Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 14.5: Fissure 8 flow advancing

Lava outflow from fissure 6, 13 and 22, that fed the two lava flows that were flowing into the ocean have stopped.

But on May 28th Fissure 8 has been reactivated!

_{Reactivated Fissure 8 from May 28th.
volcanoes.usgs.gov}

Since then, it is constantly feeding a new flow that is slowly making its way eastwards and is now close to ocean entry.

_{Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone lava flows from June 3rd.
volcanoes.usgs.gov}

_{Fissure 8 flow front.
volcanoes.usgs.gov}

The fountaining at Fissure 8 is creating Pele’s hair and other volcanic glass fragments that are being transported downwind to great distances. These particles can cause skin and eye irritation just like volcanic ash.

_{Accumulation of Pele’s hair downwind of the vent at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in 2012.
commons.wikimedia.org}

At the volcanoes summit activity continues at the Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Small earthquakes are frequent and small to medium sized ash plumes are erupting.

_{Aerial view of the Kīlauea summit crater with an ash plume rising from the Halema‘uma‘u crater.
usgs.gov}

A neat story happened on May 27th, when, during a mapping mission, an unmanned Aircraft System from the USGS helped safe a civilian trapped by a newly forming lava flow.

When the team conduction the mapping heard the radio transmission of a someone being trapped by the lava flow, they found the person using their drone and instructed him or her to “follow the drone to safety”. With the help of the individuals cellphone flashlight, the drone team was able to direct the person towards the search and rescue team.

You can see the video here:

Previous Posts

Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 1: Introduction
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 2: The Hawaiian Hotspot
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 3: A growing volcano
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 4: The Rejuvenation Stage
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 5: Evolution to Atolls and Seamounts
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 6: Mythology vs Geology
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 7: Recent eruptions
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 8: Volcano Monitoring
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 9: Predicting Eruptions
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 10: Volcanic Air Pollution
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 11: Volcanoes falling apart… from Landslides and Tsunamis
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 12: Benefits of Volcanoes
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 13: The Double Volcano Chain
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 14.1: Current eruption of Kīlauea
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 14.2: Update on the current eruption of Kīlauea
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 14.3: Ongoing eruption of Kīlauea
Hawaiian volcanoes - Part 14.4: Lava from Kīlauea has reached the ocean

References

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html
https://www.usgs.gov/news/k-lauea-volcano-erupts
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/k-lauea-volcano-aerial-k-laueas-summit
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pele%27s_hair_near_Halemaumau,_2012.jpg