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7 February 2006

East Pond Vent, Boss shatter ring, and East Lae`apuki lava delta

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Left. Looking south across East Pond Vent with its mostly crusted lava pond. January Vent emits thick fume just southwest of East Pond Vent. 1405.  Right. Dark raised area is shatter ring, named Boss, in developmental phase above PKK lava tube, on shield just beyond southwest base of Pu`u `O`o. Note the incandescence in fresh pahoehoe that erupted from shatter ring. Heat shimmer above the fresh pahoehoe is noticeable. Shatter rings form by repeated inflation and deflation of the roof of a lava tube. The rings are darker than surrounding pahoehoe because the shiny glassy skin on the pahoehoe is broken off by the grinding and "shattering" in the ring. 1793.

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Left. Looking west across East Lae`apuki lava delta. Note recent flows of lava across surface of delta, older parts of which are lightened by salt and other mineral precipitates. 1034. Right. Head-on view of East Lae`apuki lava delta. Note the cascades of recent lava flows over the cliff formed by the collapse on November 28, 2005. Also note the trace of the feeding lava tube in upper right, defined by precipitates on the surface above the tube. 1034.

17 February 2006

Boss shatter ring and Pele's hair

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Left. Aerial view of Boss shatter ring (center of image), inundated and almost obscured by young lava that in places is still moving. Lava welled out of center of shatter ring, almost filling depression within ring before escaping to flood the surroundings. Shatter ring is several tens of meters wide. 0836.  Right. Ground view of part of Boss shatter ring, which stands 1.5-2 m high in most places. 1222.

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Left. Toe of lava in breakout from Boss shatter ring. Width of view, about 1 m. 0852.  Right. Accumulation of Pele's hair in crater of Pu`u `O`o. In places the scene can resemble the floor of a barber shop after a thick head of hair has been shorn. 0927.

24 February 2006

East Lae`apuki lava delta

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Left. Looking east-northeast at East Lae`apuki lava delta. Note how the delta has grown westward and now encloses the point of the former sea cliff. 0935.  Right. Black on white on lava delta. Young, dark flows cover salt-encrusted older surface of delta. Much of the new lava was fed by falls through tube that forms ramp in upper center of image. 0937.

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.