The 2008–2018 summit lava lake at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

The 2008–2018 lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea marked the longest sustained period of lava lake activity at the summit in decades and provided a new opportunity for observing and understanding lava lake behavior. The individual chapters of this Professional Paper volume cover the basic chronology of the eruption, rich historical background, observations and measurements of lake activity, hydrological setting, as well as geophysical and other monitoring data that tracked the activity.  

The primary focus of this Professional Paper is the 2008–2018 lava lake activity, ending with the draining of the lake in May 2018. The 2018 summit collapse events that followed the lake draining, and which dramatically altered the topography of the summit region, are published elsewhere.  

As this volume was published online in January 2021, a new lava lake had just formed in Halemaʻumaʻu.  This new activity is further testament to the dynamic nature of Halemaʻumaʻu and the proclivity for lava lake activity at the summit of Kīlauea.