Kilauea volcano photos, Hawai'i / VolcanoDiscovery

Kilauea volcano (Hawai'i) photos

Impressions from a morning boat tour to the Kamokuna ocean entry on 13 March 2017 during our latest Kilauea Volcano Special tour. We were lucky enough to be there during the last week when the spectacular fire hose was still active.

A special thanks goes to the competent and friendly crew from Kalapana Cultural Tours, in particular to captains Ikaika and Andrew, who we think provide the best service by far among the competition! (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava ocean entry 13 March 2017 (32 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): overview and geologic features (c)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): overview and geologic features (16 Images)

For almost 3 months in early 2017, Kilauea volcano was the site of one of the most spectacular and rarest volcanic phenomena: a "fire hose" or lava hose shooting into the ocean. A major bench and cliff collapse on New Year 's Eve 2016 exposed the main active lava tube which had been feeding the ocean entry at rates of up to several cubic meters of very fluid, hot (approx. 1200 deg C) lava. The lava has been traveling underground from the vent on the east rift zone to the coast at 10 miles distance.
The collapse on 31 Dec also affected the submarine part of the coast, creating a very steep submarine slope. It took almost 3 months before the continuous addition of lava finally succeeded to create a new lava delta (bench), allowing the lava to encase itself, stopping the "fire hose" effect.
The pictures on the lower part of this page show one of the last days of the life of the fire hose (18 Mar) when a surge in the tube caused it to be particularly violent. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): the fire hose (March 2017) (56 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): tour photos (March 2017) (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): tour photos (March 2017) (20 Images)

When hot, liquid lava at temperatures near 1200 deg C, directly coming from the lava tube, meets its arch-enemy water, the reaction is often violent: a battle of elements, generating ever-changing (so-called littoral) explosions in a chaos of steam, fragmented lava pieces which become new black sand, and colors.
The pictures were taken during 12-18 March from several viewpoints on water and on land. Among hundreds of similar photos, it was impossible to choose only a few, even though they cannot even come close to the fascination of watching it from relatively close. Few sights have impressed and mesmerized me as much as this battle between Pele and her sister Nā-maka-o-Kahaʻi, goddess of the sea. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava meets water - littoral explosions (Mar 2017) (92 Images)

Images taken during boat trips early dawn on 15 and 17 March 2017. The fire hose was strongest on the first day, but increased a lot again on 18 March, before stopping and turning into a lava fall a few days later. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): ocean entry at night and dawn (March 2017) (32 Images)

A selection of images of the g61 lava flow in March 2017 - active and frozen lava flows of pahoehoe type with ropy and toe structures. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): phoehoe lava flows (March 2017) (80 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): summit lava lake (Mar 2017) (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): summit lava lake (Mar 2017) (16 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): colors (March 2017 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): colors (March 2017 (24 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava at dark (March 2017) (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava at dark (March 2017) (24 Images)

Impressions from the Kamokuna lava sea entries on a morning boat tour on 11 Sep, taking during the recent pilot Kilauea Volcano Special tour. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava sea entry - boat tour 11 Sep 2016 (52 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Kamokuna lava sea entry Sep 2016 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Kamokuna lava sea entry Sep 2016 (20 Images)

Active lava breakouts were present about 2 km inland in the coastal flat in mid September 2016. Although the sea entry was the main attraction, a short hike to these flows was a welcome break. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): pahoehoe lava flows (20 Images)

Impressions from Kilauea's caldera with the active lava lake inside the Halema'uma'u crater in mid Sep 2016. The level of the lake was so high that the lava could be easily seen from the HVO observatory's Jagger lookout. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): caldera and lava lake Sep 2016 (16 Images)

Life returns slowly after destruction by lava flows. In this area, 30 years ago, there was dense rain forest until it was invaded by lava flows from the early stages of the Pu'u 'O'o rift zone eruption.
Dead, half-burnt tree trunks and branches still lie around, some having left molds in the lava.
Among the first plants to colonize the barren lava desert are small ferns whose green stands out from the dark or silvery pahoehoe textures. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Sep 2016 tour - life returns to lava (16 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): fire and water (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): fire and water (32 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava lake Sep 2016 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava lake Sep 2016 (16 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Kamokuna sea entry 17 Sep 2016 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Kamokuna sea entry 17 Sep 2016 (16 Images)

