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1 April 2005

April Fool's Day at Pu`u `O`o and Kamoamoa

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Left. Looking east across crater of Pu`u `O`o. West Gap cones in foreground, right of reddish flank of Pu`u `O`o. 1216. Right. Four main plumes of fume blown southwest from vents in crater of Pu`u `O`o. From near to far, Beehive, Drainhole, January Vent, and East Pond Vent. The cone has collapsed at East Pond Vent, and the vent is now a pit containing a seething lava pond. 1211.

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Left. Aerial view of Kamoamoa ocean entry, spread along coast and fed by several shiny gray fingers of the PKK flow. Compare with first two images taken on March 25 to see how much the activity at the lava delta has diminished. 0910. Right. Looking west across breakout at Kamoamoa ocean entry. 0945.

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Left. Lava falls breaking apart and dropping into the water, front of delta at Kamoamoa. 0949. Right. Free-falling orphan blob of lava about to meet its maker, Kamoamoa delta. 0950.

8 April 2005

Cones and lava

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Left. Looking west across Pu`u `O`o's crater, showing current family of spatter cones. East Pond Vent is nearest two cones separated by a crater. January Vent is directly above East Pond Vent. Drainhole is sharp dark cone on right edge of fume at 1 o'clock from January Vent. South Wall complex is mostly hidden by fume at about 9:30 from Drainhole. Beehive sits alone at 2:30 from Drainhole, with Puka Nui Gap just above and left. Finally, West Gap cones form steep edifice near right edge of view. 1226.  Right. Helicopter view of churning lava pond in crater at East Pond Vent. 1226.

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Left. Looking east at MLK vent complex at south base of Pu`u `O`o. Cones are 6-8 m high. 0925. Right. Lava emerges from small tube in east branch of PKK flow on Pulama pali. 1207.

15 April 2005

Thinking about sampling

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Left. Looking for place to sample lava, breakout is spotted at 350-foot elevation in east branch of PKK flow. 0825.  Right. Having second thoughts on the ground. This is too big to sample easily. 0832.

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Left. Smaller breakouts next to larger one are more suitable. Note that lava is coming out from tubes. Left-hand tube is less than brim full. 0840.  Right. Another breakout nearby. 0841.

22 April 2005

From lava ponds to shatter rings

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Left. Lava pond at East Pond Vent, spattering gently as rising gas breaks the thin crust on the pond. Tan color between camera and pond is Pele`s Hair plastered on inner wall of spatter cone. 1036. Right. Same as left image. 1044.

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Left. Helicopter gives scale for cones in Pu`u `O`o's crater. View looks west from east spillway. Lava pond at East Pond Vent is between the nearest two cones. 1118.  Right. MLK (near) and Puka Nui (far) spatter cones at south foot of Pu`u `O`o. 0922.

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Left. Aerial view into Kiln hornito, on the upper PKK flow field. 0933. Right. Shiny recent breakout, but older than 2 days, emerged from base of new shatter ring at about the 2100-foot elevation in the PKK flow. 1306.

27 April 2005

East Lae`apuki and lava tube

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Left. Looking west-northwest at East Lae`apuki ocean entry--the steaming area just left of center. Shiny crust between it and right edge of image is recently active  lava flow. 1458. Right. Closer view of East Lae`apuki. Note the small delta (shiny) forming seaward of the old delta (darker), both below an old sea cliff (about 8 m high). Large image shows tiny fingers of lava entering the water. 1459.

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Left. HVO volunteer putting sample of quenched lava into bag. Sample was obtained on a tethered hammer thrown into the lava through the skylight. 1519. Right. Same skylight as in left image. Large view shows flowing lava below the incandescent roof, from which hang stalactites. 1520

Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 16 May 2005

Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map).

Yellow, brown, and red colors indicate lava flows erupted from October 2003 to mid May 2005. Yellow shade indicates currently active Kuhio (PKK) flow, active most of the time from March 20, 2004 through present (May 2005). Its large eastern arm feeds the Ka`ili`ili ocean entry. Its western arm once supplied lava to Lae`apuki, but now the west branch of that arm carries lava to the West Highcastle entry. The middle arm of the PKK flow has not amounted to much and hangs high on Pulama pali between the western and eastern arms.

Brown shade denotes MLK flows, which first erupted in January 2004, and, in brief spurts, subsequently.

Red indicates the Mother's Day/Banana flow, which is no longer active. Short flows from the crater, West Gap, and Puka Nui vents are also shown in red. Only the Puka Nui vent is currently producing infrequent, small flows.

New vents opened at the southern base of Pu`u `O`o on January 19, 2004 and fed Martin Luther King (MLK) flows, which remained active until March 5, 2004. Since then, several more vents have formed in the MLK area and continue to erupt intermittently. On March 20, 2004 the Kuhio (PKK) flow originated from two vents, about 250 m south of base of Pu`u `O`o. This flow has been continuously active since July 26, 2004.

The Banana flow developed from breakouts from the Mother's Day lava tube, centered near the former Banana Tree kipuka. The breakouts become prominent in the middle of April and lava started down Pulama pali shortly thereafter. The Banana flow fed an ocean entry from the end of May through the beginning of August. This flow stagnated early in September 2004, and Mother's Day tube died late in 2004.

Map of Pu`u `O`o and vicinity: 24 August 2004

Map shows vents, lava flows, and other features near Pu`u `O`o frequently referred to in updates (see large map). These features change often, but this map should help those viewers lost in the terminology. The cones in West Gap are just outside the boundary of the crater--the oval-shaped depression containing the seven numbered vents (now down to 6, as Humble Vent has been buried by a mound of lava flows erupted from Dave's Pit/Vent in March. Red color denotes flows--the Mother's Day flows--erupted since May 12, 2002. Light orange color indicates episode-55 flows erupted between March 1997 and August 2002 (exclusive of Mother's Day flows). Darker orange represents MLK flows; yellow, PKK flow; purple, Puka Nui flow. Vents for these sets of flows shown by indicated symbols. Gray shows flows of earlier episodes.