Lava flows from new breakout on Pu’u ‘O’o
This Monday photo shows a closer look at lava activity on the north flank of Pu'u 'O'o.
This thermal image taken Monday shows the position of active breakouts relative to the inactive flow front. Active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Breakouts are about 490 yards behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.
This map uses a satellite image provided by Digital Globe as a base. The area of the flow on February 19 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of February 23 is shown in red. The blue lines show steepest-descent paths calculated from a 1983 digital elevation model.
The leading tip of the June 27th lava flow remains stalled, but breakouts persist upslope of the stalled tip. One of these breakouts (marked by the arrow) reached one of the fire break roads on Monday.
This Monday aerial photo looks east, and shows the breakout on the north flank of Pu'u 'O'o that began over the weekend. The breakout, visible as the lighter colored region in the center of the photograph, occurred from the area of the June 27th vent (upper right portion of photograph).
This photo taken Monday shows a small lobe of pahoehoe on the new breakout on the north flank of Pu'u 'O'o.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists released photos of a new breakout on the north flank of Pu’u ‘O’o.
The new breakout is from the same vent supplying lava to the flow near Pahoa and was first observed Saturday night. Another pulse broke out in the same area Monday afternoon, scientists said.
It’s too early to say if the breakout will have any effect on the lava flow, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman and geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
“It’s been two days since the breakout began, and no detectable change has been observed at the flow front or elsewhere along the flow. So at this point, it’s wait and see,” Babb said in an e-mail.
Meanwhile, the front of the flow, about 13 miles downslope of Pu’u ‘O’o, remained stalled.
A breakout on the north margin of the flow, about a mile upslope of the front, continues to be active and widened but did not advance overnight, Hawaii County Civil Defense said after a morning overflight Tuesday. That breakout has advanced about 328 yards since Thursday.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
The lava is not an immediate threat to area communities.
