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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 9 January-15 January 2013


Kilauea

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 9 January-15 January 2013
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Report on Kilauea (United States) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 9 January-15 January 2013. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (9 January-15 January 2013)

Kilauea

United States

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 9-15 January HVO reported that the circulating lava lake periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater. The gas plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash, spatter, and Pele's hair onto nearby areas. The lake level was 40-45 m below the Halema'uma'u crater floor during 9-10 January, 32 m below the floor on 14 January, and 25 m below the floor on 15 January (which was a little higher than the previous high point in late October 2012).

At Pu'u 'O'o Crater, glow emanated from spatter cones on the SE part of the crater floor, from a spatter cone at the NW edge of the floor, and from a circulating lava lake on the NE part of the floor. Lava flows were active in a 1-km-wide area that stretched from near the base of the pali to the coast. Web cameras recorded steam plumes from lava sporadically entering the ocean at multiple locations. During 9-13 January the lava lake overflowed and occasionally fed larger flows on the crater floor and two small flows on the E flank of Pu'u 'O'o cone. Lava flowed from the SE spatter cone on 11 January and from the SW spatter cone the next day. Lava levels remained high in the crater during 14-15 January; several lava flows from multiple vents were active on the crater floor.

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)