Research about Kilauea. Mauna Loa

USGS2026

Seeing is believing: Livestream video monitoring of Hawaiian eruptions

Livestream video has become a crucial tool for volcano monitoring in recent years, building upon the use of webcam snapshots that have been common for the past two decades. In Hawaii, livestream video was first tested in 2018, and today, livestream video is a vital tool for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and partner agencies (National Park Service and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense) as well as the public. Its role in volcano monitoring has been highlighted by the 2024–present summit eruption of Kīlauea—where three livestream video feeds provide a continuous and easily accessible view of the activity for the public. Here, we describe the methodology and equipment used for the livestream cameras in Hawaii and discuss the benefits and challenges of livestream video monitoring. We show how the nature of livestream video has fundamentally changed volcano monitoring, providing an “up-close” view to the world that was previously limited to observatory field staff. The livestream video feeds, coupled with the historical summit lava fountains, have provided an unprecedented level of engagement with the public, both local and worldwide.

Hawaii↗

USGS1989

Geochemical evidence for invasion of Kilauea's plumbing system by Mauna Loa magma

From the beginning of the study of Hawaiian volcanism there has been controversy over possible relationships between the neighbouring active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea 1–5 . Seismic activity, thought to reflect upward migration of magma, reveals that the magmatic plumbing systems apparently converge at depth to form a broad funnel within the mantle 6 . Although on rare occasions they have erupted concurrently, the brief historical eruptive record appears to show that when Kilauea is most active, Mauna Loa is in repose and vice versa, suggesting that they may be competing for the same magma supply 5,7 . Petrological, geochemical and isotope data, however, require a diametrically opposite conclusion. Distinct differences in major-element, trace-element and isotope compositions of lavas are regarded as compelling evidence that the two volcanoes have separate magmatic plumbing systems, supplied by parental magmas from physically and geochemically distinct mantle sources 8–13 . Here we present preliminary geochemical data which show that in the past 2,000 years Kilauea has erupted a spectrum of lava compositions resembling historical Kilauea lavas at one end and Mauna Loa lavas at the other. We discuss the cause of this diversity, and speculate that magma from Mauna Loa may have invaded Kilauea's 'high-level' magmatic plumbing system.

Hawaii↗