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Since the onset of the "June 27 breakout" flow, the central part of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater has been collapsing slowly. Thick fume and steam prevented good views, but this photo shows the edge of the ring fracture that bounds the collapse. The heavy fume comes from pits that formed where spatter cones used to be. The view is toward the east; the "June 27 breakout" flow starts near the left side of the photo, marked by thin bluish fume.
Perhaps the most interesting feature in the new crater at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is the pit formed on the southern side of the crater floor. There, a small lava pond roughly 10 m (~30 ft) across has been sporadically overflowing and sending lava toward the deeper central part of the crater. View is to the south.
Inactive perched lava pond and the new lava tube
After the June 27 breakout started, a perched lava pond - looking something like a giant above-ground swimming pool - grew over the main vent. Notice the nearly flat upper surface of the now-inactive pond just above and to the left of center, and the relatively steep levee which contained the pond. The pond was abandoned after lava broke from a new spot near the west edge of the pond. That flow has begun constructing a lava tube, its trace marked by the fume to the right of the perched pond. The view is toward the southeast.
Here is steeper view of the inactive lava pond, just left of center. After it was abandoned, its surface crusted over and sagged to form a gentle bowl. Skylights and points of fume just right of center mark the trace of the new tube. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at upper right. The view is toward the south-southeast.
Terminus of new flow near Kahauale‘a
The front of the "June 27 breakout" flow, seen here as the silvery lava at lower right, is about 2.0 km (~1.2 miles) northeast from its vent (as measured in a straight line), and surrounds what little remains of Pu‘u Kahauale‘a, a forested cone several hundred years old. View is toward the southwest, and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is at upper right.
Here is a closer view showing the beleaguered Pu‘u Kahauale‘a surrounded by active pāhoehoe flows. The view is to the northwest.
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