Photo & Video Chronology - Kilauea Archive

4 April 2000

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View is west across the active flow field on the coastal plain from along the east edge of the Smoke flow. Note pahoehoe flow starting to engulf tree in middle of image.

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Close view of the small tree above being surrounded by a small pahoehoe flow.

5 April 2000

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Advancing pahoehoe breakout, 75 m from sea cliff just east of Waha`ula at 1730 on April 5. Note the thin nature of the flow. The advance of such a flow is so soundless as to be almost eerie.

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Photographer Brad Lewis at easternmost ocean entry just east of Waha`ula, about 1845 on April 5. Note the lava drips into the sea and the growing bench in the distance.

16 April 2000

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The on-again-off-again ocean entry at the east edge of the active flow field is actively building a bench seaward. Many surface flows on  the bench are plunging into the surf in this twilight shot on April 16. Thirty minutes earlier, almost no lava was visible on the bench.

18 April 2000

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Many surface flows continue to break out from lava tubes in the active flow field on the coastal plain.	Skylight on the active Smoke flow near the base of Pulama pali; flow descending the pali in upper left was emplaced earlier this year.

21 April 2000

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A lava river viewed through a skylight in a Smoke-flow tube near the rootless shields downstream from Pu`u `O`o. Darker orange indicates the hot wall of the tube. The temperature is about 1160 degrees C for the lava and about 1000 degrees for the incandescent wall rock.	HVO hosts many media groups each year. Here a National Geographic TV crew prepares to shoot and narrate footage of lava flowing under this skylight (left). The crew consists of a producer, narrator, camera man, and sound man.

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HVO scientists sampled lava from this second skylight while the National Geographic video cameras were rolling. Note the subtle shades of orange incandescence in the wall of the tube and the oozing, semi-molten stalactites hanging from the roof.

22 April 2000

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Photo of National Geographic TV crew recording sampling of pahoehoe toe with garden trowel,  50 m from the private access road to Royal Gardens, 1730 April 22, 2000. Generally a rock hammer is used for such sampling, but the trowel is superior and enables servings of one scoop or two scoop lava to plate lunch aficionados.	Small littoral explosion at ocean entry, 1830 April 22, 2000. Sometimes lava traps seawater beneath it. The water flashes to steam and explodes through the lava cover, sending incandescent blobs into the air (best seen in large view). Scores of such explosions took place at this entry within a couple of hours.

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Small bench forming at weak ocean entry east of Waha`ula, 1900 April 22, 2000. A dribble of lava cascades onto the bench behind the steam, and pahoehoe toes advance across the surface of the bench. This bench has formed mainly in the past two weeks and is one of several such small benches growing along the coastline.	Brink of dribble shown in photo to left. The lava is nearly entirely crusted over, but this small window allows a view of the very point where lava starts its fall to the bench and the end of its career as a liquid.

27 April 2000

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Lava breakout from an uplifted area of broken blocks over the lava tube at the 2250-foot elevation above Pulama pali. Such breakouts occur when there is a temporary surge in the lava supply or a blockage in the tube. Note the drawn-out fingers of pliable crust at the exit point. The lava surface darkens downstream as it cools and forms a crust.

Large map. Map shows lava flows (red) on Pulama pali and coastal plain active since October 1999 and flows erupted earlier from Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha. Lava reached the ocean at the Lae`apuki bench on December 17-18, 1999; this is known as the West flow. The eastern part of the active flow field reached the Royal Gardens private access road on January 11 and entered the sea at Waha`ula February 3-14, 2000. The flow descending the Pulama Pali to feed this area is the Smoke flow.

Large map. Map shows lava flows (red) on Pulama pali and coastal plain active since October 1999, as well as flows erupted earlier from Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha. Compare this map with that for the previous updates to see how the flow has widened eastward between Royal Gardens and Waha`ula. Lava reached the ocean at the Lae`apuki bench on December 17-18, 1999; this was known as the West flow. The West flow has been inactive since early April. The eastern part of the active flow field reached the Royal Gardens private access road on January 11 and entered the sea near Waha`ula on February 3-14, 2000. The flow descending Pulama pali to feed this area is the Smoke flow; it is currently the only active flow.

Eruption-viewing opportunities change constantly, refer to the HVO home page for current information. Those readers planning a visit to Kilauea or Mauna Loa volcanoes can get much useful information from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.