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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 7 May-13 May 2008


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 7 May-13 May 2008
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2008. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 7 May-13 May 2008. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (7 May-13 May 2008)

Kilauea

United States

19.421°N, 155.287°W; summit elev. 1222 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Based on observations during helicopter overflights, visual observations from HVO and National Park Service (NPS) crews, and web camera views, HVO reported that during 7-13 May lava flowed SE through a lava tube system underneath Kilauea's Thanksgiving Eve Breakout (TEB) and rootless shield complex to the Waikupanaha ocean entry. Incandescence was occasionally noted from the TEB vent area. During 10-13 May, spatter at the Waikupanaha ocean entry was propelled 20-30 m high and built a littoral cone.

During the reporting period, Kilauea summit earthquakes were located beneath the Halema'uma'u crater, N of the summit, along the S-flank faults, and along the SW and E rift zones. The eruption from the vent in Halema'uma'u Crater continued to produce white plumes with minor ash content that drifted mainly SW. During most nights incandescence was seen at the base of the plume. Seismic tremor was elevated. During 11-12 May, the summit tiltmeter network recorded the tenth 'deflation-inflation' (DI) tilt event since the emergence of the new vent in Halema`uma`u Crater and the seventeenth so far in 2008.The sulfur dioxide emission rate was high and fluctuated between 590 and 1,100 tonnes per day during 6-12 May. The background rate was 150-200 tonnes per day.

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.

Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)