Kilaeua Volcano's Lava Lake

[Plant Woman]

I've watched the web cam at Pu 'u 'O 'o vent on the Big Island for a couple of years now. I love to go see it at night when you can really see the "fire". About 4 weeks ago the whole thing shut down, the floor of the crater dropped 300 feet and the lava draining to the ocean dried up.

Every night I looked for any signs of fire but it was black as night. During the day it was obscured by fumes. I heard the floor had collapsed and I wanted to see what had happed. Then a few days ago the lava started running, finally some excitement and I finally got a glimpse of the crater. Unbelievable how much it changed. It's hard to get perspective on how huge this thing is, since there is nothing to fix a perspective on.

I watch Mt. St. Helens too, but Kilauea puts on a spectacular night show. Tonight the lava lake is spectacular! WOW! I captured a screen shot to share.

The url to the web cam: Live Panorama of Pu`u `O`o Vent, Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam/)

[livius drusus]

Totally amazing, p-dub. I had no idea the floor had collapsed. Can you give me a sense of how it looked before, or maybe even a single notable difference that you see?

[Dingfod]

It's about to asplode. Everybody panic!!!

[viscousmemories]

Wow, that's cool. I just watched a Nova last night about a hiking expedition to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and they said that because it appears to have erupted within the last few hundred years it can be considered active. I pity the Tanzanians if that baby ever decides to blow.

[Plant Woman]

Liv, When I get home today, I will draw on the image to give you an idea and post it. Of course the biggest thing is the floor collapsed when the magma left. Where you see East Pond Vent, January vent, etc. were well defined areas where fume escaped or the lava rose and fell. I will draw those in and try to give you perspective. Like the East pond vent was about as wide as my home at 65 feet. But it was twice as long the other way. So I would visualize my house sitting across the shortest width for perspective.

Oh here's a shot of the East Pond Vent (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2007/20070518-9892-TRO_L.JPG). You can see the floor is up to the rim.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

It's about to asplode. Everybody panic!!!

:panic:

[Plant Woman]

Instead of trying to draw it out, here's a better view of what it looked like before the floor collapsed. The east pond vent is the big crater on the left. Where all the fume is coming out is the January Vent. Of course neither of these exist anymore.

Before (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/archive/2007/20070601-0107-TRO_L.JPG)