July 18, 2018. USGS: “The fissure 8 cone (right) and proximal lava channel were partially obscured by volcanic gas emissions this morning. In concert with surges in the eruptive activity, lava levels were fluctuating over periods of about five minutes. Deposits of tephra (airborne lava fragments, such as Pele’s hair) blanket the foreground area.” (Full-sized)
Today’s Eruption Summary
Fissure 8 surged after last night’s summit collapse and sent brief-lived overflows towards Nohea Street and on both sides of the channel further down. Civil Defense reported an unspecified number of structures lost; Janet Snyder of the Mayor’s office said one in the mandatory evacuation zone of Leilani Estates.
Other fissures remain quiet.
July 18, 2018. USGS: “An increase in lava supply overnight produced several lava channel overflows that threatened homes on Nohea street in the Leilani Estates subdivision; farther downstream, lava overflowed both sides of the channel. By mid-morning, the overflows had stalled (flow shown here). For scale, a person’s leg and boot are just visible on the right center edge of this photo.” (Full-sized)
Past Kapoho Crater, a pulse of a’a made its way to the ocean, overriding the existing channelized flow on the south side of the delta. Ooze-outs continue here and there along the edge of the delta.
July 18, 2018. USGS: “Several lobes of fissure 8 lava are entering the ocean along a broad front, with the southwestern edge of the entry shown here. The southern margin of the lava flow was about 700 m (0.4 mi) from the Pohoiki boat ramp this morning.” (Full-sized)
July 18, 2018. USGS: “Map as of 10:00 a.m. HST, July 18, 2018. The south ocean entry area was obscured by laze (acidic steam plume), so the southern boundary of the lava flow is approximate on this map.” (Full-sized)
And the smoke from a fire on the saddle area of Mauna Loa this evening is NOT a volcanic eruption.
July 17, 2018. USGS: “During this morning’s overflight, USGS scientists captured this image of sunrise above Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone. Fissure 8 continues to feed a channelized lava flow that reaches the ocean, forming a large plume at the coast (upper right).” (Full-sized)
Today’s Eruption Summary
And we’re back to routine, except that Fissure 8’s providing a minor puzzle to keep HVO busy. Yesterday it didn’t exhibit the surge behavior that’s been typical after summit collapses for the week or so. Today, nowhere near the time of a collapse event, “surging was noted at the Fissure 8 cone during the [morning] overflight but had stopped by the time ground crews arrived to verify it.” Otherwise, the channel’s lava level was low this morning. No other were fissures active.
July 17, 2018. USGS: ” During their overflight, scientists used a telephoto lens to photograph the surface of the fissure 8 lava channel. Incandescent lava is visible through pieces of darker crust that forms as the flow surface cools. Note the apparent symmetry on either side of the channel center, where lava flows more quickly than it does along the channel margins—a visual representation of flow velocity across the channel width.” (Full-sized)
Both the strong southern ocean entry and weak “ooze-outs” north along the edge of the lava delta continue. Onshore, the southern margin of the flow front was reported to be half a mile from the Pohoiki boat ramp this morning. Unfortunately, that flow edge has stalled but not stopped, and a DLNR official warned Isaac Hale Park is still within its sights.
July 17, 2018. USGS: “South margin of the fissure 8 lava flow ocean entry. As of this morning, the flow was about 750 m (just under 0.5 mi) from the Pohoiki boat ramp.” (Full-sized)
We’re still awaiting the next summit collapse, which looks like it’s going to thwart HVO’s new “Northeast Caldera Rim” livestream by happening at night.
Speaking of the northeast rim, here’s the July 12 collapse event with sound from that vantage point:
Listen to the sound of rockfall in this short video taken from the NE rim of the Kīlauea caldera during the collapse/explosion event on July 12, 2018. https://t.co/bCQ1FlDr4opic.twitter.com/nvv1IkArHG
The split-second info card at the end says the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater has dropped 450 m (1480 ft). Prior to the current eruption, it was 85 m (~280 feet) deep. So it’s about 1760 feet deep now. (World Trade Center One is 1776.)
