Lava lake remains elevated

The Overlook Crater lava lake remains elevated Friday, however, lava is no longer spilling over the crater rim onto the floor of Halemauamau Crater at Kilauea Volcano’s summit, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientists report.

The Overlook Crater lava lake remains elevated Friday, however, lava is no longer spilling over the crater rim onto the floor of Halemauamau Crater at Kilauea Volcano’s summit, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientists report.

The lava lake Friday was “very close” to the rim of the crater, however, it has not spilled onto the floor of Halemaumau Crater during the past day, scientists said. That’s partially because the recent overflows have accumulated and built a rim around the Overlook Crater that rises a few yards above the floor of Halemaumau Crater. This feature is known as a “perched lava lake.”

On Thursday afternoon, scientists measured the lava at roughly 12 feet below the rim of the crater. By Friday morning, the lava had risen nearly to the rim.

The current lava activity at the summit comes amid a period of inflation at Kilauea, which began abruptly on April 21. On Thursday morning, the volcano appeared to be deflating but by 8 p.m. Thursday it had returned to inflation. During inflation, magma rises into the summit reservoir, according to the observatory. The summit reservoir enters the deflation portion of the cycle when the magma moves laterally into a rift zone and either erupts or is stored there.

Seismicity beneath the summit and the upper East and Southwest Rift Zones remained elevated Friday.

Meanwhile, webcams continue to show widespread lava breakouts along the June 27 lava flow within 5 miles of Puu Oo vent. Equipment at Puu Oo recorded some inflation during the past day.