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1 February 2005

Lava at Ka`ili`ili

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Lava cascades over seacliff to enter the water at Ka`ili`ili, about 1 km west of Waha`ula. Entry is fed by east arm of PKK flow.

8 February 2005

Near Pu`u `O`o

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Left. Looking onto cones at MLK vent area from south flank of Pu`u `O`o. 1052. Right. West side of Pu`u `O`o, showing West Gap and the two cones silhouetted in front of it. The black lava flows from the West Gap shield and were erupted from the cones. 1401.

18 February 2005

Spatter cones and `a`a flows

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Left. Westward view into Pu`u `O`o's crater, showing spatter cones that have grown during past month. East Pond Vent is the nearest cluster of cones. Beehive is farthest visible cone, standing tall. Cone at Drainhole, partly silhouetted by fume, is visible between Beehive and East Pond Vent. West Gap is wide notch in crater rim in background; fume hides the cones there. 0834. Right. Closer view of cones. The two nearest camera are at East Pond Vent. High cone with incandescent top just right of center is at January Vent. Broad fuming ridge above and right of January Vent is South Wall Complex. Small cone just right of the complex is at Drainhole. Puka Nui Gap in upper right. 0833.

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Left. Cones at East Pond Vent. Highest cone is 8-10 m high. These two cones are now visible from Mountain View. 0839. Right. Cone cluster in MLK vent area at south base of Pu`u `O`o. Cones are 5-8 m high. 1219.

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Left. Two streams of lava in east branch of PKK flow at mid-level on Pulama pali. Each stream solidifies to `a`a, which forms levees and high flow fronts. 0848. Right. Side view of lava streams in left image. 0856.

20 February 2005

West Highcastle ocean entry and feeding lobe

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Left. Small stream of lava--one of only two today--flowing from front of West Highcastle delta into the sea. 0713. Right. Small breakout from inflating PKK flow feeding West Highcastle delta. Width of active lava, about 50 cm. 0945.

21 February 2005

New ocean entry at East Lae`apuki

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Left. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Those immortal words that Dante put at the gates of Hell in his poem, Inferno, are apt for this view. Glow reflects from the walls of a crack into which lava pours at East Lae`apuki. Sea cliff is at edge of shelf beyond glow. If anyone entered this crack, hope would be abandoned ...quickly. 0559. Right. Another entrance which well might bear Dante's inscription. Lava here is pouring down sea cliff into water (out of view), with glow reflected from steam and from end of crack in left image. 0604.

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Left. Top of lava falls at East Lae`apuki ocean entry. Looking west, with slopes of Pulama pali in background. 0643. Right. Lava falls down sea cliff at East Lae`apuki. Height of cliff, about 12 m. 0641.

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Left. Base of lava falls in images above. 0633. Right. Another view of base of lava falls. 0638.

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Left. Falling arrows of lava. 0647. Right. Trickle of lava builds puddle below, temporarily out of harm's way from the surf. 0648.

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Left. Shadow halfway up sea cliff gives two-tone appearance to early alpen glow shortly after dawn. 0654. Right. Sluggish lava trying to resist gravity and failing. 0656.

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Left. The trickles of lava are slowing as flux lessens and crust grows to hide the liquid. 0701. Right. Alpen glow shadows give depth to image, which shows how crusted drapery hangs out away from sea cliff. This happened because the cliff was slightly overhung, so that the falling lava cooled and developed crust completely around it. Such drapery is exceptionally fragile and probably won't last long. 0711.

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Left. Small, no, tiny, lava delta forming at foot of sea cliff gives off plume of laze, mostly steam. 0726. Right. Wide view of East Lae`apuki ocean entry and the shoreline southwest of it. Holei Pali in distance. Photographers' shadows as in Plato's cave. 0709.

22 February 2005

Four views of Pu`u `O`o from Pu`u Huluhulu

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Left. Early postdawn view of Pu`u `O`o from top of Pu`u Huluhulu, an old, large spatter cone 10 km west-southwest of Pu`u `O`o. Several incandescent vents are visible in Pu`u `O`o's crater. Three incandescent vents are outside the crater in the Puka Nui-MLK vent area. 0613. Right. Profile of Pu`u `O`o better shown in this image, taken 5 minutes after the first. The incandescent PKK vent is also visible, to far right well south of Pu`u `O`o. 0618.

