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Images and Chronology

Perched lava pond at the eastern end of the July 21 fissures.

Lava issuing from a drowned fissure near Pu‘u Halulu.

Left. One of the flow fronts advancing to the northeast and touching off a small fire at the edge of Pu‘u Kahauale‘a. Right. Channels carry lava away from lower fissures.

Left. Puka Nui pit (top) and MLK pit filled with lava before midnight, but were inactive today. Right. HVO scientists sample and make measurements at the edge of one of the channels.

Leading tip of the fissure (steaming area at bottom of photo) that erupted lava minutes after photo was taken.

Left. Uppermost active fissure with lava flowing eastward in a channel. Right. Looking west toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (top of photo) showing low spattering from fissure feeding lava channels.

Left. Uppermost active channel flows over fissure. Right. Uppermost active channel flows over fissure.

Left. Looking west along erupting fissure feeding lava flows. Right. Closeup of spattering from one of the channels.

Left. HVO scientists sample an active channel. Right. West end of now inactive fissure on east flank of Pu‘u ‘O‘ō. The eruption may have started here. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater is in the upper left. Blue fume mark vents along the fissure.

Left. Overlooking new lava flows from a point one-half mile east of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Active flows are visible in the top middle of the photo from a long set of fissures. Right.

Left. Lava continues to erupt at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Looking west across the crater from the east spillway, the lighter colored lava in the center of the image is active lava erupting from the west vent (site of pronounced fuming) on the crater floor. In the background, the elevated pond filling the West Gap pit is within about 20 meters of the western rim of the pit. Overflows from the pond continue to occasionally overflow into Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The edge of Puka Nui pit can be seen in the background to the left. Right. The pond filling the West Gap pit is in the foreground in this view. The lava erupting from the west vent in the main crater can be seen beyond the West Gap lava on the left side of the photo. The Puka Nui pit is the long pit on the right cut off by the photo, and the MLK pit in to the right in the background. The small fuming area just above the center of the frame is a new vent that became active yesterday afternoon (July 18) and described below.

Left. This vent, on the inner south wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone, started erupting yesterday afternoon (July 18), and has begun to build a small spatter cone. This view also provides a nice perspective showing how the pond in the West Gap pit (in the background to the right) is elevated above the main Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater floor (continues out of sight to the right). Right. This is a close-up of the spattering vent described above.

Left. Lava began erupting in the Puka Nui area a few days ago and continues to feed a small lava pond in the Puka Nui pit. This pond is the obvious smooth-looking lava surface filling the lower right side of the image. The vent feeding the lava pond is the small, weakly fuming group of spatter cones just right of the center of the photo. The bluish fume near the top left of the photo is the spattering vent on the south wall of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone described above. Right. The pond in Puka Nui was barely active when this photo, looking roughly northeast, was taken. The high walls of the main Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater can be seen in the background.

Left. This view, looking east across West Gap pit and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, provides a closer view of the new lava pond in the West Gap. The small spatter cones just to the right of the lava pond were built over the weekend. By Monday, lava was only seen upwelling at the edge of the lava pond near the base of the closer cone. The effusion point is at the right edge of the shinier, more silvery pad of lava visible in this photo. The larger spatter cone, partly hidden by fume, is probably about 15 feet high. Right. The weather cleared briefly on Monday afternoon and provided a decent view looking west at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The lava pond on the crater floor has stagnated and subsided, revealing the levee walls built up last week. Last week's dominant eastern vent has become mostly inactive, while the western vent continues to episodically produce small lava flows. The vent on the south wall of West Gap pit, which became active on Friday the 13th, remains active. The lava pond that subsequently filled the West Gap pit is visible on the far side of the crater to the right where it is spilling into the main Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater.

Left. Aerial view of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō on the morning of July 13, 2007, showing the active lava lake, the east and west vent, surrounded by remnants of the collapsed crater floor. Right. Aerial view of new vent that started around 4 pm on July 13, 2007 in West Gap pit.

Left. Looking to the east through the collapsed West Gap of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, the silver crust of the active lava pond is visible through the fume. Right. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō from the east. The new lava is difficult to see from this angle because of the persistent fume that rises from the east rim of the crater.

Left. View from the southwest, with the collapse pits of Puka Nui (left) and MLK (right) in the foreground. Right. Looking into the crater over the south rim. The two active vents are visible in this view—a vent with a small spatter cone to the left, which is feeding the larger of the two active ponds, and a vent on the side of the northeast crater wall that feeds a smaller pond in the deepest part of the crater. These vents are near or at the locations of the pre-collapse Beehive and East Pond vents.

Left. The lava falls at the east end of the crater is feeding the smaller of the two ponds. The larger and higher pond (its edge is visible to the left) is intermittently draining into the eastern pond. Note person with gas-sensing instrument on the crater rim at the extreme right. Right. Telephoto view of the lava falls.

Left. View of overturning lava pond from the north rim of the crater. Right. The Beehive vent is topped by a small spatter cone. Beyond the vent, the crust of the pond is overturning, revealing the molten interior.

View of a circulating lava pond filling the collapsed floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, as captured by the webcam at 4:42 am July 4, 2007.

A brief glimpse of a lava flow on the collapsed floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater.