Lava widens, inflates but doesn’t advance
In the upslope portion of the June 27th flow field, a breakout was active north of the forested cone of Kahauale?a. Some of this lava was the "blue glassy" type of p?hoehoe, which often represents lava that has been stored within an inflated flow for several days.
The leading tip of the June 27th flow has not advanced significantly over the past week, and remains roughly 550 yards)upslope of Highway 130, west of the fire and police station on Thursday. Breakouts persist upslope, however, and these areas of activity can be spotted in this photograph by small smoke plumes where the lava is burning vegetation on the flow margins.
This Thursday photo looks upslope along the ground crack system of K?lauea's East Rift Zone. A small breakout from the lava tube is burning forest just left of the center of the photograph. In the upper left, thick fume is emitted from Puu Oo. Near the top of the photograph, the snow-covered peak of Mauna Loa can be seen.
The color of the blue glassy type of pahoehoe lava stands out from the more typical black lava surface on the left side of the photo.
This Thursday photo looks downslope, and shows the proximity of the flow front to Highway 130.
In the thermal image, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present just a short distance behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.
The leading edge of a lava flow closest to Highway130 and the Pahoa police and fire stations continued to widen, but has not significantly advanced since Monday.
Helicopter overflights Thursday and Friday mornings showed breakouts remained active above the stalled front with the closest breakout to Highway 130 about 142 yards upslope of the stalled tip.
Other breakouts are scattered within two miles of the front, including where the lava exits the crack system, and a few miles downslope of Puu Oo vent near Kahaualea.
Photos posted on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website Thursday night, showed lava with a blue/grey tint coming from the breakout near the Kahaualea cone. Scientists said the "blue gassy" tye of pahoehoe lava often indicates lava that has been stored within an inflated flow for several days.
A thermal image showed the position of active breakouts in relation to the stalled north and south fronts.
The leading edge of the flow hasn’t advanced since Monday. It remains about a third of a mile from Highway 130.
Hawaii County Civil Defense said the lava is not an immediate threat to area residents.
