Photo & Video Chronology - Kilauea Archive

14 June 2003

Gushing breakout below Full Strawberry Moon

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Left. Small breakout near top of old sea cliff at Highcastle. Full Strawberry Moon trying to duck below cloud. 0531. Right. Nine minutes later, lava gushes from a large mound and pours down upper part of old sea cliff. The start of the gush, about 50 seconds before image was taken, was accompanied by loud cracking sounds as the crust gave way. Longest stream is about 1.3 m wide. 0540:46.

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Left. Less than a minute after gush started, its stream is dropping down cliff along a broad front. Width of stream, about 2 m. 0541:23.. Right. Fifteen seconds later, wider view gives perspective of lava torrent with delta in background. 0541:38.

21 June 2003

Summer solstice at Highcastle

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Left. Lava pours over old sea cliff at Highcastle. This lava is fed by breakout that flows 10-20 m from inflating tumulus to left of image. 0528. Right. Closer view of two strands of breakout shown in left image. Lava cascades down 7-m-high cliff, then pools and stagnates at base of cliff on surface of lava delta. 0529.

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Left. Looking east at another breakout feeding lava onto delta below Highcastle sea cliff. This one started about 5 minutes ago and was over in another 15 minutes. 0538. Right. Looking west at point in breakout to left where lava first starts to drop down cliff. Note that thick crust has already formed on lava, while it was leisurely flowing on gentle slope above cliff. 0539.

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Left. Lava is breaking out of steep-sided, inflating tumulus about 30 m inland from Highcastle sea cliff. This is one of many such inflating tumuli in area, some of which break to feed breakouts such as this one. Tumulus is about 4 m high. 0533. Right. Another view of same breakout at point of emergence at base of tumulus. Laze in distance is from entry of lava into ocean at tip of Highcastle lava delta. 0535.

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Left. Leading edge of breakout from tumulus above. Breakout is sluggish but moving down rather steep slope, so lava continues to bud from front of flow rather than to inflate. Width of view, about 1 m. 0549. Right. Toe in left image 1 minute later. Width of toe, about 20 cm. 0550.

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Left. Lava in breakout shown in left image above, but in right branch hidden from view. Slope is steep, and lava moves slowly but continuously down it. Width of toe, about 20 cm. 0550. Right. Same toe as to left, but 1 1/2 minutes later and well down slope. Width of toe, about 20 cm. 0552. All of these close-ups shown unusually well the delicate texture on surface of lava, which is just starting to develop crust.

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Left. Channeled breakout from tumulus in background pours down slope about 100 m inland of Highcastle sea cliff. Widest part of breakout, about 7 m. 0557. Right. Closer view of cascade in this channeled breakout, with crust floating merrily down the stream. Channel is about 2 m wide. Video clip below shows this channel. 0558.

26 June 2003

Lava at Highcastle

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Left. Two open channels pour lava off point of Highcastle lava delta and feed spigots in right image. 0522. Right. Digital telephoto of lava fed by channels in left image plummeting into swash zone. Next wave will cover black sand beach. Height of point, about 4 m. Viewed from farther east than left image. 0607.

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Left. Lava gushes from breached tube (upper right) and starts to cascade down old sea cliff at Highcastle. This gush started within past 3 minutes. Width of channel, about 1 m. 0534. Right. More distant view of cascade fed by lave in left image. Height of cascade, 10-12 m. 0537.

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Left. Standing above mouth of breached tube, showing lava flowing to, and then plunging out of sight down, brink of old sea cliff. Note how center of stream is higher than its margins. Width of stream, about 80 cm. 0545. Right. Same view as in left image, but showing lava slowly spreading across surface of lava delta below cascade. 0548.

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Left. Looking obliquely down onto lower part of cascade shown above. Width of flowing lava, about 1.5 m. 0559. Right. Oblique view downward of snout of cascade, a little to left of left image. Note greater development of crust on lava than a little upstream (left image). Maximum width of lava, 3-4 m. 0601.

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Left. Oblique view down onto another part of cascade, as it meets surface of lava delta. Widest channel, about 2 m. 0604. Right. Budding toe of small breakout about 100 m inland of sea cliff at Highcastle. Note wrinkling of crust on active toe, which is about 40 cm wide. 0615.

