This Quicktime clip shows video from a thermal camera looking into the vent cavity at Halema'uma'u around 3pm today. The video is shown at x4 speed. At the beginning of the clip, the lava level is at a high stand, with slowly migrating crustal plates and little spattering. Eventually, small scale spattering begins in the northeast corner of the pond, accompanied by vigorous degassing. As the violent spattering disrupts the surface crust, the lava level falls as the gas volume is released. In this example, the lava level dropped about 30 meters (100 feet).


This photo shows the view with the naked eye during the high lava stand shown in the thermal video from today. When the lava is at a high stand like this, the plume becomes very thin and a rare view of the lava pond is possible. Typically, the fume is too thick to view the lava surface with the naked eye, and we rely on thermal cameras to image the lava.

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© USGS