Kīlauea Eruption Update, Day 10: December 30, 2020

After one and a half weeks of Kīlauea’s 2020 summit eruption, the lava lake has resumed slow filling of Halema’uma’u crater at a lower rate, while also emitting less gas. We present USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory data & imagery spanning the last 2 days, and suggest the eruption is showing cycles of release due to the drain-back of denser lava. As has become routine during this eruption, we review the latest thermal time-lapse frames, monitoring and seismic signals, annotating the important features from our geological perspective for a general audience. We also document the impact of the vog (volcanic fog) on the downwind communities across almost half of Hawaiʻi Island, and take live viewer questions several times during the broadcast. For our historical perspective, we dive into the possible circulation of the lava lake and its islands based on previous scientific work on Kīlauea over the last 120+ years, including a peek behind the curtain at the current USGS capabilities of circulation analyses available to them behind closed doors. #2020kilaueaeruption https://youtu.be/tYe1I6WKNUU