On June 3rd and 4th, 2009, conditions provided a rare view of active lava churning within Kilauea Volcano's summit vent located in Halema'uma'u Crater. This video (actual speed) shows the surface of the circulating lava, which is about 100 meters (300 feet) below the crater floor, or 180 meters (590 feet) below the camera. As lava gushes across the opening, its surface is disrupted by waves, splashes, bursting gas bubbles, and spatters of molten rock. It is not known how long these conditions will continue. The lava surface could soon crust over or drop to a lower level— or it could keep going, as shown here, for days, weeks, or months.
For safety reasons, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park has closed access to the summit vent, which has erupted explosively numerous times since it opened in March 2008.
Molten lava is present in the neck of a funnel-shaped cavity in the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater; glow from the lava has been easily visible to the naked eye from the Jaggar Museum since the end of May. Tephra production continues with most of the collection consisting of Pele's hair, small hollow spherules, and irregular pieces of glassy spatter presumably from the churning lava surface. Gas-rushing sounds were heard.
This morning, a wispy plume is rising about 300 m (1,000 ft) in weak winds before moving to the southwest over the Ka`u Desert. Sulfur dioxide emission rates remain elevated and variable; the most recent measurement was 700 tonnes/day on June 5, compared to the 2 average rate of 140 tonnes/day.
The network of tiltmeters at Kilauea's summit recorded a switch to weak inflation over the past 48 hours. The GPS network (less sensitive than the tiltmeter network) has recorded about 1 cm of contraction across the caldera over the past 3 months; little or no contraction has been measured since early May.
Seismic tremor levels remained at moderate levels. The number earthquakes are within background levels. Of the earthquakes that were strong enough to be located, one was beneath the north caldera and four were on south flank faults including a magnitude-3.0 quake that occurred at 7:03 am this morning.
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