Kilauea Volcano, Up Close and Personal
The Halema’uma’u Crater on the summit of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, on January 14, 2011. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Today, NASA’s Earth Observatory website featured an image of activity on the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. The image was personally exciting for me to see — not only because I find volcanoes fascinating — but because the day before the satellite image was taken (below) I was flying directly over Kilauea in a helicopter, searching for active lava flows. Above is an image I took of Halema’uma’u Crater on the summit of Kilauea Volcano, which has been steadily emitting a plume of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases for several years. We did not see active flows here, but about 120 meters (390 feet) below the pit’s opening there is a lava pond that rises and falls as magma moves underneath Kilauea. See more of my images below, where we did find some active lava flows and lots of gas emitting from the surrounding region.
(…) Read the rest of Kilauea Volcano, Up Close and Personal (460 words)
* * *
(C) nancy for Universe Today, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post
Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
URL: http://www.universetoday.com/82687/kilauea-volcano-up-close-and-personal/