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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 23 April-29 April 2014


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 April-29 April 2014
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2014. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 April-29 April 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (23 April-29 April 2014)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 23-29 April HVO reported that the circulating lava lake occasionally rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater. Gas emissions remained elevated. The plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash, spatter, and Pele's hair onto nearby areas; smaller particles may have been dropped several kilometers away. During 28-29 April the lake level rose to an estimated 30 m below the crater floor, the highest level measured since February 2013.

At Pu'u 'O'o Crater, glow emanated from spatter cones on the N and S portions of the crater floor, and from the lava pond in the NE spatter cone. On 22 April, just before midnight, the N spatter cone produced a vigorous lava flow that traveled E across the crater floor in minutes, over the crater edge, and then down the NE flank of the cone along the Kahauale’a 2 lava flow tube. The flow continued to be sporadically active during the rest of this reporting period. The Kahauale’a 2 lava flow continued to advance, with breakouts from the main stalled lobe, and burn adjoining forest. On 28 April geologists mapped the farthest point of activity, 8.3 km NE of Pu’u 'O'o.

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)