The summit lava lake on Wednesday remains close to the rim of the Overlook Crater, but has not spilled lava onto the floor of Halemaumau Crater during the past day, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory report.
The summit lava lake on Wednesday remains close to the rim of the Overlook Crater, but has not spilled lava onto the floor of Halemaumau Crater during the past day, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory report.
The lava lake, which has built up a rim about 4 yards above the original (pre-overflow) floor of Halemaumau Crater, has been at or near the rim since Tuesday. Lava breached the crater between Monday and Tuesday sending lava a short distance onto the crater floor.
Scientists said there has been no significant change in the level of inflation at the summit in the past day. 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, however, remained elevated Wednesday beneath Kilauea’s summit and upper East and Southwest Rift Zones.
The tiltmeter, which is used to measure tiny changes in the slope angle or “tilt” of the ground, on the north flank of Puu Oo recorded during the past 24 hours some deflation. A small lava flow also spread onto the crater floor overnight.
Scientists, who continue to use webcams to observe the flow, said Wednesday morning that breakouts along the June 27 lava flow remained active within 5 miles of Puu Oo. Most of the flows are located within 2 miles of the vent and being fed by a breakout that occurred Feb. 21, they added.
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on March 25 downgraded its alert level for Kilauea Volcano from a “warning” to a “watch.”