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Left. A little color in the sunrise only two minutes later. 0620. Right. Murk is starting to build, but most vents and their spatter cones on Pu`u `O`o are still visible. 0625.

23 February 2005

East side of East Lae`apuki ocean entry

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Left. East Lae`apuki ocean entry, with faint glow from West Highcastle entry in distance. Large view shows headlights of car on Holei Pali, near skyline directly above new delta. The two growing East Lae`apuki lava deltas are visible. The nearest is the the largest and oldest; it began on February 20. The other, smaller, delta appears as a far lobe of the near delta and probably will become so with continued growth. See right image for scale. 0629.  Right. Tighter view of East Lae`apuki lava delta, with photographer standing on top of sea cliff for scale. Note the fan that is building outward from the sea cliff, down which the two-channeled flow is moving. Contrast these two images with the last ones posted below on February 21 to see growth of lava delta; all four images were taken from nearly the same place. 0634.

25 February 2005

Pu`u `O`o to the ocean

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Left. Three spatter cones at June 25 vent, with south flank of Pu`u `O`o in foreground. Middle cone is spitting Pele's Tears, visible in large image. 1252.  Right. Margin of lava stream in east branch of PKK flow on Pulama pali. This flow has a crust of `a`a but a relatively fluid interior. Width of view, about 8 m. 1015.

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Left. Aerial view of East Lae`apuki ocean entry. The two small deltas forming on February 23 have merged to form one small delta. A couple of lava trickles are visible on sea cliff in large view. Height of cliff, 12-15 m. 0844. Right. Three plumes of laze, mainly steam but containing dilute hydrochloric acid and tiny bits of glass, rise from front of Ka`ili`ili lava delta. This entry was the most active today. 0845.

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Left. Lava pours into the sea off the front and side of the eastern delta of the East Lae`apuki ocean entry. 0636. Right. Large view of right lava stream in left image. 0637. Both images taken from same places as the two images above.

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Left. Looking down onto east delta from top of sea cliff just east of main cascades. Right image gives context. This double stream is the one shown in first two images above. 0644. Right. Wider view of east delta, with West Highcastle (laze plume visible) and points beyond in background. 0645.

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Left. Nearly full Snow Moon above east delta at East Lae`apuki in predawn darkness. 0605. Right. Moon is starting to disappear over horizon, and dawn is coming on. 0613

Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 2 February 2005

Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map).

Yellow, brown, and red colors indicate lava flows erupted from October 2003 to early February 2005. Yellow shade indicates currently active Kuhio (PKK) flow, active most of the time from March 20, 2004 through present (February 1, 2005). Its large eastern arm feeds the Ka`ili`ili ocean entry. Its western arm once supplied lava to Lae`apuki, but now the west branch of that arm carries lava to the West Highcastle entry. The middle arm of the PKK flow has not amounted to much and hangs high on Pulama pali between the western and eastern arms.

Brown shade denotes MLK flows, which first erupted in January 2004, and, in brief spurts, subsequently.

Red indicates the Mother's Day/Banana flow, which is no longer active. Short flows from the crater, West Gap, and Puka Nui vents are also shown in red. Only the Puka Nui vent is currently producing infrequent, small flows.

New vents opened at the southern base of Pu`u `O`o on January 19, 2004 and fed Martin Luther King (MLK) flows, which remained active until March 5, 2004. Since then, several more vents have formed in the MLK area and continue to erupt intermittently. On March 20, 2004 the Kuhio (PKK) flow originated from two vents, about 250 m south of base of Pu`u `O`o. This flow has been continuously active since July 26, 2004.

The Banana flow developed from breakouts from the Mother's Day lava tube, centered near the former Banana Tree kipuka. The breakouts become prominent in the middle of April and lava started down Pulama pali shortly thereafter. The Banana flow fed an ocean entry from the end of May through the beginning of August. This flow stagnated early in September 2004, and Mother's Day tube died late in 2004.

Map of Pu`u `O`o and vicinity: 24 August 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 (now down to 6, as Humble Vent has been buried by a mound of lava flows erupted from Dave's Pit/Vent in March. Red color denotes flows--the Mother's Day flows--erupted since May 12, 2002. Light orange color indicates episode-55 flows erupted between March 1997 and August 2002 (exclusive of Mother's Day flows). Darker orange represents MLK flows; yellow, PKK flow; purple, Puka Nui flow. Vents for these sets of flows shown by indicated symbols. Gray shows flows of earlier episodes.