June 2: Kapoho Isolated, Green Lake Evaporated

Today’s Eruption Summary:

After several days of anticipation, Fissure 8 arrived at last at Four Corners, the intersection of Highway 132 & 137. That gave local residents more time to retrieve their belongs before access to and from the Kapoho/Vacationland area was cut off.

USGS Caption: Northern edge of the fissure 8 flow front on the night of June 1, as it approached the intersection of Highways 132 and 137, known as “Four Corners.” (Full-sized)

Sadly, while people can evacuate, precious landmarks can’t. Today Green Lake seems to have gone the same way as the Queen’s Bath in Kalapana:

USGS Caption: “As fissure 8 lava flowed into Green Lake, the lake water boiled away, sending a white plume high into the sky—visible from afar between around 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. HST. This aerial photo, taken a couple of hours later by the Hawai‘i County Fire Department, shows still-steaming lava within Green Lake, located near the intersection of Highways 132 and 137.” (Full-sized)

Fissure 18 fell asleep before its flow could cross 137 again, but at this point, it hardly matters.

The summit was steaming with minimal ash today. However, news headlines claiming “crater falls quiet” may be greatly exaggerated. Time will tell.

USGS Morning Update

Continue reading June 2: Kapoho Isolated, Green Lake Evaporated

Video Clips: Pāhoehoe vs A’a (What’s the Difference?)

If you’ve followed this blog at all, you’ve come across the terms “pāhoehoe” and “a’a.” They’re Hawaiian words borrowed by volcanologists as technical terms for different types of lava. How can you tell which is which?

When I visited in 1986, the joke was that “a’a” is the noise you make when you walk on it, because it’s prickly, and “pāhoehoe” is the smooth stuff. But that’s oversimplified, and it confused me. Some of the old pāhoehoe flows we hiked on near Mauna Ulu seemed pretty bumpy to me.

Pāhoehoe lava is runny, faster-moving, and often described as “ropey.” It’s pretty obvious when it’s spilling into a crater or running swiftly in a river. Sometimes it has ripple marks. At other times, the leading edge slows down and turns blobby. Here’s an excellent USGS video of a pahoehoe front in night and day, May 24-25:

Pāhoehoe moves forward by inflating lobes of lava with fresh new lava from within.

Then there’s a’a lava: a crumbly, chunky mass of what looks like a heap of rocks and gravel and dirt, except it’s red-hot under the outer skin. It moves like a horizontal landslide in slow motion, bulldozing everything in its path:

It advances mostly by chunks tumbling forward off the front.

A’a is usually quite slow. You can outwalk it. In fact, you’d usually have time to pack a small suitcase if it showed up at the end of your street. Whereas when pāhoehoe flows downhill or becomes “channelized,” making itself a smooth chute, you can’t outrun it:

Both kind of lava make crinkly noises, but I think of a’a as “clinkity clankity” lava, whereas pāhoehoe tends to slither.

So now you’ll know how to explain it the next time someone asks, “What’s the difference between pāhoehoe and a’a?”

May 26: Lava Turns Towards PGV

Puna residents watch with a sinking feeling of “I told you so” as a ponderous a’a flow crossed Pahoa Pohoiki Road slightly north of the geothermal plant, inching towards it. Officials think they’ve got the wells quenched  (I notice they quietly dropped the idea of plugging them), and that they’re safe.

Hawaii County photo looking south across Pohoiki Road, geothermal plant bottom left. Photo not timestamped but probably around noon. “Fissures 7 and 21 are feeding an ‘a’ā flow that has advanced to the northeast and this afternoon crossed Pahoa Pohoiki Road onto PGV property, USGS reported.”

Meanwhile, Fissure 7 is causing trouble in all directions; its lava pond has sent another flow “cascading into Pawaii crater” (6:15pm).  Looking at the map, I’m betting that crater is an old vent from a previous fissure eruption just like this one. In addition to fluid/runny pahoehoe flows, some of the longer flows are a’a.

The summit has also been busy today, with three ash explosions reaching the ~10,000 foot height between midnight and dawn, and some reaching “as high as 12-13K‘ [above sea level]” this morning. Reminder: Kilauea is 4009 feet above sea level (asl).

Moving on. I’ve gotten in the habit of checking the Lower East Rift Zone webcam last thing before I post:

USGS webcam of LERZ. Grabbed just before midnight, May 26. Is that a lava flow coming towards the camera?

Next image on the LERZ webcam.

I do believe it is. Has that lava pond broken loose?

Lava tally as of Saturday morning: 41 houses, 82 structures total. A further 37 homes isolated by lava crossing roads. Lava has covered 3.7 square miles/2372 acres so far.

Here’s the usual roundup of the day’s eruption news, astonishing views, and geeky info by geologists:

Continue reading May 26: Lava Turns Towards PGV

May 7-9: Fissures Slow Down (For Now)

Fissures continued to open, but mostly emitted slow, sticky lava that didn’t travel far. Leilani residents continued to be allowed back during the daytime.

Video: lava flow eats Mustang (dead battery; owner left it to focus on rescuing other possessions), another flow pushes through metal gate.  These slow-moving, clumpy, clanking flows that pile up like a rocky bulldozer are “a’a” lava.

More fissure news/Videos from May 7 until 10:
  • May 7: USGS Status Report (12 fissures total by afternoon)
  • May 8: Mike Kalber video of Fissure 13 steaming, spattering
  • May 8-9: Good article from Hononulu Star-Advertiser (videos, detailed info on progress of eruption, evacuations)
  • May 8: Evening Civil Defense Update from Big Island Video News with lava footage. 14 fissures by day’s end.
  • May 9: Video – Mike Kalber flyover of fissure eruptions; today steaming, not much lava
  • May 9: Video clips – Steaming fissures sound like they’re breathing,  huff and puff
  • 15 fissures by end of May 9, cracks (but not lava) open W. of Highway 130, back up rift zone.
  • Fissure eruptions pause on May 10. Briefly.

May 5-6 Weekend: Fissures in Leilani

panorama of street intersection showing low wall of cooled lava and spatter in distance, cutting across roads and into trees
From USGS Website: “Panoramic view of fissure 7 from the intersection of Leilani and Makamae Streets in the Leilani Estates subdivision. This photo was taken at 06:01 a.m. HST today.”

Evacuated residents of Leilani Estates were allowed back on Sunday May 6 to collect vital documents, pets and possessions. New fissures  continued to open up and spatter, and officials warned about toxic sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) coming from fissures as well.

From USGS Photo/Video blog: “Bubble burst” from fissure 7, morning May 5.
WEEKEND LAVA VIDEOS, images, news, INFO:

Continue reading May 5-6 Weekend: Fissures in Leilani

May 3: First Fissure Eruption Begins

After 2 days of earthquakes and cracks indicating magma was moving down the Lower East Rift Zone, the first fissure opened in Leilani Estates at about 5PM HST, Thursday, May 3, 2018.

Big Island News posted a 10PM video update with video footage accompanying a May 3 civil defense advisory:

Leilani Estates is about 11 miles downrift from Pu’u O’o, in the Puna District.

Maps, Videos (including drone video), INFO…

Continue reading May 3: First Fissure Eruption Begins