Volcano acting up

[csgray]

That map is outdated. Several days ago HVOG reported on their site that the formerly eastern bend in the channel has been abandoned and is now spilling Pahoehoe out the former site of the bend and is producing multiple seeps out of both sides of the channel. This is where the lava pushes out from under the bottom 'skirts" of the perched ponds and channel. The webcam has had really great shots of this most early mornings, before the first light of dawn. That channel is now high and very full. From the webcam it looks like things have pushed out another 25% or so over old flows, but it is hard to tell exactly because the landmarks shown on the webcam aren't shown on the maps HVOG posts.

If you read the past history of Kupaianaha it created a perched lake which then overflowed pahoehoe which took out Kalapana. The present day rise seen behind the lava channel on the webcam is the remnant of that perched lake, it is also the the geologic feature which is pushing the current eruption away from the ocean. I think we will have a lot better idea of what direction things are headed by Halloween. The joker in the deck is the fact that unlike water, lava doesn't only flow downhill and it raises the land it flows over, changing the lowest path of descent. This is what makes it hard to predict where lava will end up flowing. We are all Pele's tenants here.

carol