3 February 2001 summary of the eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i

3 February 2001

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Development of pahoehoe toe on the coastal flat below Royal Gardens. Left: Lava is breaking through and bulldozing a slab of crust at 1020:54. Right: Four seconds later (1020:58), lava is starting to override the flexible slab of bulldozed crust.

Lava falls into a crack near site of images above

1029:48. Pahoehoe toe, about 1 m long, approaches a loose rock (lower center) on a ledge near top of gaping crack.

Toe nears loose rock on ledge, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1030:02. The toe is dammed by a large rock and starts to spread toward viewer, edging against the loose rock (lower left).

Toe edges against loose rock on ledge, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1030:44. The toe balloons up and sideways, overriding the damming rock and pushing against the loose rock (lower left).

Toe balloons up, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1030:54. Widening toe, its advance to the right stalled, pushes against and tilts up the loose rock (lower left).

Toe pushes against loose rock, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1030:58. Only 4 seconds later, the loose rock has been pushed into a large crack, and the blossoming toe, no longer impeded by the rock or its own crust, follows behind.

Lava starts falling into crack, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1031:08. Ten seconds later, the lava is pouring freely into the crack.

Lava pours freely into crack, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1031:24. Viewer has changed position to point slightly left of previous images. Lava pours into crack and pools on the bottom. Wrinkled skin forms as flow velocity slows.

Lava ponds on bottom of crack, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1031:38. View from still farther left, almost directly above the lava falls, looking along the crack.

Looking along the crack with pooling lava, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1033:16. View from farther right, looking at the ever more sluggish lava falls and its growing surface crust.

Growing crust on sluggish lava falls, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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1033:56. Final view down on lower falls and nicely shaped wrinkles and ropes in the crust of the slowly moving toe. The entire sequence of images spans 4 minutes and 8 seconds.

Lower falls and wrinkled crust, Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i

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Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o to the ocean: January 2001

Large map Map shows lava flows (red) active from mid-December 2000 through 23 January 2001 above and on Pulama pali and on the coastal plain. Flows re-entered the sea just west of Kamokuna on January 21, 2001. Most of the recent flows are fed from the 1920-foot breakout point, at the northwest tip of the large red area. The east arm of the 1920 breakout is the narrow sliver headed south on the pali. The eastern branch of the main flow points east at the base of the pali, invading lower Royal Gardens. The western branch is the one entering the ocean. Note flows erupted earlier from Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha.

Eruption-viewing opportunities change constantly, so refer to this page often. Those readers planning a visit to Kilauea or Mauna Loa volcanoes can get much useful information from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park; be sure to click on the inDEPTH button.

The URL of this page is http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/archive/2000/Aug/
Contact: hvowebmaster@usgs.gov
Updated: 24 February 2001 (DAS)