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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 13 August-19 August 2014


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 August-19 August 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, 13 August-19 August 2014. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (13 August-19 August 2014)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 13-19 August 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. On 15-18 August glow was visible during the night above outgassing pits on the northeast, south, and southeast edges of Pu`u `O`o's crater floor and at skylights along the June 27th flow lava tube. On 12 August these pits at the edges of the crater floor were identified in an overflight. The June 27th flow continued to advance into forest NE of Pu`u `O`o. The tube-fed flow slowed and widened over several days, and its distal tip was 9.4 km from the vent (straight-line distance) on 18 August. The flow also hosted a broad area of lava flow breakouts mid-way along its length that reached the forest about 5 km NE of the vent, on the N side of the current flow.

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)