Hawaii Volcano National Park

Hawaii Volcano National Park - Current Update


HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE

Thursday, September 9, 2010 7:40 AM HST (Thursday, September 9, 2010 17:40 UTC)

This report on the status of Kilauea volcanic activity was prepared by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park status can be found at http://www.nps.gov/havo/ or 985-6000. Hawai`i County Viewing Area status can be found at 961-8093. All times are Hawai`i Standard Time.

KILAUEA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-01-)
19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

Volcanic Descriptions



Activity Summary for past 24 hours: Another minor DI event occurred yesterday and Kilauea eruptive activity continued at two locations. In the east rift zone, lava appeared in Pu`u `O`o crater and also flowed from the TEB vent through tubes to feed one ocean entry and no surface flows in Kalapana. The summit eruptive vent within Halema`uma`u Crater hosted a lava pond that produced red glow visible from the Jaggar Museum overnight. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the summit and east rift zone vents remained elevated.

Past 24 hours at Kilauea summit: The summit tiltmeter network recorded a second small and brief DI event yesterday with deflation starting at 9:30 am and inflation at 8:20 pm. The network of GPS receivers recorded overall extension across the summit, focused in the south caldera, since early March, 2010. Seven earthquakes were strong enough to be located beneath Kilauea volcano - two beneath the lower southwest rift zone, three beneath the upper east rift zone, and two on south flank faults.

The crusted and circulating lava surface at the bottom of the deep collapse pit inset in the southeast edge of Halema`uma`u Crater was in a high lava stand between 6:45 and 11:15 am and 5:20 and 8 pm yesterday. Seismic tremor levels were at elevated and variable values, slightly more elevated since Sept. 3, but still dropping to very low values during the high lava stands followed by a strong tremor burst as the lava rapidly drained to its previous level of about 160 m (525 ft) below the crater floor. The lava lit up the gas plume and, when weather permitted, the glow was visible from the Jaggar Museum Overlook overnight.

The summit gas plume was robust and moving to the southwest this morning. The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement was 600 tonnes/day on September 8, still elevated above the 2003-2007 (pre-summit eruption) average of 140 tonnes/day; the summit emissions typically halve during lava high stands. Small amounts of ash-sized tephra continued to be wafted up with the gas plume and deposited on nearby surfaces.

Past 24 hours at the middle east rift zone vents: The tiltmeter on the north flank of Pu`u `O`o recorded another small and brief DI event starting with deflation at 9:15 am yesterday (unusual in that it started before deflation at the summit) and inflation at midnight last night. GPS receivers on and around Pu`u `O`o cone recorded contraction between June 16 and July 5 and possible weak extension since. Seismic tremor levels remained low. Incandescence from the actively spreading lava flow along the southwestern crater floor margin within Pu`u `O`o continued and was visible via webcam.

The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement from east rift zone vents was 400 tonnes/day on September 2, 2010, much lower than the 2003-2007 (pre-summit eruption) average of 1,700 tonnes/day but typical of the low rates since early March, 2010.

Lava from the TEB vent flowed through tubes that carried lava down-slope entering the ocean through the Puhi-o-Kalaikini delta; there were no active surface flows in Kalapana. Faint thermal anomalies on the GOES-WEST imagery suggest little to no surface activity through dawn on the coastal plain.

HAZARD ALERT: The lava deltas and adjacent areas both inland and out to sea are some of the most hazardous areas on the flow field. Frequent delta/bench collapses give little warning, can produce hot rock falls inland and in the adjacent coastal waters, and can produce large local waves. The steam plume produced by lava entering the ocean contains fine lava fragments and an assortment of acid droplets that can be harmful to your health. The rapidly changing conditions near the ocean entry have been responsible for many injuries and a few deaths.

Kalapana Public Access Information from Hawai`i County Civil Defense: Kalapana Gardens is a private subdivision and access will only be granted to subdivision residents. Private property borders highway 130 through Kalapana and no one is allowed access off the highway easement. Hawai`i County Police will be monitoring the area. Hawai`i County Viewing Area status can be found at 961-8093.

Maps, photos, Webcam views, and other information about Kilauea Volcano are available at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php. A daily update summary is available by phone at (808) 967-8862.

A map with details of earthquakes located within the past two weeks can be found at http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/

A definition of alert levels can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php

Definitions of Terms Used:

Inflating surface flow: is a lava flow that may not advance but continues to thicken as its top and bottom crusts grow around a continuously replenished molten interior. This can be visualized as a large flat bladder of molten lava that could burst along its edges at any time.

Hakuma horst: a horst is an section of earth that is raised between two nearly parallel faults so that its surface is higher than the surrounding ground. The Hakuma horst is located along the coast west of Kalapana; it was responsible for diverting lava through Kalapana village in 1990 and appears to be having a similar influence on lava flows in 2010.

Halema`uma`u Overlook vent: has been difficult to describe concisely. The vent is actually a pit, or crater, in the floor of the larger Halema`uma`u Crater in the floor of the larger Kilauea caldera or crater - a crater within a crater within a crater. It is easiest to describe as a pit inset within the floor of a crater within a caldera. The pit is about 140 m (460 ft) in diameter at the Halema`uma`u Crater floor, is about 50 m in diameter at the pit floor, and is about 200 m (660 ft) deep. As of November, 2009, a lava pond surface has been visible in a hole in the floor of this pit.

glow: light from an unseen source; indirect light.

incandescence: the production of visible light from a hot surface. The term also refers to the light emitted from a hot surface. The color of the light is related to surface temperature. Some surfaces can display dull red incandescence at temperatures as low as 430 degrees Centigrade (806 degrees Fahrenheit). By contrast, molten lava displays bright orange to orange-yellow light from surfaces that are hotter than 900 degrees C (1,650 degrees F).

CD: Hawai`i County Civil Defense

tonne: metric unit equal to 1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lbs, or 1.1 English tons.

tephra: all material deposited by fallout from an eruption-related plume, regardless of size.

ash: tephra less than 2 mm (5/64 inches) in size.

TEB: Thanksgiving Eve Breakout, the designation used for lava flows that started with a breakout on November 21, 2007.

microradian: a measure of angle equivalent to 0.000057 degrees.

DI tilt event: DI is an abbreviation for 'deflation-inflation' and describes a volcanic event of uncertain significance. DI events are recorded by tiltmeters at Kilauea summit as an abrupt deflation of up to a few microradians in magnitude lasting several hours to 2-3 days followed by an abrupt inflation of approximately equal magnitude. The tilt events are usually accompanied by an increase in summit tremor during the deflation phase. A careful analysis of these events suggests that they may be related to changes in magma supply to a storage reservoir at less than 1 km depth, just east of Halema`uma`u crater. Usually, though not always, these changes propagate through the magma conduit from the summit to the eruption site, as many of the DI events at Kilauea summit are also recorded at a tiltmeter at Pu`u `O`o, delayed by 1-2 hours. DI events often correlate with lava pulses and/or pauses in the eruption at the Pu`u `O`o/July 21/TEB vents.

More definitions with photos can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/index.php.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY MONTHLY UPDATE
Monday, August 16, 2010 10:47 AM HST (Monday, August 16, 2010 20:47 UTC)


HALEAKALA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-06-)
20°42'29" N 156°15' W, Summit Elevation 10023 ft (3055 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN

No unusual seismicity or deformation was detected.

Haleakala Volcano is monitored by a single continuous GPS instrument and a single seismometer located near the southwest edge of the crater.

HUALALAI VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-04-)
19°41'31" N 155°52'12" W, Summit Elevation 8278 ft (2523 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN

No unusual seismicity or deformation was detected.

Hualalai Volcano is monitored by a single continuous GPS instrument and a single seismometer located southwest of the summit.

LO`IHI VOLCANO
18°55'12" N 155°16'12" W, Summit Elevation -3199 ft (-975 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: UNASSIGNED
Current Aviation Color Code: UNASSIGNED

No unusual seismicity was detected.

There are no working instruments on Lo`ihi Volcano. All current information comes from seismometers on Hawai`i Island.

MAUNA KEA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-03-)
19°49'12" N 155°28'12" W, Summit Elevation 13796 ft (4205 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN

No unusual seismicity or deformation were detected. Nine earthquakes were located beneath the volcano.

