February 9, 2017 Firehose Lava!
The firehose lava at the ocean entry was very visible today and gave us our best shots since it began last New Year’s Eve. The main flow continues unabated, dumping between one and two million gallons of hot rock into the Pacific Ocean every hour! The ocean entry is still located at Kamokuna just inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Several recent collapses have lopped off sizable portions of the bench and sea cliff at the entry area. The long-lived firehose lava stream sends tons of hot molten lava into the cold sea water, freezing the lava and causing littoral explosions, which shatter it into fragments. Some of these sink to the depths of the sea, while others gain the purchase of the coastal rocks to form black sand beaches. We were able to access the Pu’u ‘O’o vent this morning as well, despite the rainy conditions. The lava lake inside the vent remains active. Several skylights have opened up above the 61G lava tube system on the upper flow field. These breaks in the surface reveal the ongoing 61G flow as it makes it’s way some 6 miles from the vent to the Pacific Ocean. The two recent flows on top of the tube system and just to the northeast of 61G appear to have dried up, as we could locate no active surface flows this morning. The ocean entry remains a magnificent sight for visitors who can gain access from either the Kalpana of HVNP side by walking out the temporary access road, which goes directly to the ocean entry! The walk is lengthy, however, and precautions should be observed.
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure