3 USGS Scientists Sample Kīlauea Tephra Before 51st Eruption Window
Updated
Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 9
3 USGS Scientists Sample Kīlauea Tephra Before 51st Eruption Window
1 articles · Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 9
Summary
Three USGS scientists flew by helicopter into Kīlauea’s Halema‘uma‘u crater on July 2 to collect tephra from a crater wall that had previously been inaccessible.
Those deposits were exposed by the 2018 summit collapse, and rising crater-floor lava now lets researchers reach them on foot before future flows likely bury them again.
The samples are intended to sharpen USGS research on Kīlauea’s eruption behavior, magma storage and volcanic hazards.
Kīlauea has logged 50 eruptive episodes since Dec. 23, 2024, and USGS forecasts the 51st could begin between July 11 and 15.