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1 November 2005

Rainy day on flow field

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Left. Active streams of lava move down young, light-colored PKK flow on Pulama pali. Steam on horizon is from rain falling on hot flow. 0905. Right. Streams of lava on Pulama pali. Shiny is pahoehoe, and dark is `a`a. 0924.

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Left. Looking up PKK lava tube from offshore, with East Lae`apuki lava delta in foreground. Small wisps of fume show track of tube. Steam near horizon is from rain on hot flow. Steam at delta is where surf crashes against either hot rock or lava itself. 0900. Right. Looking west over East Lae`apuki lava delta. Light-hued surface of delta indicates recent, hot breakouts. 0901.

10 November 2005

East Pond Vent and PKK flow

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Left. Aerial view looking west of East Pond Vent, largest on floor of Pu`u `O`o's crater. Lava pond actively circulates, and glow visible at night comes from lava appearing from under thin crust floating on pond. 0843. Right. Recent and still active breakouts in PKK flow on Pulama pali form light-hued areas in right half of image. 1007.

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Left. Looking into skylight in roof of PKK lava tube. Deeper color is lava, darker is incandescent wall of tube, and brighter is sunlight on roof and wall of tube. 1121. Right. Smooth, slivery-crusted lava oozes along surface on Pulama pali. Front of stream is about 1 m wide. 1148.

18-20 November 2005

Skylights and lava

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Left. Petunia skylight in roof of PKK lava tube, two-thirds of way from Pu`u `O`o to big bend in tube system. This is the only image taken on November 20.; all the others are from November 18. 1331. Right. Skylight upstream from Petunia. Note person for scale. 1433.

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Left. Breakout at big bend of lava tube downstream from Petunia. Lava emerges from under crust and flows away from camera. 1513. Right. Closer view of lava surfacing from under crust. 1512.

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Left. Toes of lava solidifying as pahoehoe, same breakout area as in previous two images. 1508. Right. Looking across active PKK breakout at big bend in tube system below Pu`u `O`o. 1611.

30 November 2005

East Lae`apuki after delta collapse

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Left. View of embayment left after destruction of east Lae`apuki lava delta on November 28. Lava drops onto newly forming delta at base of sea cliff, which retreated 50 m during the delta collapse. The cliff is about 30 m high. 0721. Right. Closer view from similar location as to left, showing thick, growing delta at base of lava falls. 0721.

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Left. Gracefully falling lava from tube that feeds East Lae`apuki area. Yesterday this was an arching "fire hose", but now the stream moves across new rock build out from the sea cliff. 0732. Right. Base of lava falls splashing onto, and streaming down, the growing delta. 0802.

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Left. Looking northeast at base of lava falls crashing onto new delta. Note steam rising from hot sea water. 0850 Right. Once free of debris, surface of lava flow inland of old sea cliff is covered with material exploded out during collapse of the delta. The explosions take place when sea water was trapped by lava or hot rock, flashed to steam, and instantly expanded, throwing out pieces of rock, walls of bubbles in lava (limu o Pele), and some spatter. 0824

Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 19 December 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 December 16, 2005. Yellow indicates the currently active Kuhio (PKK) flow, active most of the time from March 20, 2004 to the present. The east and west arms of the PKK flow, once widely separated, began to merge and overlap on the coastal flat in March 2005. The east arm feeds the East Lae`apuki ocean entry. Activity on the west arm declined through mid-August, and the last surface flow on that arm was observed on August 21. The recent (November-December 2005) breakouts on Pulama pali described as "eastern" and "western" are all on the east arm of the PKK flow.

The brown shade denotes Martin Luther King (MLK ) flows, which first erupted in January 2004 from flank vents on the south slope of Pu`u `O`o. Since then, several more vents have formed in the MLK area and continue to erupt intermittently.

Red indicates the Mother's Day and Banana flows, last active in September 2004. Short flows from the crater, West Gap, and Puka Nui vents are also shown in red. In recent months, only the Puka Nui vent has produced infrequent, small flows.

Map of Pu`u `O`o and vicinity: 19 December 2005

Map shows vents, lava flows, and other features near Pu`u `O`o frequently referred to in updates (see large map). These features can change quickly, but this map should help those viewers lost in the terminology. The vents, lava tubes, and flows active in 2005 include the numbered vents in the crater, the MLK vent complex and associated flows, the Puka Nui vent, and the upper Kuhio (PKK) tube, which feeds the lava flows eventually reaching the ocean.