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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 22 June-28 June 2016


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 June-28 June 2016
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2016. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 June-28 June 2016. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 June-28 June 2016)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


HVO reported that during 22-28 June the lava lake continued to rise and fall, circulate, and spatter in Kilauea's Overlook vent. Several incandescent vents on Pu'u 'O'o Crater's floor were evident in webcam images. A lava flow originating from a vent on Pu'u 'O'o Crater's E flank continued to advance and spread SE. Webcams recorded bright incandescence from several skylights along the upper part of the tube system supplying lava to the front part of the flow. The advancement rate of the flow front was 100 m/day the previous week and by 24 June the lava flow had entered the N part of the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. The advancement rate had increased to 300 m/day during 25-28 June; satellite images acquired on 27 June revealed that the lava flow was 6.3 km long and was progressing down the pali along the W boundary of the subdivision.

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)