Kīlauea Activity

[Extravoice]

That's very helpful on the water table concern, thanks.

Yes, thank you.


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[CJSF]

No problem! In an almost-life I was a geologist.

Heh.

CJSF

[Trebuchet]

This USGS page on the 1924 eruption has a graphic about 1/2 way down that might help explain it.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes...alemaumau.html


CJSF

Thanks to that link, I've been looking at the other history pages on the site and have learned that there was an eruption very similar to the current event in 1955. Why do people keep building houses there?

[Swift]

Why do people keep building houses there?

For the same reasons people build houses on flood plains, on barrier islands, on hillsides that are prone to wildfires and mudslides, etc., but that is probably a discussion of another thread.

[KaiYeves]

Thanks to that link, I've been looking at the other history pages on the site and have learned that there was an eruption very similar to the current event in 1955. Why do people keep building houses there?

That’s true of any region prone to natural disasters, though. We could probably overlay the areas most prone to each type of hazard to find the safest possible area in the US to live, but I doubt it would hold all of the people who moved from Hawaii, Tornado Alley, California along the San Andreas Fault, Florida, etc. if they all relocated.

[Trebuchet]

For the same reasons people build houses on flood plains, on barrier islands, on hillsides that are prone to wildfires and mudslides, etc., but that is probably a discussion of another thread.

That’s true of any region prone to natural disasters, though. We could probably overlay the areas most prone to each type of hazard to find the safest possible area in the US to live, but I doubt it would hold all of the people who moved from Hawaii, Tornado Alley, California along the San Andreas Fault, Florida, etc. if they all relocated.

Totally agree. And as far as threats to human life go, the people in those houses on Kilauea are probably at less risk than those in Orting, WA

[Squink]

Boom. Multiple 30,000 ft ash explosions from Kilauea's peak vent.
I expect the lava lake cams have been vaporized.

[schlaugh]

Some seem to be OK:

https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/panorama.php?cam=KIcam

https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/panorama.php?cam=K2cam

https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/panorama.php?cam=KWcam

The vent overlook thermal camera hasn’t updated since early April.


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[BigDon]

Hey, didn't the big Krakatoa event of 1883 form from a very similar situation?

[VQkr]

Hey, didn't the big Krakatoa event of 1883 form from a very similar situation?

Not really. Kilauea is a shield volcano; Krakatoa is a stratovolcano. Different types of lava and different violence of eruptions.

https://www.universetoday.com/40601/mount-krakatoa/

[BigDon]

Not really. Kilauea is a shield volcano; Krakatoa is a stratovolcano. Different types of lava and different violence of eruptions.

https://www.universetoday.com/40601/mount-krakatoa/

I was referring to the type of explosion, not the type of volcano. A phreatic eruption as opposed to a strombolian eruption. I was lectured on the belief the magma chamber of Krakatoa was flooded by sea water back in a geology class in the 70's.

[schlaugh]

This aerial video was taken on Saturday, May 19 showing significant lava flow from rift 20.

[geonuc]

I was referring to the type of explosion, not the type of volcano. A phreatic eruption as opposed to a strombolian eruption. I was lectured on the belief the magma chamber of Krakatoa was flooded by sea water back in a geology class in the 70's.

The 1883 Krakatau eruption was plinian, not strombolian. While phreatic effects may have contributed to the overall sequence, the big eruption would have been due to a rapid buildup of pressure from degassing as fresh, hot magma was introduced into the magma chamber. That's my understanding.

[BigDon]

The 1883 Krakatau eruption was plinian, not strombolian. While phreatic effects may have contributed to the overall sequence, the big eruption would have been due to a rapid buildup of pressure from degassing as fresh, hot magma was introduced into the magma chamber. That's my understanding.

Hmmm, should I go with a dimly remembered lesson plan from a bored, general education junior college teacher's assistant, (history class no less), from 30 years ago or with Geo's explanation?

Alright Geo, you win, this time...

[Squink]

Anyone measured how much Radon this thing is putting out?

