Showing posts with label volcano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volcano. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

HVO updated images/video

The HVO has updated their images page. Included is a lovely video of the Pu'u 'O'o crater floor collapse. And some nice fountaining lava.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Gorgeous Fountain near Napau

I just checked the Napau Crater webcam this morning: There's a gorgeous fire fountain visible:

Hawaiian Activitiy Revisited

When we went to Hawaii last January (2010), my wife and I trekked over to Kalapana and watched the lava. Well sort of. At that time, the lava was entering the sea outside the park boundary, and the county highway department wasn't too keen on letting people get too close. So they had a viewing area set up about half a mile away from the action. With a telephoto lens, I managed to see some nice splashes, but mostly it was just kind of okay. Nothing like you see in the documentaries or hear tell of stories where the silly tourist in flip-flops nearly burns their leg off by getting close to an active flow...

The trail was well-marked, but rough.
Hawaii_2738Click to embiggen.

The first view was somewhat uninspiring. But I reminded myself that I was on an active volcano, which was better than not being on an active volcano.
Hawaii_2747Click to embiggen.

Long lenses were de rigueur.
Hawaii_2749Click to embiggen.

Much of the late evening views were nice, but not stunning. It wasn't until the sun almost hit the horizon that the light really looked surreal. (note tour boat for scale at left)
Hawaii_2819Click to embiggen.

Once the sky darkened, the light from the glowing lava began to color the base of the steam plume.
Hawaii_2868Click to embiggen.

Hawaii_2835Click to embiggen.

There were some nice vortices kicked up by the rising plume. At dusk, the steam had a nice sculptural quality to it.
Hawaii_2779Click to embiggen.

Hawaii_2760Click to embiggen.

I need to reprocess this image to remove some of the digital noise. Zoomed in at 400mm, it still seems small and harmless.
Hawaii_2932Click to embiggen.

Currently, there are reports that the new vent activity near Napau is siphoning off the lava from the tube supplying the sea entry activity. Only time will tell if the current activity will form a new point of entry for the lava. That's the way it is with these dynamic systems.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Hawaiian Activitiy

It looks like there's a bit of activity over on the big island. The Eruptions Blog has some great synopses. Watching the movies, it made me long to go back. My wife and I were there just 14 months ago.

Here's an image taken from the Mauna Ulu overlook, looking east. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (hope the glottal stops format correctly here) is the most distant peak visible in the image. The activity appears to be between the intermediate peak and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. In this image, you can also see the line of steam emanating from the eastern rift zone.



I hope I can get back there someday in the not too distant future.