began erupting around midnight last night on the western edge of the crater floor.