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19 July 2002
Mother's Day meets Pacific Ocean
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| Left. Looking west across Highcastle
area. East and west arms of southeast lobe of Mother's Day flow are lighter
than older surrounding flows. East arm has made it to ocean at West Highcastle entry.
West arm has advanced just beyond old sea cliff
buried by 1995 flows (dark) but has not yet reached ocean. Photo
taken at 0809. Highcastle kipuka, with remnant of Chain of Craters Road, in
lower part of image. Current end of road is near top of image. Right.
Aerial view looking across new entry at West Highcastle. Small cascade
from east arm is tumbling into sea (barely visible in large view); west arm still has
60 m to go. Old sea cliff, buried by 1995 flows, visible just inland from
entry. White specks west of west arm are park signs. |
20 July 2002
Active on the west, ocean entry puny
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This view, looking inland at 0810 on July 19, shows active
arm of flow (light, in left-central part of image) along west edge of June
(mainly) flow, reaching seaward from Paliuli. Active arm, bordered on
west by burn, is still 350-400 m behind seaward tip of June flow, which
is out of view to left. By 0500 today, tip of active arm was 50 m
beyond June flow and rapidly advancing, as images below show.
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| West lobe of Mother's Day flow is charging
toward Chain of Craters Road at 0622 on a beautiful Saturday morning. These
views, only 400 m from road, show a toe spreading against a small `ohi`a
tree, setting it aflame. Toe is 1-2 m wide. |
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Small `ohi`a is still burning, but larger, leaning `ohi`a
remains nearly intact. Actually, lowest limb on large tree was bursting into
brief moments of flame, too. Clearly the flow has to inflate only a little
before the old-timer is no more.
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Looking west along sea cliff at new ocean-entry site of West
Highcastle. Small bench is under construction at foot of cliff, barely more
than coating boulders. Steam hides two areas of surface lava fed by crusted
cascades down cliff. 0655. Perspective is similar to that in third image
below.
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Lava of the Mother's Day flow falls down sea cliff onto boulders below at 0518,
little more than 3 hours after ocean entry began 500-600 m
east-northeast of the end of Chain of Craters Road. Mist creates halo around incandescent falls. Height of sea cliff, 10-12 m.
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Two cascades are active on sea cliff. This one, the
eastern, pours over brink of cliff at 0545. Reflection of incandescence comes from
part of cliff.
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| Left. Looking west and down at eastern
cascade at 0559. Main cascade is in background. New breakout to right has
just lifted up crust and is starting to pour down cliff. Flow on rocks
below cliff visible in lower left. Right. 0611. Looking east at western
cascade, consisting to two falls or trickles, larger of which is spreading
across boulders along shoreline. |
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| Left. Lava stream spreads across beach
boulders from base of eastern cascade at 0544. View looks down onto stream,
cooling quickly as it is doused with steam. Right. Lava fed by
eastern cascade wends its way between large boulders in surf zone at base
of cliff, 0546. Note crashing surf in upper right and left. |
21 July 2002
Two ocean entries and a toasted road
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West Highcastle ocean entry, viewed from west at 0526. Lava
cascades down sea cliff and moves across bench, which has greatly enlarged
seaward in past two days. Lava then pours off front of bench into water. Sea
cliff is 8-10 m high.
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| Wilipe`a ocean entry, new this morning. Left. Lava moves across 1995 flow
toward Wilipe`a sea cliff at 0541. In background is cascade of lava down the
pre-1995 sea cliff. Flows in 1995 built coast outward from the old cliff.
Right. Lava drips and cascades down sea cliff of Wilipe`a ocean
entry. 0508. Lava then flows down infant bench developing as fan grows
seaward from base of cliff. |
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| Left. Similar view to that on right
above, but at 0546, showing how entry can change appearance is only half an
hour.
Right. Lava drips and cascades down sea cliff of Wilipe`a ocean
entry. 0609. One hour after right image above, showing development of fan
and bench. |
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Lava at pouring into water at leading edge of Wilipe`a bench.
0616. Waves crash onto the lava, causing it to form crust that insulates the
lava and allows it to slowly, two steps forward and one back, to build bench
outward.
