Merry Christmas 2013 from Kalapana

The two photos were taken minutes apart in Kalapana Gardens December 23rd,

shortly after moonrise; Christmas Kalapana style :)

(You can click on either photo to open them both in a larger viewing window)

Moon above the ocean and one little lava house

In the double night rainbow photo you can also see the lava glow from three different eruptions. They are along the distant horizon left to right: Halema`uma`u Crater within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Pu`u O`o Crater eight miles north west of Kalapana Gardens, and the broader glow from molten lava surface flow breakouts three to four miles northeast of Pu`u O`o. 

Wishing you all the very best for our new year!!

~~ Aloha,

Leigh

Random update on Big Island active lava eruptions

Kilauea Volcano: Both big active craters in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park continue to erupt.

The photo above was taken along the Halema`uma`u Crater rim near the Jaggar Museum November 22^nd

The sky was beginning to clear a little after a few days of voggy & rainy conditions.

Below is a photo taken last night and has notes on it explaining what is in the scene: Click on any of these images to open into a larger view mode.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory historical lava flow map; updated November 21^st, 2013:

This lava flow is being informally called Kahauale`a 2 by HVO staff, and has been slowly advancing northeast for about six months. The ocean entry lava began shutting down late August 2013 and has not returned thus thrusting all surface lava into the present flow front.

And above, a broader view showing the nearest homes and communities, Note that the community of Glenwood and the southwestern corner of Hawaiian Acres are about three-miles from the flow front, those areas are on higher elevation than the active lava. But downslope, the southeastern sections of Hawaiian Acres and Pahoa town are just a little over five and a half miles from the most active leading tip of this surface flow.

No one can predict whether the Kahauale`a 2 will continue this advancement for months to come and threaten communities and highways, cease tomorrow or rip open a new fissure and go somewhere else … History shows that only one thing that seems rather constant is the Hawaiian Island chain continues to grow and Pele is in charge.

Another shot from the other night of Halema`umu`u Crater,
Aloha
Leigh

 Links to all the USGS/HVO sites referenced can be found here

EDIT September 10th, 2013: Molten lava no longer is entering the ocean [Original post: It’s still flowing (with video) ~ And my lava movie is done! ]

All photos were taken this morning: Above: Pre-dawn - On the top of the older sea wall: ocean entry on the left and a small surface breakout from the lave tube feeding it. (As always, you can click on any image and it opens into a page will all the photos larger; click a little black X in the upper right of that page to return here.)

[EDIT: September 10, 2013 -- Lava is no longer entering the ocean or even flowing on the coastal plain for the last week and a bit. Molten lava is flowing on the north side of Pu`u O`o crater in a very remote region. The lava tubes leading south towards the ocean remain hot inside and could rupture open again anytime.
Previous edit: August 21, 2013: 
Little has changed with eruption activity since this posting two months ago.
For daily eruption updates you can always check the USGS/HVO website here ]

Original post continued:

For nearly six months now the current eruption out the south flank of Pu`u O`o crater has been entering the ocean three miles southwest of Kalapana Gardens subdivision.

The ocean entry scene has remained nearly the same for months; a small lava bench builds out and keeps breaking off, random surface breakouts from the sealed over delivery tubes come and go, entry points are usually at two main places – occasionally there are more.

Below is a short video of the current ocean entry lava flow: (Full HD version on YouTube; click their icon when the vid starts)

OKAY – ABOUT THE MOVIE:

‘When The Mountain Comes To You’

Yes it is way overdue from when I predicted (several times) it would be all done. All of you wonderful Hawaiian Lava Daily blog readers who so kindly supported me on this movie will be receiving a handcrafted DVD version of the final draft. As of now, these have all been mailed out and should arrive at whatever speed the snail can travel. If you did contribute but don’t receive a copy within a couple weeks (US) then email me and I’ll get one out to you. Outside the US will take a little longer.

Also, with most of the DVD’s I sent have a letter and a page about offering me feedback on the pluses and minuses of the movie as you see it. (Please forgive my use of the ‘you’re’ instead of ‘your’ in the big, bold, heading line!) I will still have one more chance to tweak the film before commercial production begins.

These question-answer forms are not meant for you to PO mail back, but to give you the idea. Just email me when you get it and I’ll email back the questions for easier exchange.

I don’t have any DVD’s of the movie available for sale yet, but when I do I’ll post that on here. I still need to finish the licensing of the movie music before I can commercially do a large printing, or do film festivals etc. But I am on it!

This will be my last blog post for some months; I am off on a big adventure and more filming that is not molten rock… Unless Pele does something outrageous and for a long enough time for me to fly back for that … There is always Mauna Loa …

And here's one more from today~

Hawaiian molten lava continues from crater to sea

Above: In the pre-dawn magic time light, molten rock rivers bust out on a newly forming delta and over the edge into the ocean.Not much has changed along the ocean lava entry points in recent weeks; some new black sand beaches have come and gone and there is a slowly growing lava delta bench forming, as seen in the above image and the photo below:

 Other small changes have to do with the volume of molten lava being sent down from Pu`u O`o crater as magma pressures beneath Kilauea Volcano fluctuate fairly regularly.

(Above: At dusk yesterday: Looking west from Kalapana Gardens: degassing lava tubes and some new surface breakouts east of the tubes)

(Above: My sometimes lava hiking buddy, photographer Ron Boyle sets up for a shot of a breakout under this weeks full moon)

During high-pressure cycles we will see new surface breakouts all the way along the lava tube plumbing system; from above the Pulama Pali all the way down it and across the two-miles of coastal plains to the ocean.

Also the lava flowing into the ocean surges during magma inflation periods.

 That magic pre-dawn light again. All lava photos were taken in the past three days.

Meanwhile;

The other Pu`u O`o lava that has been of concern, the Kahaualeʻa flow, has stagnated apparently, as stated by recent USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory (HVO)observations. They posted some infrared images on their photos and videos page

The Pu`u O`o Crater is very full of lava now as lava has been erupting out onto the crater’s floor quite often. At 1:00 AM on April 20^th one such eruption was strong enough to reflect brightly onto the clouds as seen in this photo I took from Kalapana Gardens at 1:12 AM that night, seven miles distant.

 You can also see some breakouts of lava on the pali.

I wonder if we will see another large flank rupture soon, or maybe an increase in the lava flowing to the sea.

Halema`uma`u Crater continues broiling with molten lava within its rising and falling lava lake inside.

Below is a shot of Halema`uma`u Crater I snapped while in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park a few days ago. I was surprised how wispy thin the outgassing plume was.

NOTE: Click on any of these images to open a new window with them all and larger view sizes (You can return here by clicking the little X in the upper right of that new window.)
 

I'll offer updates as conditions change~~ Aloha