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Left. Looking up West Gap shield from forest margin. Tall east spatter cone atop shield visible below left (north) rim of Pu`u `O`o's crater. 0830. Right. Recently active lava flow from rootless shield down-tube from West Gap shield. Flow enters forest and covers tephra produced during high-fountaining episodes at Pu`u `O`o during the mid-1980s. 0831.

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Left. Weakly spattering vent on small rootless shield, part of larger Amalgamated Bend shield. Width of spattering area, 4-5 m. 0831. Right. Pu`u `O`o from southwest, showing broken-down rim of crater. Both West Gap spatter cones visible below left (northwest) crater rim. Head of filled Puka Nui is reddish gap below highest part on crater rim. 0832.

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Two views of east spatter cone at West Gap. Cone is 8-10 m high and was sporadically spattering every few minutes (no spatter captured in these images.) Left. Looking north at south side of cone. 0909. Right. Looking west at east side of cone, showing one continuous lava stream that made its way to base of cone several days ago. 0923.

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Left. West spatter cone atop West Gap shield. Note incandescent hole. This cone was roaring loudly but not producing spatter. 0917. Right. Looking northward across West Gap. Base of east spatter cone on left. Colorful northwest wall of Pu`u `O`o's crater behind. Crater floor is as close as 2 m to low point in West Gap. 0917.

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Left. Looking east from West Gap across crater of Pu`u `O`o. Beehive spatter cone is prominent; not its inactivity, as compared to its state a few minutes later (right image). Vaguely seen in distance over left shoulder of Beehive is craggy East Pond Vent. 0918. Right. Beehive spatter cone a couple of minutes after it began to erupt, viewed from West Gap. Beehive is estimated 7-8 m high. 0926.

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More views of Beehive cone from West Gap.Left. Lava gushes down west flank of cone unaccompanied by spatter. 0929. Right. Gush has been joined by spatter. 0931.

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Left. Active Beehive cone, viewed from north rim of Pu`u `O`o's crater. Lava pouring down west flank of cone feeds lava flow (shiny) that heads toward lower right corner of image. Near left edge is spatter cone at incandescent Humble Vent. 0952. Right. Wider view from same vantage at left image, showing lava flow more completely. Puka Nui gap is just right of center, and part of West Gap is shown near right edge of image. 0955.

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Left. Beehive spatter cone doin' its thing, as viewed from north rim of crater. Lava flow continues to move. 1002. Right. Somewhat skewed view from helicopter of gushing Beehive cone and lava flow fanning from cone. Note dimly incandescent hole above and just to left of top of Beehive. This is Drainhole Vent.1120.

16 January 2004

Full crater and East Pond Vent

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Left. Lava spilling and spattering from East Pond Vent and feeding lava flow that is filling east end of Pu`u `O`o's crater. Cone at East Pond Vent is about 8 m high. 0735. Right. Lava wells from under crust of ponded lava fed by East Pond Vent. This process, called crustal overturning, is common on ponded lava. It refreshes the crust, creating smooth surfaces that erase the ropy surface texture of typical pahoehoe. 0838.

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Two views looking east of filling crater of Pu`u `O`o. Compare distant end of crater in the two images. Left. 0827. Right. 0925.

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Left. Photographers waiting for lava to spill over east rim of crater. They stand near rim, and oozing lava is actually slightly above them. 1124:27. Right. Tongue of lava that spilled over rim a couple of minutes later. 1128:36.

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Left. Spattering East Pond Vent and surface of lava pond in crater. 1211. Right. Spatter and incandescence in East Pond Vent. Not all spatter cones have simple shapes, and this one is one of the more bizarre. 1555.

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Left. Spattering from East Pond Vent in late afternoon. 1608. Right. Photographers view the complex forms of East Pond Vent and, near right edge of image, January Vent. 1643.

18 January 2004

New vent at southeast base of Pu`u `O`o

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Early images of event that produced the new fissure at southeast base of Pu`u `O`o. These images were taken by David Jordan, a professional photographer, from top of Pu`u Huluhulu. Tilt records indicate that the cracking and eruption started at about 0550. Left. First good image David could get after mist cleared up. Glow from south (right) of cone comes from lava and new vent. 0621. Right. Spots at incandescent cones in crater of Pu`u `O`o contrast with broad glow from new vent and lava flow at southeast base of cone. 0636.

