On the night of December 20th, 2020, after a swarm of shallow earthquakes in the region,
the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii finally erupted.
In this video, you can see two vents erupting basaltic lava 50 meter or 165 feet into the
air in what is termed a lava fountain.
This eruption, which is still ongoing as of the end of March 2021, represents a resumption
of volcanic activity at Kilauea which had been quiet since late 2018.
Currently, the eruption is still confined to a small section of Kilauea's summit caldera.
So, based on where the volcano is erupting, what hazards will it pose?
This video will answer this question, and discuss this interesting volcano.
The Big Island of Hawaii represents the youngest of a series of volcanic islands created by
the Hawaiian hotspot.
The volcanoes which this hotspot creates are all designated as shield volcanoes.
Shield volcanoes form due to the eruption of significant quantities of low silica lava
which moves relatively quickly.
Due to the fast movement speed of the lava, it travels a long distance from the erupting
vent, thus creating a gentle slope.
Kilauea is the youngest shield volcano on the Big island, and also the most active.
In the past 100 years, it has erupted 44 times.
The most famous of these eruptions lasted from 1983 until 2018, during which it became
an accepted fact of life that Kilauea was always erupting.
The end of this eruption was marked by the creation of a new caldera as lava rapidly
drained to the east and layers of rock collapsed to fill the empty space of what was previously
filled by magma.
After this collapse, the caldera was partially filled with a highly acidic crater lake.
Over the course of two years, this lake expanded until it was several hundred feet deep.
Then, on December 20th, 2020, after a series of strong earthquakes beneath the volcano,
Kilauea erupted once again.
Initially, due to the heat of the erupting magma, the water in the crater lake quickly
flashed to steam and created a series of small explosions.
What subsequently occurred was an effusive eruption, where two vents ejected lava from
sections of the crater walls.
Lava erupted from these two vents then flowed into low points of the caldera, forming the
beginnings of a large lava lake.
Initially, the volume of lava erupted into the caldera was quite high.
By December 23rd, 10 million cubic meters of lava has been erupted, creating a 440 foot
deep lava lake.
However, since then, the volume of lava erupted per second has been slowly decreasing.
Whereas it took 3 days for this eruption to produce 10 million cubic meters of lava, it
took another 8 days for the next 10 million to be erupted.
As of March 27th, 2021, a total of 38 million cubic meters of lava is present in the lava
lake.
This lake is now 735 feet deep, and is still growing, just at a very slow rate.
In all likelihood, each new day will likely see the continued decrease in the volume of
erupted lava.
It may not be long, perhaps only a few months, until this small eruption comes to a close.
(pause 2 seconds) However, if I am wrong, and the eruption continues
for much longer, there are three elevations to keep an eye on.
Currently, the top of the lava lake is 738 meters above sea level.
If it was to reach 800 meters, it would start spilling out onto the first layer of the caldera
formed by the 2018 collapse.
When this occurs, lava would also become directly visible from the Kilauea outlook.
If the lava lake reaches 900 meters, it will start spilling over onto a down dropped block
created by the recent caldera collapse.
If, and this is highly unlikely, the lake reaches 1060 meters above sea level, it would
mean that lava was now above the rim created by the 2018 eruption.
Overall, this eruption should remained confined to the summit caldera, and is safe to view.
The eruption only poses one potential hazard; toxic gas.
Luckily, park officials and volcanologists keep a close eye on gas levels in the region,
and close off sections of the volcano when necessary.
I hope that you enjoyed this video.
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