July 27. This view matches that of July 14 (see update archive), but crust now completely hides molten lava. Glow can faintly be seen far back in the skylight. Most of the crust formed between July 19 and July 27.

August 2. Perspective is similar to that of last image taken on July 5 (see update archive). Two streams of lava meet just downstream of the skylight, flowing from right to left. Thick crust supports geophysicist using a Very Low Frequency (VLF) instrument that measures the electrical conductivity of the ground beneath, in order to determine the cross-sectional area of molten lava in the tube. Combined with radar-gun measurements of the velocity of the lava stream, this information gives us the flux of lava passing through the tube.

August 9. The view is similar to that of August 2, though closer, and shows that the level of lava has dropped still farther. The depth of the lava remains about the same, because the the stream is eroding into its bed.

View of the active bench--sometimes called a lava delta-- from behind the safety barrier at the viewing area (August  16, top). From here, people are treated to wonderful views of lava flowing into the sea and of tephra-jet explosions when lava interacts violently with sea water. The viewing area is safe, because it is atop an older sea cliff and beyond the margin of the active lava bench. The viewers should NOT be wearing shorts, however, because a fall onto glassy lava flows along the trail to the viewing area could result in lacerated legs.

View looking southwest of the active bench and the newly created viewing area behind a safety barrier near the sea cliff. The two clouds of blue fume issue from skylights along the lava tube before it drops onto the bench and spills into the sea. The viewing area will be opened to the public on August 17.

View looking west shows bench, coastal flat, and Pulama pali. The bench is about 600 m long and more than 100  m wide. The landward edge of the bench is marked by the former sea cliff. In the large view (click "large" at right), a small incandescent surface flow is visible on the bench behind the ocean-entry plume.

Active flow lobe is the thin, light gray strand inland of the access road. The flow front is 150 m from the edge of the road.

Aerial view showing relationship between access road and advancing flow lobe (light, shiny gray).

Budding pahoehoe flow front slowly moving toward the Kalapana road, which provides access to a viewing area for the East Kupapa`u ocean entry.

Ground view of access road with advancing flow (light shiny gray) in the background. The flow front is 55 m from the edge of the road.