A second boat tour in the morning of 14 Sep resulted in spectacular views of the numerous lava flows entering the sea thanks to exceptionally good wind conditions - southerly winds pushed the heavy steam plume inland.
[go to part 2] (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava sea entry - boat tour 14 Sep 2016 (1) (32 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava sea entry - boat tour 14 Sep 2016 (2) (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): lava sea entry - boat tour 14 Sep 2016 (2) (24 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Sep 2016 tour - miscellaneous (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Sep 2016 tour - miscellaneous (16 Images)

Impressions from a full-moon night at the Jagger museum's lookout (Kilauea, Hawai'i) in November 2016. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea (Hawaii): lava lake impressions (Nov 2016) (14 Images)

Some impressions from Kilauea taken by Yashmin during our latest Round-The-World volcano tour in April 2013. (Photo: Yashmin Chebli)

Hawai'i - Kilauea volcano April 2013 tour photos (20 Images)

Geologist and VolcanoDiscovery tour guide Dr Ingrid Smet took a small group of travelers on a 7 days exploration of Kilauea shield volcano on the Big Island, Hawaii, from 17 to 23 March 2018. Below you find her photo diary of the VolcanoAdventures tour 'Pele's Fire and Myths' which explores both historic eruption sites of Kilauea as the ongoing volcanic activity at its summit and East Rift Zone as well as local fauna and flora, traditions and mythology.
Check our next group departures if you want to join in on one of our Hawaii volcano adventures and explore these fascinating volcanoes with one of our experienced volcano guides! (Photo: Ingrid Smet)

Hawaii - Kilauea volcano: tour photos March 2018 (127 Images)

The photographs presented here are taken by VolcanoDiscovery team member and geologist Dr Ingrid Smet during one of our 7 days volcano adventures on Hawaii. During a morning excursion on 22 Mar 2018 our small group found a number of active pahoehoe lava flow fronts at the bottom of the pali which they observed and photographed for 3,5 hours.
These lava flows originate from the tube system of the so-called "61g" lava flow episode of Kilauea volcano, which started in late May 2016 and fed an active ocean entry during July 2016 - Nov 2017. In the past 4 months, the lava tube has been producing surface flows of varying size above and on the pali as well as near its base. By mid March 2018 they had advanced enough to allow spectacular observations of active lava flow fronts after a relatively tough hike of ca. 3 hours across the older lava fields.
(Photo: Ingrid Smet)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i: lava flows 22 March 2018 (53 Images)

A small VolcanoDiscovery group was on a 7 days volcano adventure during the 10th anniversary of a continuous active lava lake inside Halema'uma'u crater in Kilauea's summit caldera. Since the reappearance of lava inside Halema'uma'u crater on 19 March 2008 the level of the active lava lake has been fluctuating a lot and is sometimes visible from the Jagger Museum lookout some 1 km away from the vent. There was also lava spattering from gas bubbles exploding through the surface of the lake in mid March 2018. (Photo: Ingrid Smet)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i: Halemau'uma'u lava lake March 2018 (13 Images)

In March 2018, lava continued to flow through the tube system of the so-called "61g" lava flow episode of Kilauea volcano, which had started in late May 2016 and fed an active ocean entry during July 2016 - Nov 2017.
Since then, the lava tube has been producing surface flows of varying size above and on the pali as well as near its base.
The pictures presented here were taken by team member geologist Dr Ingrid Smet during a morning excursion on 16 Mar 2018. They show sluggish surface lava flows, as have been typical for the past weeks in this area near the base of Pulama pali. (Photo: Ingrid Smet)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i: lava flows 16 March 2018 (28 Images)

This photo diary is a compilation of images from different participants on our 12 - 18 April 2017 Kilauea Volcano Special guided by geologist Ingrid Smet. It also includes photographic documentation of the unofficial ´pilot´ extension that the small group undertook afterwards to explore the other sites, nature, wildlife, scenery and gastronomy of the Big Island.

