Photo & Video Chronology - Kilauea Archive

24 September 2004

Down the PKK flow from Puka Nui

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Left. June 25 spatter cone near Puka Nui on south side of Pu`u `O`o. This cone grew substantially in past week and is emitting sloshing sounds from lava just below it. Flank of Pu`u `O`o in background, through fume. Figure preparing to take image shown to right. 0955. Right. Close view of hole in June 25 spatter cone. 0959.

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Left. Looking up PKK lava tube toward Pu`u `O`o (upper left). Newly formed skylight in lower left. Fume and altered rock (white) define course of tube. 1431. Right. Small breakout in western arm of PKK flow downstream from area shown in left image. Pu`u `O`o in background. 0914.

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Left. Aerial view of several breakouts near terminus of western arm of PKK flow. Note the two distinctly different shades of gray. Darker hue is older crust, but lava is still flowing under it. 1258. Right. Aerial view looking up the western arm of PKK flow (center of image, lighter toned than surroundings. Terminus is along small kipuka in lower center. Pu`u `O`o in background. 0856.

27 September 2004

Harvest Moon through vog

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Full Harvest Moon typically appears brown-yellow through smoke from burning fields after harvest. At Kilauea, that color often indicates vog. In these views, nearly full moon takes on dirty amber cast as viewed through plume of vog coming from Pu`u `O`o. Photo location is Kealakomo overlook. Left. Just starting to set behind Mauna Loa's southwest rift zone. 0515:30. Right. Going, going... 0516:14.

Map of flows from Pu`u `O`o: 24 August 2004

Map shows lava flows erupted during 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map).

Shades of red and bright yellow denote Mother's Day flow field, which began erupting on May 12, 2002 and continues to the present. Darkest red indicates lava flows erupted in November 2003-24 August 2004, including the labeled Banana flow, which developed gradually starting in the middle of April. Orange shade denotes MLK flow, erupted in January and, in brief spurts, subsequently. Yellow shade indicates Kuhio (PKK) flow, active most of the time from March 20 to August 24. As of August 24, most activity was located in the Banana flow, fed by the Banana branch of the Mother's Day tube. The PKK flow remains active, too.

Through September and into early October 2003, lava was moving along the east and west sides of the Mother's Day flow. The east-side lava (known as the August 9 breakout) came from the August 9 rootless shield, itself fed by the main Mother's Day tube from Pu`u `O`o. The west side lava, known as the Kohola arm of the Mother's Day flow, branched off the tube system below the rootless shield.

In early October 2003, the August 9 breakout stopped moving, the Kohola died back to a trickle, and the one labeled rootless shield gained prominence. By October 16, however, the shield had partly collapsed, leaving several drained perched ponds behind. Upstream from the shield, many hornitos and small flows formed over the Mother's Day tube. Soon thereafter, other rootless shields began to form over the Mother's Day, August 9, and Kohola tubes.

New vents opened at the southern base of Pu`u `O`o on January 19 and fed Martin Luther King (MLK) flows, which remained active until March 5. Several small vents formed during this time. On March 20, Kuhio (PKK) flow originated from two vents, main one about 250 m south of base of Pu`u `O`o. This flow has remained active most of the time to the August 24 date of this map.

The Banana flow developed from breakouts from the Mother's Day lava tube, centered near the former Banana Tree kipuka. The breakouts become prominent in the middle of April, and lava started down Pulama pali shortly thereafter. This is the time that we assigned the name Banana to the flow.

Vents in West Gap Pit became active in early October, were quiet for 3 weeks, and then resumed intermittent activity that continued well into December. Other vents were also sporadically active in Puka Nui (near West Gap Pit) and in the crater of Pu`u `O`o.

Map of Pu`u `O`o and vicinity: 24 August 2004

Map shows vents, lava flows, and other features near Pu`u `O`o frequently referred to in updates (see large map). These features change often, but this map should help those viewers lost in the terminology. The cones in West Gap are just outside the boundary of the crater--the oval-shaped depression containing the seven numbered vents (now down to 6, as Humble Vent has been buried by a mound of lava flows erupted from Dave's Pit/Vent in March. Red color denotes flows--the Mother's Day flows--erupted since May 12, 2002. Light orange color indicates episode-55 flows erupted between March 1997 and August 2002 (exclusive of Mother's Day flows). Darker orange represents MLK flows; yellow, PKK flow; purple, Puka Nui flow. Vents for these sets of flows shown by indicated symbols. Gray shows flows of earlier episodes.

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.