Kīlauea is Back!
By Lichen Forster
Graphics by Caleilah-Estelle Ah Yee
Photos by author unless otherwise credited
Kīlauea’s most recent eruption last September marked the end of a year-long quiet period.
Signs began on Sept. 14, when the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) detected active magma moving in under the area around Makaopuhi Crater. HVO also detected earthquakes and “deformation” which is where the ground can move (or deform) up or down. If the ground is moving up, that likely means magma is moving in underground. If the ground is moving down (deflating), this often means magma is leaving the area.
Eruption map made by USGS HVO (Public Domain image)
On Sept. 15, an hour-long eruption occurred from 9 to 10 p.m. in the middle East Rift Zone. Rainfall obscured the view of webcams, but geophysical data confirmed the outpouring of lava. The next day, a helicopter flight taken by HVO scientists observed a fissure that covered four acres of land with five million gallons of lava, just in that short timespan.
On Sept. 16, the eruption resumed at 6 p.m., where lava fountains and flows proceeded throughout the night, though they lost vigor towards the morning.
On the morning of Sept. 17, new vents were identified in Nāpau Crater, where 10 meter high fountains were propelling fresh lava towards the sky.
On the afternoon of Sept. 18, new fissures opened west of Nāpau Crater and “lava falls” were captured by webcams pouring more material into the crater on its northwest walls. By 10 a.m. on Sept. 20, the eruption ended, less than a week since it had begun. In that time, new lava had covered over 156 acres, and two-thirds of Nāpau Crater had been gifted with new lava from Madame Pele.
Lava fountains in Nāpau Crater on September 17, photo by A. Ellis for the USGS (image in the Public Domain)
Eruption processing at UH Hilo
Several aspects of HVO’s research on Kīlauea and Mauna Loa happens at UH Hilo (UHH.) One way HVO can study our volcanoes from UHH is with the ED-XRF (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence) machine, housed in the Geology Building (College Hall C.)
Used primarily for archaeological studies, the ED-XRF has also been used, since the 2018 eruption, to get near real-time geochemical analysis of our eruptions.
It targets several elements for study. The electrons in the atoms of the sample are excited by the ED-XRF, and their excited movement is measured and reveals the concentrations of those elements present in each sample.
Five samples were obtained from the September 2024 eruption for use in ED-XRF processing.
The Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) spectrometer housed at UH Hilo’s geology department is used by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to understand the geochemistry of Hawaiian eruptions.
HVO intern Namy Barnett and HVO postdoctoral fellow Heather B. Winslow worked on processing samples from last month’s eruption on the ED-XRF. They crushed five samples taken from the eruptive site into a fine powder that could be packed into a “pellet” and ran each sample through the ED-XRF. The ED-XRF data from this eruption has not been analyzed yet, but first looks will include the magnesium oxide (MgO) content.
“MgO is related to the temperature that the crystals formed at,” said Barnett. This data could reveal where the crystals came from beneath Kīlauea, and this information on magma transport is influential in comparing eruptions.
Stay informed
- Sign up for emails from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory via the Volcano Notification System (VNS.)
- Visit the National Park’s webcams page and view live imagery of Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualālai. and Hualālai.
- Subscribe to Volcano Watch, a weekly article written by HVO scientists.
QR code to visit the National Park’s webcams page.
QR code to subscribe to Volcano Watch.
QR code to sign up for emails at the VNS.