During their stay on Hawaii the Kamukona lava ocean entry that started in July 2016 was still ongoing so that they had the chance to observe this volcanic acitivity from land, on the sea and in the air. They also watched on a different occasions the lava lake inside Halema´uma´u crater inside Kilauea´s summit caldera, which was at such a high level that the lava spattering could be seen from ca 2 km distance. Unfortunately there were no on-land lava break outs that they could get to as was the case for the March 2017 Kilauea Volcano Specials. (Photo: Ingrid Smet)

Kilauea Volcano Special, Hawai'i: tour photos April 2017 (231 Images)

Some images of frozen and active pahoehoe lava taken during an excursion to active lava flows from Kiilauea during the Round-The-World tour in Sep 2013. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i photos: pahoehoe lava (Sep 2013) (24 Images)

Our friend and filmmaker Michael Dalton (Volcanic Odysseys) is currently on Hawai'i and sent us some images of the new lava flows advancing SE fro Pu'u 'O'o, reaching Pulama Pali on 29 June 2016.
"Amazing day yesterday on the Pali, very spectacular and at times fast moving flows. We caught some incredible surges. The flow with the burning trees had to be moving close to 1ft a second during the fast surges that last 10 minutes or so." (Photo: Michael Dalton)

Kilauea volcano (Hawai'i): lava flows descending on Pulama Pali June 2016 (12 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Pu'u 'O'o crater lava lake Mar 2006 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii): Pu'u 'O'o crater lava lake Mar 2006 (12 Images)

Apart from the first few, the following pictures were taken on a commercial helicopter sightseeing flight from Hilo - relatively inexpensive, they offer a great option to see the volcano and parts of Hawai'i island from a unique perspective completely different from the one from ground. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i: aerial photos of Hawai'i, Pu'u'O'o and lava flows Sep 2013 (36 Images)

Kilauea volcano (Hawai'i): lava flows down the Pulama Pali on 1 July 2016 (Photo: Michael Dalton)

Kilauea volcano (Hawai'i): lava flows down the Pulama Pali on 1 July 2016 (8 Images)

A selection of pictures taken during a morning boat tour (Kilauea Volcano Special) in November. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea (Hawaii): lava flowing into the sea 12 Nov 2016 (32 Images)

Spattering from a vent feeding the eastern lava lake. The vent corresponds to the former East Pond vent in Pu'u O'o. During the time the photos were taken, the hornito above the vent collapsed, allowing a view onto the boiling lava. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Spattering from the East vent in Pu'u 'O'o crater (July 2007) (36 Images)

Impressions from a beautiful morning spent observing the summit lava lake and walking around the caldera through Steam Vents and Sulfur Banks to Volcano House. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea (Hawaii): lava lake & summit Nov 2016 (32 Images)

Lava flows from Pu`u `O`o vent's newest fissure, which began erupting in September, have finally advanced onto Kīlauea's coastal plain and are accessible by foot! It is a 2-3 hour hike EACH WAY over very uneven terrain, typically a 6 hour round-trip from Kalapana.

5 Dec was marks the first day since the beginning of March that lava flows are accessible up close. For guided tours to the lava, please visit VolcanoDiscovery Hawai'i. (Photo: Philip Ong)

Kilauea volcano (Hawai'i) - lava flows reaching the coastal plain Dec 2011: photos (8 Images)

Our friend Steve kindly sent us a selection of his photos from a recent trip to Kilauea, Big Island of Hawai'i. (Photo: Steve Hunt)

Kilauea volcano - impressions from Sep 2010 (8 Images)

Until June 2007, lava was flowing into the sea. Here are some impressions taken during a visit on the island in April 2007. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Lava flowing into the sea - Kilauea volcano, Big Island April 2007 (21 Images)

Impressions during a volcano tour on Kilauea volcano in Feb. 2005 (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii), Feb. 2005: erupting hornitos, skylights and lava flows (54 Images)

We present you some photos from the lava lake occupying the eastern part of Pu'u 'O'o crater on Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, taken during 14-20 July 2007. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Lava lake in Pu'u 'O'o crater (July 2007) (43 Images)

Collections

The following photos show the activity inside the Pu'u 'O'o vent during 13-20 July, when intermittent vents were active inside the cone, forming lava flows and temporary lava lakes. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Hawaii volcano July 2007 (5 Albums)

Kilauea volcano, Hawaii - Sep 2016 (11 Albums)

Kilauea volcano, Hawaii - March 2017 (10 Albums)

Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i (3 Albums)

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