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An addendum to the above. This image, looking west at 0939,
shows new lava falls at Wilipe`a added since the above images were taken. New
arms of the Wilipe`a lobe reach the sea cliff and have nowhere else to go but
down.
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| Left. R.I.P., turnaround on Chain of
Craters Road at 0632.
Right. Looking inland at 0641, showing active flow burning asphalt
on road. |
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For old time's sake, here's former site of lua, safe and
sound yesterday morning and surrounded by scorching hot lava flow at 0643
today. Fortunately, park workers managed to move building over lua itself
before it would have burned.
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22 July 2002
Eastern Wilipe`a bench and inflated flow
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Inflation of Wilipe`a lobe of Mother's Day flow since
yesterday morning has lifted surface of flow higher than mound on which
former toilet (lua) resided. Compare this image with the last one posted for
21 July.
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| Left. East side of eastern Wilipe`a
bench at 0533. Note the several entry points and surface flows on bench.
Right. Looking east across eastern Wilipe`a bench at 0550. Laze obscures part of
west side of bench. Measured long-shore width of bench, 115 m. Estimated
seaward width, 40 m. |
23 July 2002
Various Wilipe`a views
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| Left. Middle part of Wilipe`a bench,
looking west at 0624. Imagine, two days ago the bench didn't exist! Steam rises from ocean-entry points along leading
edge of bench. Note discoloration of surface, particularly near seaward
side, caused by acidic alteration.
Right. Small skylight, about 1 m in diameter, in tube 20 m upstream
from old sea cliff. Tube carries lava to bench. Flow lines show movement
from lower left to upper right. |
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| Left. Several small flows and ocean
entries at west end of Wilipe`a bench at 0633.
Right. Telephoto of part of area in image to left, showing details of
entry points into roiling surf at 0634. |
24 July 2002
Bench 'n breakouts, just what you need to start the day
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| Left. Glow above east end of Wilipe`a bench at
0516.
Right. Looking east across part of Wilipe`a bench at 0529, showing
breakout and numerous incandescent cracks and toes. West Highcastle bench
is just off left side of image this side of point in distance. |
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| Left. Breakout in Wilipe`a lobe 100 m
inland from bench at 0550. Early risers just west of flow were treated to
several such displays only a few meters away.
Right. A lazy, oozing breakout in Wilipe`a lobe below Chain of
Craters Road at 0552. Smoke near right side of image comes from burning
asphalt and grass along roadway. Pulama pali, with dark, crusted
Mother's Day flow on it, is in upper right. |
25 July 2002
More bench 'n breakouts
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| Left. Buck Moon, one day after full,
eyes east end of Wilipe`a bench at
0512.
Right. Looking onto east end of Wilipe`a bench at 0554, showing lava oozing
across new black sand beach. Old sea cliff is on right. Sand apparently comes from
glassy debris produced at West Highcastle entry and carried
by long-shore current until stopped by new Wilipe`a bench. |
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| Left. Breakout in Wilipe`a lobe at
0610 spills onto east end of bench. Previous images taken from new visitor
viewing area, where people stand.
Right. Close-up of breakout in left image at 0613, after observer
rushed back to action. Lava pours from tube on low sea cliff and spills onto
bench, where it begins to cool and develop crust. |
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| More views of breakout as it develops.
Left, 0618:30. Note incandescent slab of crust pushed up by torrent.
Right, 0618:49. Note downstream cooling and wrinkling of crust on
stream. |
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| Left. Local videographer tapes
breakout at 0612:16.
Right. HVO taping crew in action at 0622. |
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| Left. Fishing boat risks everything at
west end of Wilipe`a bench, 0634.
Right. Small spigots feed lava off west end of Wilipe`a bench, 0636. |
26 July 2002
West Highcastle glory, and Wilipe`a breakout
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Lava free-falling 4-5 m into water off eastern front of West
Highcastle bench, 0512. Underside of breaking wave is lit by glow from
falls.
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| Two more views of lava falling off front of
West Highcastle bench, at 0528 (left) and 0539 (right). Digital zoom used,
so less sharp than image above. |
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Small breakout in western part of Wilipe`a lobe, about 70 m
inland from bench. Visitors walking to viewing area partly cropped off at
top of image.
