KILAUEA HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE

This report on the status of Kilauea volcanic activity, in addition to maps, photos, and Webcam images (available using the menu bar above), was prepared by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park status can be found at http://www.nps.gov/havo/ or 985-6000. Hawai`i County Kalapana Viewing Area status can be found at 961-8093. All times are Hawai`i Standard Time.

KILAUEA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-01-)
19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

Activity Summary for past 24 hours: Another DI event started yesterday while Kilauea volcano continued to erupt at two locations: On the east rift zone, incandescence from a few spots within Pu`u `O`o crater, but no lava flows, were recorded via webcam. The branched Nov. 29 flow extended from the 1,200 ft elevation to the coast and continued to host scattered breakouts; the eastern branch in Kalapana continued inflation, eastward advance, and southward advance to the coast. At the summit, circulating, rising, and falling lava deep within an eruptive vent inset within the east wall of Halema`uma`u Crater produced variable glow visible overnight from the Jaggar Museum. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the summit and east rift zone vents remained elevated.

Hazard Summary: Kalapana – active lava flows could continue to threaten structures in Kalapana Gardens subdivision and areas to the north and west over the coming days, weeks, or even months; structures within 300 m (985 ft) of actively inflating or advancing flows, and topographically less than 2 m (6 ft) higher that the top of the flows, could be destroyed within 24 hours. East rift vents and flow field – near-vent areas could collapse without warning; potentially-lethal concentrations of sulfur dioxide gas are present within 1 km downwind of vent areas; lava deltas could collapse without warning, can produce hot rock falls inland and in the adjacent coastal waters, and can produce large local waves; the steam plume produced by lava entering the ocean contains fine lava fragments, toxic gases, and an assortment of acid droplets that can be harmful to your health. The rapidly changing conditions near the ocean entry have been responsible for many injuries and a few deaths. Kilauea Crater – explosive events are capable of ejecting rocks and lava several hundred meters (yards) from the Halema`uma`u vent; ash and potentially-lethal concentrations of sulfur dioxide are present within 1 km downwind.

KILAUEA HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE Past 24 hours at Kilauea summit:

The summit tiltmeter network recorded another DI tilt event with deflation starting just before 11 am yesterday; the tilt signal had several small increases superimposed, each accompanying a lava lake draining event (see below). The network of GPS receivers recorded continued extension across the summit since the beginning of November, the most recent part of a long-term extension across the summit crater since early 2010. Six earthquakes were strong enough to be located within Kilauea Volcano – five within the upper east rift zone and one deep quake on south flank faults; the number of earthquakes in the upper east rift zone, between Puhimau and Mauna Ulu, has been at moderate levels since mid-November averaging 6-10 quakes per week; while this is not alarming on its own, it bears watching.

The lava lake surface stayed at a high level around 120 m (395 ft) below the Halema`uma`u Crater floor between 9 am yesterday and 2:30 am this morning with seven rapid draining events immediately followed by rapid filling; as of this morning, the lava lake base level was around 140 m (460 ft). Seismic tremor levels were low during lava high stands with short strong bursts accompanying each draining event; when the lava leve was at its lower level, seismic tremor levels were 4-5 times higher than when lava was at a high level. Since early 2010, glow has been visible from the Jaggar Museum Overlook overnight.

The summit gas plume was moving to the southwest this morning. The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement was 900 tonnes/day on January 12; new measurements must await a return of moderate trade winds. In addition to gas, the plume wafted small amounts of ash-sized tephra, mostly fresh lava spatter, that were deposited downwind on nearby surfaces.

KILAUEA HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE Past 24 hours at the middle east rift zone vents:

Within Pu`u `O`o Crater, continued incandescence from the fuming hole in the east wall of the crater and the spatter cone on the crater floor were recorded by webcam;no lava activity was observed on an HVO overflight inspection yesterday or via webcam overnight.

The tiltmeter on the north flank of Pu`u `O`o recorded DI deflation starting about 5 pm. The network of GPS receivers recorded continued extension across the crater since the beginning of November. Seismic tremor levels were low and steady. The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement from east rift zone vents was 300 tonnes/day on December 1, 2010; new measurements must await the return of moderate trade winds.

The November 29 flow (1,200 ft elevation tube breach) was still active in two main branches, each branch continued to host scattered breakouts. In Kalapana, the end of the eastern branch continued to inflate and was split into a lobe advancing eastward and a lobe advancing southward through a kipuka, in which lava-induced fires sometimes burned and methane blasts were possible, toward the coast. On yesterday's overflight, HVO geologists noted that this southern lobe was meters away from the ocean around noon; although there were a few disparate observations of steam from the coastline in this vicinity yesterday and this morning, it is still uncertain whether an ocean entry has developed. No structures are imminently threatened and a temporary slowdown in local activity might be anticipated due to the ongoing DI event.

Kalapana Public Access Information from Hawai`i County Civil Defense: Kalapana Gardens is a private subdivision and access will only be granted to subdivision residents. Private property borders highway 130 through Kalapana, and visitors to the Hawai`i County Lava Viewing Area are not allowed access off the highway easement. Hawai`i County Police will be monitoring the area. Hawai`i County Lava Viewing Area status can be found by calling 961-8093.

