Kilauea continues to put on a show
The on-again, off-again lava flow into Kilauea volcano’s Halemaumau crater is back on.
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
This photo was taken later on Dec. 29, when lava fountains at Kīlauea's summit were approximately 130 feet (40 meters) high.2/7
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
On Dec. 29, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists collected scaled video of lava fountaining as well as laser rangefinder measurements of fountain heights and crater floor elevations.3/7
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Several koa‘e kea birds (white-tailed tropicbirds) were flying circles above the Kīlauea summit eruptive vent on Dec. 29, riding thermal updrafts from the lava pond.4/7
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Fountaining at Kīlauea summit has increased in vigor on December 29. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists on the crater rim the morning of Dec. 29 observed an increase in height throughout their field shift, up to about 40 m (130 feet). Lava effusion was also starting to form a perched lava pond in front of the vents.5/7
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
This map shows deformation at Kīlauea volcano associated with the ongoing eruption that started on December 23, 2024. The image covers the timespan from Dec. 17–29, 2024, using data acquired by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1A satellite. Colored fringes denote areas of ground deformation, with more fringes indicating more deformation. Each color cycle represents 2.8 centimeters (1.1 inches) of range change. The symbol in the upper left indicates the satellite's orbit direction (arrow) and look direction (bar). The two lobes of deformation mark the two sides of the fissures that opened between the Halemaʻumaʻu magma chamber at a depth of approximately 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) and the ground surface. The current lava fountaining location is near the southwestern corner of the active lava flow field (pink area).6/7
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This photo was taken later on Dec. 29, when lava fountains at Kīlauea's summit were approximately 130 feet (40 meters) high. USGS photo by M. Patrick.7/7
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
This zoom view of the three active eruptive vents within Halemaʻumaʻu was captured during a morning visit to the crater's southern rim by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. The geologists estimated that the tallest of these vents, on the right side of this image, had built a spatter cone that stood 30–50 feet (10–15 meters) tall. All three vents were feeding pāhoehoe lava flows onto the crater floor, out of view to the right of this image.
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