Hawaii volcano eruption: Lava spew from fissure 8 seen in stunning time lapse video
Scientist David Rothery, who made the video, said Mount Kilauea’s eighth fissure is spewing so much lava it deserves its own name.
But he has scotched suggestions that it is turning into a separate volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Kilauea is one of six volcanoes on Big Island, the largest island in the archipelago which makes up the state of Hawaii.
Pressure from the lava movement underground caused 23 cracks, or fissures, in the ground.
USGS Fissure 8 is not a volcano in its own right – but still merits its own name, says Professor Rothery
Most have ceased activity, but lava is pouring out of fissure 8 and 23, with fountains of lava reaching as high as 140 feet from fissure 8. In a blog for Conversation.com, Mr Rothery shared a 54-second video clip tracing the path lava flows have taken since May 3, based on maps provided by USGS. By the middle of last month, the coagulated spatter around active part of fissure 8 had become a cone measuring almost 200ft in height. More than 650 houses have been destroyed by lava flows since May 3, with more than 2,000 people evacuated.
USGS Lava from fissure 8 has been flowing to the Pacific ocean
Mr Rothery, a professor of planetary geosciences at the Open University, pointed out the latest phase had seen a series of fractures appear along Kilauea’s eastern side, some of which became volcanic fissures from which lava erupted. In the blog, he said: “By the end of May, ‘fissure 8’ (the eighth new fissure to have announced itself) had become dominant – with activity at the others ceasing or subsiding. “This was the source of the lava that by June 4 was flowing into the sea several miles away near the Vacationland resort, where it completely filled what had previously been Kapoho Bay. “The question naturally arises as to whether this new hill and source of all that lava is a volcano in its own right.
Open University Professor David Rothery visited Big Island in May
Although I would agree the fissure 8 vent is not a volcano in its own right, it does surely deserve to be referred to by a suitably memorable designation Professor David Rothery
“If you look on the internet you will typically find ‘volcano’ defined as something like ‘a landscape feature produced at a site where magma is erupted’. “Such a simplistic definition would qualify the “fissure 8” cone as a volcano, but I think just about every professional volcanologist would reject this, on the grounds that it is merely a subsidiary vent belonging to Kilauea. “Although I would agree the fissure 8 vent is not a volcano in its own right, it does surely deserve to be referred to by a suitably memorable designation.
Hawaii volcano eruption: The most striking pictures from Kilauea's eruption Wed, June 6, 2018 Incredible photographs show molten lava pouring into the Pacific Ocean, volcanic fissures erupting with brutality and lava fountains creating spectacular displays of fire. Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 30 Lava erupts in Leilani Estates