Maps, photos, Webcam views, and other information about Kilauea Volcano are available at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php. A daily update summary is available by phone at (808) 967-8862.

A map with details of earthquakes located within the past two weeks can be found at http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/

A definition of alert levels can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php

Definitions of Terms Used:

methane blast: when lava flows advance through a vegetated area, small explosions sometimes occur due to the ignition of methane gas, produced by lava-cooked plants and trapped beneath the ground surface. Injuries can occur as the result of airborne rock fragments.

rootless shields: a small mound of lava, located directly over an active lava tube that is built by repeated overflows from its top. These are rootless because they are fed from a lava tube and not from a deeper source (vent). The upper part of the TEB lava tube has numerous rootless shields built from the vent down to about the 1,500 ft elevation.

mauka, makai: Hawaiian terms for directions relative to the coast – makai (toward the coast) and mauka (away from the coast).

composite seismic events: is a seismic signal with multiple distinct phases that has been recorded frequently at HVO from the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent area since its explosive opening in March, 2008. For the composite events recorded at Halema`uma`u, we typically see an initial high frequency vibration lasting for a few seconds that have been correlated with rockfalls. This is followed by about 30 seconds of a long-period (LP) oscillation with an approximately 2- to 3-second period. The final phase of the signal is several minutes of a very-long-period (VLP) oscillation with an approximately 25- to 30-second period. The LP signals are interpreted to be from the uppermost portion of the conduit and VLP signals are interpreted to be fluid passing through a deep constriction in the conduit through which lava rises to the pond surface we see in the webcam.

high lava stands: Starting in June, 2010, lava within the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent rises 20-40 m over an interval of 10s of minutes, remains high for up to several hours, and then drains back to its previous level, while vigorously degassing, in several minutes. During the high stand, the gas plume becomes wispy, gas emissions halve in rate, and seismic tremor drops to very low levels; the high stand is followed by a strong seismic tremor burst, lasting several minutes, accompanying the draining. Many, but not all, high lava stands start with a rockfall event, some accompanied by VLP seismic energy.

Inflating surface flow: is a lava flow that may not advance but continues to thicken as its top and bottom crusts grow around a continuously replenished molten interior. This can be visualized as a large flat bladder of molten lava that could burst along its edges at any time.

Hakuma horst: a horst is an section of earth that is raised between two nearly parallel faults so that its surface is higher than the surrounding ground. The Hakuma horst is located along the coast west of Kalapana; it was responsible for diverting lava through Kalapana village in 1990 and appears to be having a similar influence on lava flows in 2010.

Halema`uma`u Overlook vent: has been difficult to describe concisely. The vent is actually a pit, or crater, in the floor of the larger Halema`uma`u Crater in the floor of the larger Kilauea caldera or crater – a crater within a crater within a crater. It is easiest to describe as a pit inset within the floor of a crater within a caldera. The pit is about 140 m (460 ft) in diameter at the Halema`uma`u Crater floor, is about 50 m in diameter at the pit floor, and is about 200 m (660 ft) deep. As of November, 2009, a lava pond surface has been visible in a hole in the floor of this pit.

glow: light from an unseen source; indirect light.

incandescence: the production of visible light from a hot surface. The term also refers to the light emitted from a hot surface. The color of the light is related to surface temperature. Some surfaces can display dull red incandescence at temperatures as low as 430 degrees Centigrade (806 degrees Fahrenheit). By contrast, molten lava displays bright orange to orange-yellow light from surfaces that are hotter than 900 degrees C (1,650 degrees F).

CD: Hawai`i County Civil Defense

tonne: metric unit equal to 1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lbs, or 1.1 English tons.

tephra: all material deposited by fallout from an eruption-related plume, regardless of size.

ash: tephra less than 2 mm (5/64 inches) in size.

TEB: Thanksgiving Eve Breakout, the designation used for lava flows that started with a breakout on November 21, 2007.

microradian: a measure of angle equivalent to 0.000057 degrees.

DI tilt event: DI is an abbreviation for 'deflation-inflation' and describes a volcanic event of uncertain significance. DI events are recorded by tiltmeters at Kilauea summit as an abrupt deflation of up to a few microradians in magnitude lasting several hours to 2-3 days followed by an abrupt inflation of approximately equal magnitude. The tilt events are usually accompanied by an increase in summit tremor during the deflation phase. A careful analysis of these events suggests that they may be related to changes in magma supply to a storage reservoir at less than 1 km depth, just east of Halema`uma`u crater. Usually, though not always, these changes propagate through the magma conduit from the summit to the east rift eruption site, as many of the DI events at Kilauea summit are also recorded at a tiltmeter at Pu`u `O`o, delayed by several hours. DI events often correlate with lava pulses and/or pauses in the eruption at the Pu`u `O`o/July 21/TEB vents.

More definitions with photos can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/index.php.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.

OK thats it for this KILAUEA HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE article

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