Is emitted carbon dioxide likely to mess with CO2 readings over at Mauna Loa?

[Superluminal]

When I saw the headline about blue flames, I thought, wow, that lava is getting real hot. But they say its burning methane from plants. There's the possibility of an explosion. Just how big of an explosion could it be? I've never heard of a volcano burning methane before.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-...of-explosions/

[Squink]

Lava burning sulfur. Nice and blue.

[BigDon]

Darn, Squink beat me too it.

Yeah, they're already commenting on the sulfur dioxide coming off these vents.

Yet they went with methane. Nice try though.

[BigDon]

Oh, the wells of the geothermal plant got over run this morning. In case you missed it.

[Trebuchet]

Kapoho Bay is now a peninsula. Hundreds of homes destroyed. But no loss of life -- the contrast with Fuego, a different type of volcano, could hardly be more pronounced.

[BigDon]

Kapoho Bay is now a peninsula. Hundreds of homes destroyed. But no loss of life -- the contrast with Fuego, a different type of volcano, could hardly be more pronounced.

Is the main difference between the two events that the magma under Fuego is more "gassier"?

[Trebuchet]

Is the main difference between the two events that the magma under Fuego is more "gassier"?

Don't know about that, but it's a shield volcano (Kilauea) vs a stratovolcano. I think it may be more that the Kilauea magma is more fluid.

[Swift]

Is the main difference between the two events that the magma under Fuego is more "gassier"?

CBC's take on the differences

Just as there are different types of volcanoes, there are also different types of magma — the molten rock that lies deep within Earth (it is called lava once it reaches the surface).

The magma of shield volcanoes like Kilauea has lower viscosity, meaning it's runnier.

Volcanologist Einat Lev of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York uses a ketchup and tomato paste analogy to explain the difference between the magma found in Kilauea and the Volcano of Fire.

"If you try to make a pile of tomato paste, it will stand still," she said. "But if you try to make a pile of ketchup, it will spread."

All active volcanoes produce gases that have the ability to accumulate.

Going back to the ketchup and tomato paste analogy, imagine gas that is unable to get through the thick magma. If you were to take a straw and blow, you'd need more force to get that bubble to erupt.

Because the magma is less viscous in Kilauea, the gases produced have an easier time escaping.

But in the Volcano of Fire, gases are put under enormous pressure and can erupt in violent, sometimes surprising explosions.

"If you're trying to blow bubbles through ketchup or through tomato paste, with one [the ketchup], the bubble would go through, but with the tomato paste, it would kind of blow the whole thing apart," said Lev, who was on the ground in Hawaii studying Kilauea two weeks ago. "It's the bubbles that drive how big those explosions are going to be."

[BigDon]

So I wasn't that far off the mark.

Thanks Swift. (And Treb.)

[geonuc]

Although 'gassiness' is a substatial factor, the explosivity of magma has more to do with the viscosity, which is mainly influenced by silica content. Basaltic magmas, such as that underlying shield volcanoes like Kilauea, have a higher SiO2 content than do andesitic and rhyolitic magma, which underlie subduction-related volcanoes, such as those in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volc.../Controls.html

[Selfsim]

Apologies for going back aways, but I'd like to repost the below link .. I've found it to be really helpful and very informative.

Thanks, Swift ... and complements to those who created it, (wherever you are).

The clickable site-specific images are really a great addition also!:

Great google mapping project showing location of fissures, lava flows, steam vents, road closures, etc.

[Trebuchet]

Is it possible to drive from Hilo to Kona these days? My recollection is that the road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea was considered very rough.

[Selfsim]

Is it possible to drive from Hilo to Kona these days? My recollection is that the road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea was considered very rough.

Yes .. (at least it was when I drove it several times about 2 years ago). Super spectacular and you can also drive up to the Observatory visitor's center at Mauna Kea along the way.

[Gillianren]

It might have changed since then.

[Trebuchet]

It was the early '80's when we were there, so yeah. My recollection is that the car rental companies forbid taking them up there.