As lava continues to spew from Kilauea, fountain reaches height of 98 feet
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - As Kilauea continues to erupt, the lava fountain in Halemaumau Crater reached impressive heights Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Field crews said they observed lava spewing from the western vent at heights that reached up to 98 feet.
Since the eruption began last month, officials said the lava lake has grown 138 feet and nearly 4.2 billion gallons of lava has spewed from the vent.
USGS said lava is contained within the crater and is erupting from a single vent near the western wall of Halemaumau.
Because lava is only coming out of one vent, scientists said the lava lake is not level. Areas closer to the vent are about 10 to 20 feet higher in elevation compared to the north and south part of the lake and roughly 26 feet higher than the east end of the lake.
As the eruption is ongoing, USGS also said sulfur dioxide emission rates in the area remain high and have even grown in the past few days, with approximately 6,800 tonnes being emitted per day.
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