Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Kilauea (Hawai'i): No significant changes have occurred at the volcano recently. The level of the summit lava lake rises and falls more or less along with the inflation-deflation cycles. On Saturday (15 Oct), the lava lake overflowed twice onto the Halema'uma'u crater floor before dropping again. As of yesterday, its level was 17 m (56 ft) below the vent rim. The 61g lava flow from Pu'u 'O'o continues to be active and feed the lava ocean entry at Kamokuna.

Colima (Western Mexico): Activity at the volcano continues but its intensity has decreased over the past week. Lava effusion into the viscous lava flow on the southern side continues (if at all) at very low rate, manifesting itself by occasional rockfalls from the thick lava flow front. Explosions of small to moderate size at the summit vent are relatively frequent, probably destroying the recently emplaced dome. Members of Colima University recently sampled the lava flow in order to investigate its chemical properties which might give a clue to explain the recent effusive phase of the volcano which came very suddenly and was very fast. In particular, it would be interesting to see if the new lava is different from the lavas of July last year or if it also is relatively rich in dissolved water (that help explain the fast rise of the magma column).