The lava lake atop Kilauea continues to put on a breathtaking show, swelling Monday morning to yet another record high just a few feet shy of Overlook Vent’s rim.
The lava lake atop Kilauea continues to put on a breathtaking show, swelling Monday morning to yet another record high just a few feet shy of Overlook Vent’s rim.
If the lava continues to rise, it soon could spill out of the vent and onto the floor of the larger Halema‘uma‘u Crater.
“It’s going to be quite an event if it does,” said Janet Babb, a geologist and public information officer at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The last time the floor of Halema‘uma‘u saw lava was 1982, when a small puddle reached the bottom following an eruption from a 0.6-mile long fissure that cut across the Kilauea caldera floor northwest of the crater.
Just more than a month ago, on March 18, the lava lake, which rises and falls during periods of inflationary or deflationary tilt, was 180 feet below the vent’s rim. At about 7 a.m. Monday, it was about 7 feet below, and rose slightly before dropping back to about 19 feet by midday, according to Babb.
Since Wednesday morning, the lava has risen approximately 82 feet.
“Over the past couple of days, the lava level has kind of plateaued at around 4 meters (13 feet), plus or minus 2 meters (6.5 feet),” she said, adding that minor fluctuations are the result of spattering and the release of gases.
While the observatory does not have exact measurements, Babb said spattering has ranged from 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet) in height, with bursts of up to 15 meters (49 feet).
At about 2 a.m. Saturday, in what surely was one of the most dramatic scenes thus far, two collapses from Overlook Vent’s walls “triggered explosions that threw gobs of spatter — some about (1 foot) across — up onto the rim of Halema‘uma‘u at the webcam site and dusted the Jaggar Museum area with sand-sized ash,” as described in HVO’s daily report.
The distance from the rim to the floor of Halema‘uma‘u is about 279 feet.
Babb added that while the rise in the lake’s level has caused some change in the width of the Overlook Vent, that change has not been significant. The Overlook crater is approximately 520-by-690 feet.
The recent event marks the first time the surface of the bubbling lava lake has been visible from the Jaggar Museum since the Kilauea summit began erupting in March 2008. The result has been thousands of additional visitors flocking to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for a glimpse, according to park officials.
The park said in a press release Monday that during the weekend, visitors waited up to 30 minutes or longer to park. To ease traffic once the Jaggar Museum and Kilauea Overlook parking lots fill up, rangers will continue redirecting vehicles to the Kilauea Military Camp ballfield during peak visitation hours. From there, visitors will have to hike 1 mile to the museum observation deck — the closest and best vantage point to view the lava lake.
“Visitors should come prepared to ensure a safe and enjoyable park experience,” park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a written statement. “We encourage people to avoid peak hours, and arrive after 10 p.m. and before 4 a.m. if possible, or they will likely wait in line for parking.”
The park remains open 24 hours a day.
In addition to the continued inflation of Kilauea summit and rising level of the lava lake, seismicity beneath the summit and the upper East Rift Zone remains elevated, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Babb said she and other geologists monitoring the volcano have not seen any noticeable changes or reaction to the event at nearby Pu‘u ‘O‘o vent, which she described as somewhat “interesting.”
As for what to expect in the coming days, Babb said it’s difficult to say because things are constantly changing.
“All we can do is wait and watch,” she said.
The park encourages those planning to visit to pack appropriate gear, carpool if possible and be aware that high levels of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas and volcanic ash can be blown over Jaggar Museum by southerly winds.
For updated information, visit hvo.wr.usgs.gov.
Email Chris D’Angelo at cdangelo@hawaiitribune-herald.com.