Laserfiche WebLink
The upper four kilometers of the channel (fig. 3) stands 16 to 22 m above ground level and is as much as <br />400 m wide. Its middle section is braided and relatively narrow, while its lower section merges again into <br />a single channel feeding a gradually thickening and spreading 'a'a flow at the coast. The main hazard <br />from the source cone and the channel system is failure of the cone or channel walls or blockage of the <br />channel where it divides in narrower braids. Either could divert most, if not all, of the lava to a new <br />course depending on where the breach occurs. <br /> <br />Figure 3. Upper part of the fissure 8 channel. USGS photo taken on June 22, 2018. Lava is flowing from lower right to upper <br />center of the photo. <br /> <br />LERZ areas potentially threatened by fissure 8 channel blockages or failures <br />Estimates of future potential flow paths will be made for three areas along the north edge of the fissure <br />8 channel system using drainage areas and the steepest descent lines calculated from a 10 m digital <br />elevation model. The drainage areas, here called lavasheds (fig. 4; Kauahikaua et al, 2003), define the <br />areas in which fluids flow toward a steepest descent line (fig. 4; Kauahikaua et al, 2017). <br />Only flows to the north of the existing channel system will be considered because, as of the date of this <br />report, residents to the south have been evacuated while residents to the north have not been <br />evacuated. <br /> <br />4 <br />