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| Aerials of Wilipe`a and West Highcastle
benches. Left. Wilipe`a bench, left center, is fed by flow that
widens seaward and crosses Chain of Craters Road. New visitor turnaround is
along road near top edge of image. Firebreak extends inland from
turnaround. West Highcastle bench is partly shown at
bottom of image.
Right. West Highcastle bench, fed by lobe of Mother's Day flow that
narrows seaward. Note small flow headed seaward in upper center of image.
That flow, which moved 100 m farther in next two days, is aimed at western
kipuka at Highcastle, where remnant of Chain of Craters Road is preserved. |
28 July 2002
East end of Wilipe`a bench, and visitors watching west end of same bench
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| Left. East end of Wilipe`a bench at
0553. Compare with image taken on July 25 to see how much bench has
thickened. Black sand beach still remains.
Right. Early risers at 0606 Sunday morning stand atop sea cliff and
watch lava entering water off west end of Wilipe`a bench, off left side of
image. |
29 July 2002
West end of Wilipe`a bench
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West end of Wilipe`a bench at 0529, showing multiple ocean
entries, small breakouts on bench, and a glimpse of sky over the clouds.
Note: all images today taken from same location exactly.
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| Sudden breakout at west end of Wilipe`a
bench. Left. Image taken at 0528:30, 2.5 minutes after the upper
breakout began. Lava gushed out of bench and moved some 20-25 m into the
surf zone. Right. Taken at 0540:37, image at higher magnification
shows details of lava stream pouring across bench into littoral regions,
where stream is cloaked in steam. |
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| Left. With daylight, more of bench can
be seen at 0551. Breakout in lower left is same as that in upper two images
but is greatly reduced in size and vigor. Right. Visitors atop sea
cliff (upper left) view bench activity. |
30 July 2002
Five moods of West Highcastle
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A single faucet supplies lava from West Highcastle bench
into water at 0526.
Note: all images today taken from same location exactly.
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| Left. Two discontinuous faucets in
action at 0531. Slow shutter speed blends drips into
continuous stream. Right. Overview of West Highcastle bench at 0540,
to give perspective on where active faucet is located. |
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| Left. As dawn nears (0543:26),
increased light allows faster shutter speed to capture a drip in progress. Right.
At some time in our lives, many of us have probably wanted to behead a
drip. Here are two beheaded drips, side by side, caught by accident at
0543:48. |
31 July 2002
West end of Wilipe`a bench
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| Left. Breakouts near edge of bench,
viewed from top of sea cliff amid many viewers. Right. Steam plume
from entry near tip of bench. Plume rapidly grew from almost nothing to
this size as large volume of lava gushed into sea. |
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July 21, 2002; 6:00 a.m. Lava spills over
Wilipe`a sea cliff
and across boulders into the sea.
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July 21, 2002; 6:00 a.m. Close view of lava spilling
over the lip of Wilipe`a sea cliff.
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July 21, 2002; 6:10 a.m. Close view of wave crashing
over lava in the surf zone.
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Lava cascades down sea cliff on July 19, 2002, 3.5
hours after Mother's Day flow reached to the sea.
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Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 21 July 2002
Map shows lava flows erupted during the 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o
and Kupaianaha (see
large map). Lava from the Mother's Day flow (red flow on west side of flow field)
reached the sea at West Highcastle early on July 19 and at Wilipe`a early on
July 21. Active flows in May-July (shown in red) originate from two
sources—the area of the rootless shields and an area just southwest
of Pu`u `O`o. The two flows from the rootless shields are the Boundary flow,
the longer flow along the edge of the national park, and the HALP flow, which
moved into Royal Gardens subdivision on May 21. From near the southwest base of Pu`u `O`o, the
Mother's Day flow passes along the west side of the flow field and into the
forest, where it started a large wildfire in May that continued into late July. By June 10,
the Mother's Day flow had reached the base
of Paliuli, the steep slope and cliff below Pulama pali and just above the
coastal flat. At the base of Paliuli, the Mother's Day flow abruptly spread
laterally in a series of small budding flows to cover an area nearly 2 km
wide, gradually moving seaward until the West Highcastle and Wilipe`a lobes
finally reached the ocean and started building benches.
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.
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