Pele rolls over more of Royal Gardens | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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COURTESY HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Courtesy Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Active pahoehoe (smooth lava) fed by a lava tube originating at Puu Oo crater migrated downslope within what's left of the Royal Gardens subdivision during the past week. The flow, outlined by the red dotted line, center top of the photo, is running along a forested area and has started brush fires. An occupied orange-roofed house is in the center of the photo.

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Lava continued to flow into the largely abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision Saturday while the level of the lava lake rose overnight at the Kilauea summit caldera.

The lava lake, deep within a 500-foot diameter cylindrical vent inside Halemaumau fire pit, rose about 8 a.m. Friday and steadied by 3 p.m. Saturday with a very brief splashing over a ledge on Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The lava lake responds to summit tilt changes, with the lake rising during inflation and receding during deflation.

The level typically fluctuates from about 230 feet to 500 feet below the floor of the crater. On Saturday, it was about 250 feet below the crater floor.

The vent has been mostly active since opening with a small explosion on March 19, 2008.

Meanwhile, lava flows continued to be active, burning through a kipuka within the Royal Gardens subdivision 4.2 miles southeast of Puu Oo, based on an overflight Friday. (A kipuka is a forest oasis surrounded by lava.)

The eruption in Kilauea’s middle east rift zone started with a fissure eruption on Jan. 3, 1983, and has continued since at Puu Oo, or from vents within a mile or so to the east or west, with few interruptions.

In early August, the Puu Oo crater floor collapsed to a depth of about 245 feet below the east rim of the crater as lava burst from vents on the lower west flank of the cone.

A fissure eruption on the upper southeast flank of Puu Oo cone on Sept. 21 drained the lava lakes and fed a lava flow advancing southeast. Since then, activity has waxed and waned with a lava tube feeding sustained but slow-moving pahoehoe (smooth lava) flows to the southeast.