Madame Pele Breezes Back In
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Allow me to set the scene: bugger-all was going on at Kilauea Volcano. Madame Pele had shut up shop in May and taken a luana iki (little rest). Perhaps she paid a visit to Iceland’s bouncing baby shield volcano. She may have stopped by La Palma to give her cousin some encouragement.
Back at Kilauea, there were a few rumbles in late August, with an intrusion of magma to the summit. But after that delivery, nothing much happened for most of September. It seemed to many that Pele’s luana iki might turn in to a long winter’s nap.
Madame had no such plans.
Timelapse showing the onset of the eruption. Watch the lower right tip of the island at the beginning – that frame is looped so you can see the uplift right before the vent opens. Click here for a full-size image. Credit: USGS
Citizens of Hawaii and the diligent volcanologists at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) had no idea Madame Pele was even returning home, much less that she had a surprise party planned. Observers measuring the solidified lava lake in Halema’uma’u crater on September 24th noted “no significant change in the surface elevation.” Crews spent the 27th doing maintenance on monitoring stations and checking for changes; there was nothing of especial note.
Halema’uma’u slumbering peacefully on September 24th. Credit: USGS
September 29th dawned with a yawn as far as volcanic activity. But Madame Pele had made it back after her summer vacation, and wasted no time getting her Kilauea going. By noon, seismic activity and ground deformation were hopping. Magma was clearly on the move, and the HVO staff sent out an alert at 3:09 pm HST, raising the alert level to Watch and the aviation color code to Orange.
Not even fifteen minutes later, Madame Pele turned her magma supply into a lava show. HVO staff saw a glow in the summit webcams. By 3:21 pm, a fissure had opened in the lava lake just east of the large island near the middle. By 3:45, the entire lake floor was awash in beautiful fresh lava. While the island maintained its cool above-it-all attitude, rising flows were nearly swallowing the old West Vent. A new lava lake was born!
Webcam image showing the fissure that opened in the lava lake on the afternoon of September 29th. Click image for a before/after slider. Credit: USGS
Madame wasn’t finished. At 4:43 pm, she opened a lively new west vent about a hundred meters from the old one, and sent brilliant orange lava streaming in spectacular falls to the growing lake below.
Lava flows down the walls of Halema’uma’u crater. Credit: USGS
A thick plume of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide billowed from the fountains, and helped carry cinders, pumice, Pele’s Hair, and Pele’s Tears over the crater rim and deposited them where startled and delighted volcanologists could photograph and collect them.
Tephra deposited along the rim of Kilauea caldera. Credit: USGS
What a homecoming announcement!
Madame Pele’s sudden display is a stark reminder that even the most well-monitored, seemingly “tame” volcanoes can erupt with little notice. An active volcano is frequently awe-inspiring, but never quite safe. Thankfully, the eruption at Kilauea is currently tidily tucked in the summit crater, where potential for mayhem is minimal. Let’s enjoy this gorgeous event Madame has so effortlessly staged for us, and revel once more in the power of very hot rock to reshape the face of the Earth.
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