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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 28 December-3 January 2017


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 December-3 January 2017
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, 28 December-3 January 2017. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (28 December-3 January 2017)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 28 December 2017-3 January 2017 HVO reported that the lava lake continued to rise and fall, circulate, and spatter in Kilauea’s Overlook vent, and was visible from the Jaggar Museum overlook on most days. Webcams recorded incandescence from long-active sources within Pu'u 'O'o Crater and from a vent high on the NE flank of the cone. The 61G lava flow, originating from a vent on Pu'u 'O'o Crater's E flank, continued to enter the ocean near Kamokuna at the easternmost lava delta. An active branch of 61G remained active E of Pu'u 'O'o and advanced slowly E at a rate of only a few tens of meters per day. On 31 December almost all of the Kamokuna lava delta had collapsed, along with a large section (180 m long and 70 m wide) of the older sea cliff E of the lava delta.

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)