MAUNA LOA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-02=)
19°28'30" N 155°36'29" W, Summit Elevation 13681 ft (4170 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN

Mauna Loa is currently not inflating and there was no unusual seismicity: Ka`oiki seismicity was within levels typical for the last few years. Line lengths between GPS receivers on either flank of Mauna Loa have shown either no change or weak contraction in 2010.

Background: Re-inflation of Mauna Loa's shallow magma storage reservoirs started immediately following the most recent eruption in 1984, then turned to deflation for almost a decade. In mid-2002, inflation started again, just after a brief swarm of deep long-period (LP) earthquakes. A more intense swarm of 2,000 deep LP earthquakes occurred in late 2004, accompanying a dramatic increase in the inflation rate. Inflation slowed again starting in 2006, and appears to have ceased altogether starting in late October 2009.

Modeling of uplift and extension of Mauna Loa suggests that, between 2002 and 2010, more than 100 million cubic meters of magma accumulated at shallow depths beneath Mauna Loa. An additional, but unquantified volume was also intruded between 1984 and 1993. Thus, since 1984, the reservoirs beneath Mauna Loa have accumulated a volume of magma at least equivalent to the volume of lava that was erupted in 1984.

Rising gradually to more than 4 km above sea level, Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on our planet. Its long submarine flanks descend to the sea floor an additional 5 km, and the sea floor in turn is depressed by Mauna Loa's great mass another 8 km. This makes the volcano's summit about 17 km (56,000 ft) above its base! The enormous volcano covers half of the Island of Hawai`i and by itself amounts to about 85 percent of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined.

Mauna Loa is among Earth's most active volcanoes, having erupted 33 times since its first well-documented historical eruption in 1843. Its most recent eruption was in 1984.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
HVO media contact

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.

Source: Kilauea Volcano Observatory

Kilauea Volcano Cam


This is a static image of Kilauea, The VolcanoCam image automatically updates approximately every two hours.
Volcano image courtesy of ...
Live webcam images of various Hawaii volcanoes
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Webcam

Kilauea - 7 September 2010

Fairly wispy gas plume during high-lava stands provide rare naked-eye view

Over the past several days, the lava surface within the vent in Halema`uma`u has occasionally, and temporarily, reached to within about 115 m (375 ft) below the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater, as seen in this photo. During these high-lava stands, the gas plume is generally fairly wispy, providing the rare naked-eye view of the lava surface. The far (north) side of the vent is still profoundly overhung. Rocks that fall from the rim of the vent at the top of the image strike the lava lake out of sight of the camera below the vent rim at the bottom of the image.
 The largely crusted surface of the lava lake in the Halema`uma`u vent slowly moves from north (top of the photo) to south. During high lava stands, like that shown here, this circulation is so slow as to be nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.
Left. Over the past several days, the lava surface within the vent in Halema`uma`u has occasionally, and temporarily, reached to within about 115 m (375 ft) below the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater, as seen in this photo. During these high-lava stands, the gas plume is generally fairly wispy, providing the rare naked-eye view of the lava surface. The far (north) side of the vent is still profoundly overhung. Rocks that fall from the rim of the vent at the top of the image strike the lava lake out of sight of the camera below the vent rim at the bottom of the image.Right. The largely crusted surface of the lava lake in the Halema`uma`u vent slowly moves from north (top of the photo) to south. During high lava stands, like that shown here, this circulation is so slow as to be nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.
Kīlauea's active summit vent is on the southeast side of Halema`umau Crater. In this photo, the floor of Halema`uma`u stretches out beyond the vent, and the summit of Kīlauea Volcano is at upper right. The observation tower at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the highest bump in the photo at Kīlauea's summit.
Kīlauea's active summit vent is on the southeast side of Halema`umau Crater. In this photo, the floor of Halema`uma`u stretches out beyond the vent, and the summit of Kīlauea Volcano is at upper right. The observation tower at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the highest bump in the photo at Kīlauea's summit.

More images of Kilauea


Information courtesy of ...
U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).
Top Contact Website Map

Copyright © 2009 Foresthillweather.com

Never base important decisions on this or any weather information obtained from the Internet