EPISODE 43

Episode 42 was followed by 26 days of repose, before intermittent lava spillovers from Pu`u `O`o vent began on 21 March at 1330. Summit deflation began at midnight, and continuous lava production of E-43 began at 0450 the next day. Fountains reached their maximum height of ~310 m at 1110. The episode ended at 1556 on 22 March after forming two lava flows, one extending 5 km E of the vent, the second 2.3 km NE toward the older Kahaualea cone. The summit grew 5 m . . . to 255 m above the pre-January 1983 surface.

After E-42 the summit had inflated 12.9 µrad before the onset of E-43 deflation. Deflation, totaling 12.8 µrad, continued until ~2 hours after the end of lava production. Inflation following E-43 amounted to 6.3 µrad by the end of March (figure 43).

The strong tremor associated with E-43 began at 0635 on the 22nd, peaked at 1200, and ended at 1554. Fluctuating low-amplitude tremor continued through the rest of the month near Pu`u `O`o.

Addendum: By 9 April, the summit had recovered all of the deflation associated with the previous episode. Episode 44's vigorous lava production began 13 April at about 2100, after a few hours of lava spillovers into the main channel. Lava fountains reached heights of 250 m [but see 11:04] by 0200 then stopped at 0756, feeding a few short lava flows to the NE and a longer aa flow that extended > 4 km to the ESE.

Geological Summary. Kilauea overlaps the E flank of the massive Mauna Loa shield volcano in the island of Hawaii. Eruptions are prominent in Polynesian legends; written documentation since 1820 records frequent summit and flank lava flow eruptions interspersed with periods of long-term lava lake activity at Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera until 1924. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed in several stages about 1,500 years ago and during the 18th century; eruptions have also originated from the lengthy East and Southwest rift zones, which extend to the ocean in both directions. About 90% of the surface of the basaltic shield volcano is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the surface is younger than 600 years. The long-term eruption from the East rift zone between 1983 and 2018 produced lava flows covering more than 100 km2, destroyed hundreds of houses, and added new coastline.

Information Contacts: C. Heliker, M. Sako, and J. Nakata, HVO.