USGS: “This photo shows the gas monitoring site layout at Sulfur Cone. On the left side of the photo is the power/telemetry system which powers the Multi-Gas instrument and sends data back to HVO via radio to be later analyzed by HVO gas scientists. The Multi-Gas instrument itself is located in the center right of the photo approximately 10 meters (30 feet) away from the power system. Gas and steam in the background is being emitted from a large fissure created during the 1950 eruption of Mauna Loa.” (USGS photo by M. Cappos)

(BIVN) – Scientists recently took a helicopter flight to Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone, where – at an elevation of 11,240 feet above sea level – they performed maintenance on the Sulfur Cone Multi-Gas instrumentation site. 

The USGS Volcano Alert Level for Mauna Loa is at NORMAL. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recently reported that “gas and temperature data from a station on Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone show that H2S averages below 10 ppm, SO2 remains below the detection limit, and fumarole temperatures remain steady at 83°C, all of which are unchanged from previous months.” 

The purpose of the August 2nd mission on Mauna Loa “was to replace the Multi-Gas instrument, which had been at this location since September 2022, with a newly calibrated instrument and to replace the batteries which power the site,” the USGS HVO wrote. “On average, batteries at HVO monitoring stations are typically changed approximately every 5 years, with continuously monitoring Multi-Gas instruments being replaced about every 2 years.” 

USGS: “This photo looks down the axis of Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone towards Ocean View Estates, with Sulfur Cone itself in the foreground. What may look to some like snow covering the ground all around this site, is—in reality—elemental Sulfur being deposited due to the constant degassing of sulfur gases here.” (USGS photo by M. Cappos)

Mauna Loa last erupted in late-2022.