Kilauea Eruption 12/23/24

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

   
Pele’s hair is all over Volcano, this piece is 14” long:

[Punatang]

That is wild Edge. Mahalo for sharing.  So is it just floating around in the air up there?  How's the VOG?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Pele’s hair is on the ground now. It crunches as you walk.  Vog is thick.

[kalianna]

Looks like the biggest fountains yet. Happening now.

[Chas]

Wow. STILL going! Out of the top of the frame of the zoomed out camera even.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

There’s some flickering, flashes of orange glow…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oG5zz9Sjw3E

[kalianna]

I see lava flowing but no visible source.

[MyManao]

This latest phase is interesting. 

Looking at the tilt for the last week..


Notice how the onset, as recorded here, is not a sharp change of direction but rather a more gradual, rounded, transition. And, overall, the ensuing deflation is not as sharp, steep, as in events of the past in this series, as seen in this view of the tilt for the last month..


In which we see the onsets of the proceeding events being more defined as a stark change in direction. And this time we haven’t had any high fountains, and, that second vent is no longer active.

Keep in mind, historically, a series of episodic high fountain events are often followed by a continuous relatively low level of effusion.. a lava lake. Something changes, and instead of magma having to reach a critical point of pressure to erupt and when it does the then highly charged melt releases the gas held in suspension and in doing so shatters the melt and carries pieces of it aloft, now, this time at least, the melt reached the surface without having to build up as much pressure.. and without all the volatiles being so excited in the process.

So.. maybe we’re seeing the first steps around the corner from that earlier more volatile stage? But then, of course, we could have earth shattering monstrous fountaining unlike any ever seen anywhere, ever. We’ll see.. 

And omg the watching is fun!

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Kilauea Message 2025-04-14 20:19:08 HST: The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption is paused. Both the north and south vents are actively degassing and display strong glow tonight at 8:00 pm HST. If prior patterns of inflation hold, episode 18 is likely to start between now and late Wednesday.

[MyManao]

Well.. the eruption that had started.. that was quoted as having started "at 10:01 p.m. HST on April 16” has now not actually started twice.. as is quoted here as having "restarted at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday morning” and has since stopped again without any fountaining.. or signs of deflation on the tilt that is customary in all prior events.

The interesting thing to note.. for me.. is what it looks like when we broaden our perspective to include the GPS signal as well as the standard look through the tilt. Here are both.. 

A one month look at the summit tilt.. 



Where we see the current inflation now exceeding the amount prior to the last eruption, and has much as prior to the eruption before..

Keep in mind the tilt (that I often refer to) is an instrument situated on the western edge of the caldera that measures ground tilt at its location. This is a local signal. It doesn’t speak for any other part of the caldera.. just that the ground is titling one way or another there, at its location. So we assume an qual amount of tilt elsewhere, as if the volcano is symmetrical, when in fact it may not be.

Now, consider, the GPS line length measured across the summit.. with this plot showing one year of line lengths..



Where since the end of December we see a steady widening and contracting tracking the series of events since the end of last year.

Note that the GPS measurements, which are recorded here once a day, with each record being represented by a circle.. show the same time.. the same expanding and contracting, as the tilt does. They track.. the distance expands and contracts with each event. But note how now.. the latest round of expansion has far and away exceeded earlier cycles.. so much so I'm wondering if the vocal point of the inflation that is causing the expansion has shifted to another part of the caldera and as such is not showing up as much on the tilt… which as I point out is point specific.. as it is being reflected in the GPS line length..

Just a though.. please don't hang me for it...