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Left. Lava toe in breakout moving toward camera, with lava breaking out of toe in two places. Note deeply furrowed crust encasing most of toe, which is about 1 m wide. 0621. Right. Spreading toe in same general area as previous two images. Note incandescent fractures in crust on upper-right part of toe. Width of toe, about 50 cm. 0622.

27 June 2003

Lava high on Pulama pali

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Left. Lava in west-side lobe pours down steep slope high on Pulama pali. Trees give scale. Note `a`a starting to stagnate along margin of lava at base of cascade. 1010. Right. Members of lucky TV crew at site of lava cascade in left image. 1015.

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Left. Moving, rather pasty lava on flat at base of cascade shown above. Thickness of flow, about 1 m. 1021. Right. Interior lava of pasty flow breaks out from under crust near site of left image. 1031.

28 June 2003

Highcastle lava delta

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Left. View of Highcastle lava delta from northeast. Lava is entering water only at steaming tip of delta, which is 100 m from old sea cliff. Delta is 300 m long parallel to cliff. 0829. Right. Narrow stream of lava, 5-6 m high, can barely be seen in large image. Presumably other streams are active in steaming area on west side of tip 0831.

21 June 2003

June 21, 2003; 0559. Lava in channeled breakout from nearby tumulus flowing rapidly down steep slope before spreading out on flat ground. Same channel as shown in last two stills for today. Width of channel, about 2 m. QuickTime mov (1.8 mb) Windows avi (2.6 mb)

26 June 2003

June 26, 2003; 0546. Lava issues from breached tube and quickly disappears over old sea cliff. Note that center of stream stands above margins. See still taken at 0545 today. QuickTime mov (1.8 mb) Windows avi (0.9 mb)

June 26, 2003; 0550. Same cascade as in first clip, but viewed more from side to see lava falling down cliff and spreading across surface of lava delta. Similar view to still image taken at 0548 today. QuickTime mov (1.6 mb) Windows avi (1.8 mb)

June 26, 2003; 0600. Surging cascade on steep cliff face. Note that surges override part of cascade next to cliff, which is slowed by friction with the cliff. QuickTime mov (1.5 mb) Windows avi (1.1 mb)

Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map). Red colors, both dark and light, denote Mother's Day flow, which began erupting on May 12, 2002 and continues to the present. The darkest color represents flows active since January 21, 2003.

Most recent--and ongoing--activity has produced two flows, one along western edge of flow field and one slightly farther east. Kohola flow, along western margin, entered sea late on Valentine's Day to form short-lived Kohola ocean entry. This flow shortened the road still more. Visitors now can drive to Holei Sea Arch, 1.1 km from Kohola flow, and walk to see flow. Breakouts have been visible in various parts of Kohola flow, shifting from time to time across width and length of flow.

Other dark red flow is main active part of Mother's Day flow. Fed by breakouts from lava tube in main Mother's Day flow, it advanced along eastern margin of main flow and down Pulama pali and Paliuli. Western of two forks below Paliuli dripped over sea cliff at Highcastle on May 19, 2003, after map was made.

Lava from earlier, pre-January 21, 2003 Mother's Day flow (light red) reached sea at West Highcastle early on July 19, at Wilipe`a early on July 21, and at Highcastle on August 8. From near southwest base of Pu`u `O`o, Mother's Day flow passes along west side of flow field and into forest, where it started large wildfire in May that continued into late July. By June 10, Mother's Day flow had reached base of Paliuli, the steep slope and cliff below Pulama pali and just above coastal flat. At base of Paliuli, Mother's Day flow abruptly spread laterally in series of small budding flows to cover an area nearly 2 km wide, gradually moving seaward until West Highcastle and Wilipe`a lobes finally reached water and started building lava deltas. Activity at West Highcastle ended in early August, but entry began soon thereafter at Highcastle, eventually burying tiny kipuka of Chain of Craters Road. Wilipe`a entry died away slowly and had ended by mid-August. Highcastle and neighboring Highcastle Stairs entries ended on about August 23. For a time there were no active entries. Then Wilipe`a was reactivated on September 3 but stopped in December. West Highcastle likewise renewed activity on September 16-17, died away during night of September 18-19, and returned soon thereafter to continue through March 21. East arm of Mother's Day flow branched from Highcastle lobe in late October and sent three fingers into ocean at Highcastle on November 15, West Lae`apuki on November 19, and Lae`apuki on November 20. Lae`apuki entries had stopped by November 29. If this sounds like soap opera, the truth is even more confusing than the simplified version of activity given here.

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.