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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 16 February-22 February 2011


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 February-22 February 2011
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 February-22 February 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (16 February-22 February 2011)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 16-22 February, activity continued from the summit caldera and east rift zone. At the summit caldera, the level of the circulating lava-pool surface in the deep pit within Halema'uma'u crater fluctuated between 70 and 125 m below the crater floor. Nighttime incandescence was visible from the Jaggar Museum on the NW caldera rim. A plume from the vent drifted in multiple directions and deposited ash and fresh spatter nearby.

At the east rift zone, two branches of the 29 November lava flow (a lava tube breach at 366 m elevation) produced scattered surface flows on the pali and coastal plain. In Pu'u 'O'o crater, lava effused from a cone on the NE portion of the crater floor and from a vent in the E crater wall during most of 16-18 February, covering a large portion of the crater floor. After the lava effusion ceased, incandescence emanated from the cone and vent.

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)