September 27, 2010 – Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Video courtesy USGS | voice of Tim Bryan

The United States Geological Survey has released more video of the lava lake deep within the vent cavity at Halema`uma`u crater.

The thermal camera captured the ongoing degassing and circulation of lava, and has been sped up four times the normal speed to show the movement of the lava surface.

Meanwhile, down on the coastal plain, the Puhi-o-Kalaikini ocean entry has been producing a moderate plum, and geologists report a that new lava breakout has been oozing its way east toward Kalapana Gardens subdivison, very slowly.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists will be monitoring Kalapana to assess hazards posed by the advancing flow over the next several days.

In a caption published to accompany the image shown above, the USGS reports on its website:

The lava lake at Halema`uma`u has maintained the same basic geometry since February of this year. This thermal image was taken during a helicopter overflight, and shows the lava surface deep within the vent cavity. The lava surface is kidney-shaped and approximately 60 x 90 meters in size, and situated about 170 meters below the rim of the vent cavity. Lava upwells at the north margin of the lake (upper-right), and downwells at an area of vigorous spattering along the south margin (bright white area in lower-left).