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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 8 August-14 August 2018


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 August-14 August 2018
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2018. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 August-14 August 2018. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (8 August-14 August 2018)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


HVO reported that during 8-14 August activity at Kilauea was characterized by a slowly-circulating lava pond deep within the Fissure 8 vent (though the pond was crusted over by 14 August) and a billowing gas plume, and a few scattered ocean entries. The summit area was quiet except for occasional rockfalls into the crater. Fresh black sand from fragmented lava was transported SW by the ocean current, and accumulated in the Pohoiki harbor, creating a sandbar. The westernmost ocean entry was about 1 km NE of the harbor. Earthquake and deformation data indicated no magma movement or pressurization in the system.

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)