Kīlauea Summit Eruption — Lava Returns to Halemaʻumaʻu

In March 2008, a new volcanic vent opened within Halema‘uma‘u, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on the Island of Hawaiʻi. This new vent is one of two ongoing eruptions on the volcano. The other is on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone, where vents have been erupting nearly nonstop since 1983. The duration of these simultaneous summit and rift zone eruptions on Kīlauea is unmatched in at least 200 years.

🕙 VIDEO CHAPTERS🕙
00:00 Introduction
00:50 The Home of Pele
01:44 History of Kīlauea Volcano
03:04 Halema‘uma‘u Crater
05:09 The 2008 Kīlaueu Summit Eruption
06:57 Growth of Kīlauea summit
07:27 Pu`u `Ō’ō eruption
08:09 USGS science at the volcano
10:18 What do gas emissions teach us?
12:14 What is Pele’s hair?
13:07 What tools are used to measure Kīlauea?
15:38 How does lava flow in the crater?
17:40 Why does Kīlauea have random explosions?
19:26 What is the goal of studying Hawaiian volcanoes?
20:36 Why is stuyding Kīlauea so fascinating?
23:00 Closing

Since 2008, Kīlauea’s summit eruption has consisted of continuous degassing, occasional explosive events, and an active, circulating lava lake. Because of ongoing volcanic hazards associated with the summit vent, including the emission of high levels of sulfur dioxide gas and fragments of hot lava and rock explosively hurled onto the crater rim, the area around Halemaʻumaʻu remains closed to the public as of 2017.

Through historical photos of past Halemaʻumaʻu eruptions and stunning 4K imagery of the current eruption, this 24-minute program tells the story of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit lava lake—now one of the two largest lava lakes in the world. It begins with a Hawaiian chant that expresses traditional observations of a bubbling lava lake and reflects the connections between science and culture that continue on Kīlauea today.

The video briefly recounts the eruptive history of Halemaʻumaʻu and describes the formation and continued growth of the current summit vent and lava lake. It features USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists sharing their insights on the summit eruption—how they monitor the lava lake, how and why the lake level rises and falls, why explosive events occur, the connection between Kīlauea’s ongoing summit and East Rift Zone eruptions, and the impacts of the summit eruption on the Island of Hawaiʻi and beyond.

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