Lava enters Royal Gardens area

It has taken many weeks to reach the Pulama Pali region, but it has. Small sections of kipuka forest are slowly burning as molten surface lava enters these remnant portions of the old Royal Gardens subdivision and has proceeded within it, as shown in the USGS/HVO photo above. (click for larger size)

I have not made the hike to it yet – it’s a bit more of a trek than the event warrants-- but soon. There remains one occupied home in the mostly lava covered subdivision, that of Jack Thompson, who has miraculously escaped numerous lava flows on all sides of his beautiful home, long ago severing any road access. This flow will be his next major test. He has a couple of things on his side: history sparing it and this present flow has some old lava mounds above and adjacent to his property that may fend off the lava as it flows down hill near him. You can see Thompson’s home in the upper-center of the pear-shaped forest patch in the photo above (redish). Also in the photo, the approaching active surface lava is outlined, by the USGS, with white dots. (Read their full caption information here

The USGS/HVO has also posted updated flow maps of the eruptive zone, reposted below and with more information on their link above. USGS/HVO Maps and caption: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and Episode 61 flow field: December 2, 2011

The pulsing type rhythm of the magma pressure below Kilauea has continued as demonstrated in the two graphs below: from November 22nd to today. Deflation/Inflation Tilt Graph