Author: Carolyn Gramling / Source: Science News
July 4th fireworks have nothing on Kilauea.
As the Hawaiian volcano’s latest outburst enters its third month, scientists are still watching Kilauea 24/7. Such constant monitoring not only provides danger warnings aimed at keeping those nearby safe, but it also offers remote viewers the rare opportunity to observe the evolution of an eruption in real time.
As magma within Kilauea’s summit crater, called Halemaumau, continues to drain and move toward the lower east rift zone, the crater floor is becoming increasingly unstable. The U.S. Geological Service has observed frequent rockfalls into the crater since mid-May; each collapse triggers a small explosion. One of the largest explosions happened June 30, when a collapse-explosion cycle released energy equivalent to a magnitude 5.3 earthquake.
While a “Whomp!” and a slow-rising cloud of volcanic gas and ash marked that collapse, the real pyrotechnics are happening along nearly two dozen fissures, vents through which lava erupts, in that lower east rift zone. Lava fountains spurting from two fissures, Nos. 8 and 22, are feeding most of the lava flows now pouring into the ocean.
It’s hard not to stare slack-jawed at images of molten rock spurting into the air, of glowing, fast-moving rivers of lava rushing into the ocean, or of the tangles of wispy-sharp shards of glass known as Pele’s hair.
Check out these highlights of Kilauea’s show and the science (and volcanic vocabulary) we’re learning from them.Of nearly two dozen fissures, No. 8 at the eastern edge of the now devastated Leilani Estates neighborhood is producing some of the most spectacular pyrotechnics, including this lava whirlwind, or lavanado. Lavanadoes form much like “firenadoes” do from the wrath of wildfires: Intense heat (in this case, from the volcano itself) causes air to swiftly rise and form a tall column, and strong winds can then cause the column to rotate. Here, the lavanado dances with the molten rock before flinging the lava several meters away.
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| A whirlwind partly made of hot lava swirls above one of Kilauea’s active fissures. |
In the vog
A thick fog curls out of fissures and seeps along the ground. Dubbed vog, this volcanic smog forms as sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles seeping out from the fissures react with…
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