Final Map: Lava Flow Thicknesses, Kīlauea Lower East Rift Zone, 2018

Caption

Final Map: Lava Flow Thicknesses, Kīlauea Lower East Rift Zone, 2018. U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Catalog notes

This final map measures the landscape left by Kīlauea’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption. Comparing a 2019 lidar survey with pre-eruption land elevations and seafloor depths made it possible to map the thickness of the new lava, including the coastal delta. The strong color progression distinguishes thin margins from much deeper accumulations, while roads and the former terrain provide geographical context. The sheet is a useful example of cartography documenting rapid physical change: a map can quantify how an eruption fills depressions, buries an inhabited landscape and builds new land.

Original catalog record, source and attribution