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Left. Aerial view of Pu`u `O`o looking northeast, showing location of new vent at base of cone (near right edge of image) relative to other prominent features. Crater floor is covered with fresh, dark lava flows. West Gap is apparent near left edge of image. Puka Nui is red gap and pit near center of image. 1207. Right. Aerial view looking west, showing fresh, black lava flow coming from vent at base of Pu`u `O`o. Smoke and fume near left edge of image is from Amalgamated Bend shield. 1000.

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Left. Looking northeast at new vent and black lava flows it fed. 1003. Right. Channeled lava streams issue from vent at base of cone. 1003.

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Left. Aerial view looking down southeast flank of Pu`u `O`o, showing vent erupting lava and new flows. Note cracks in tephra on flank of cone. 1004. Right. Clear view of vent feeding lava from base of Pu`u `O`o. Note low spatter cone at vent. 1005.

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Left. Ground view looking up crack cutting flank of Pu`u `O`o, showing small spatter cone and lava rising to surface. 1019. Right. Looking down the crack toward spatter cone. 1038.

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Left. Cracks, all new, on south flank of Pu`u `O`o. The cone is clearly unstable. 1046. Right. Photographer gives scale for erupting fissure and flanking blanket of fresh, black spatter. Though sunny, rain coat provides protection from heat. 1140.

27 January 2004

Various goings on at Pu`u `O`o

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Left. Aerial view looking east at fume cloud rising from Pu`u `O`o. 0806. Right. January 18 vent area, called MLK vent, at south base of Pu`u `O`o. Lava erupted from end of cracked zone that cuts flank of cone. Foot trail extends down cone from right to left. 0838.

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Left. View into throat of partly collapsed spatter cone at East Pond Vent, near eastern end of Pu`u `O`o's crater. Width of hole is 8-12 m. 0806. Right. Lava below skylight, or in collapsed pit, atop Okita shield, highest shield along Mother's Day tube system. Width of opening, 5-7 m.

Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 22 January 2004

Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map). Yellow lava flows began erupting from new vent (green star) at base of Pu`u `O`o on January 18, 2004; it is named the MLK flow.

Shades of red denote Mother's Day flow, which began erupting on May 12, 2002 and continues to the present. Darkest shade indicates lava flows erupted in November 2003-January 2004. Yellow stars indicate centers of recently active, or still active, rootless shields in Mother's Day flow. New shields often form, so it is hard to show all shields on this map.

Through September and into early October 2003, lava was moving along the east and west sides of the Mother's Day flow. The east-side lava (known as the August 9 breakout) came from the August 9 rootless shield, itself fed by the main Mother's Day tube from Pu`u `O`o. The west side lava, known as the Kohola arm of the Mother's Day flow, branched off the tube system below the rootless shield.

In early October 2003, the August 9 breakout stopped moving, the Kohola died back to a trickle, and the one labeled rootless shield gained prominence. By October 16, however, the shield had partly collapsed, leaving several drained perched ponds behind. Upstream from the shield, many hornitos and small flows formed over the Mother's Day tube. Soon thereafter, other rootless shields began to form over the Mother's Day, August 9, and Kohola tubes. These shields have been active throughout November and December.

Vents in West Gap Pit became active in early October, were quiet for 3 weeks, and then resumed intermittent activity that continued well into December. Other vents were also sporadically active in Puka Nui (near West Gap Pit) and in the crater of Pu`u `O`o.

Map of Pu`u `O`o and vicinity: 26 January 2004

Map shows vents, lava flows, and other features near Pu`u `O`o frequently referred to in updates (see large map). These features change often, but this map should help those viewers lost in the terminology. The cones in West Gap are just outside the boundary of the crater--the oval shaped depression containing the seven numbered vents. Red color denotes flows--the Mother's Day flows--erupted since May 12, 2002. Orange color indicates episode-55 flows erupted between March 1997 and August 2002 (exclusive of Mother's Day flows). Gray shows flows of earlier episodes.