Kilauea Volcano’s summit lava lake was well below the floor of Halemaumau Crater Monday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports. ADVERTISING Kilauea Volcano’s summit lava lake was well below the floor of Halemaumau Crater Monday morning, the
Kilauea Volcano’s summit lava lake was well below the floor of Halemaumau Crater Monday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports.
As of Monday morning, Kilauea Volcano’s summit lava lake was about 240 feet below the current floor of Halemaumau, scientists said, adding that seismic episodic bursts associated with spattering within the Overlook vent continued.
The lava lake has fluctuated since lava overflowed the crater rim periodically between April 21 and May 10 amid a period of increased activity at the summit of Kilauea Volcano that drew thousands to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to view.
On Friday, the lake was about 154 feet below the floor and on Thursday it was 161 feet below the floor of Halemaumau. On Tuesday it was 239 feet below the floor.
The observatory said Monday that its tiltmeters, which are used to measure tiny changes in the slope angle or “tilt” of the ground, recorded deflationary tilt over the weekend. On Monday, the tiltmeter was showing little change in deflation. 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 rates beneath upper East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone have also been at normal, background levels for the past day.
The tiltmeter on the north flank of Puu Oo continued to show no significant change in tilt as of Monday morning.
Breakouts along the June 27 lava flow remained active within about 5 miles of Puu Oo, scientists said.
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on March 25 downgraded its alert level for Kilauea Volcano from a “warning” to a “watch.”
