Logo link to homepage

Report on Kilauea (United States) — 21 November-27 November 2012


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 21 November-27 November 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2012. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 21 November-27 November 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (21 November-27 November 2012)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 21-27 November HVO reported that the circulating lava lake periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater. Occasional measurements indicated that the gas plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash, spatter, and Pele's hair onto nearby areas. At Pu'u 'O'o Crater, lava circulated within the perched lava lake at the NE part of the crater, and glow emanated from vents at the S edge of the crater floor and from a spatter cone at the N edge. A small lava flow issued from the E vent at the S edge of the crater floor on 24 November.

The easternmost of two lava flows on the coastal plain entered the ocean on 24 November in an area 500 m E of the easternmost border of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Steam plumes rose from the entry point during 25-26 November, suggesting lava continued to enter the ocean. A plume was absent on the morning of 27 November.

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)