Kīlauea Update, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Pick one, any one...Halemaʻumaʻu

So many topics to choose from.  Thatʻs the hardest part for me, especially since these scribblings are not meant to be a magnum opus.  Although, I suppose one could argue that after 75+ it might be turning into one.

And then I still wrestle with:  I need to write. I should be writing.  I feel guilty for not writing.  And on it goes.  But I did manage to have fun, productive, inspiring time off this past weekend, so that has to count for something too.

It seems that these Posts are evolving.  Or rather, my attitude about them is.  My brain is full of all sorts of information about our natural and cultural history.  I could prattle on for hours and pages about topics of interest to me (and I trust to you), but there has to be, I know, limits.  We shall see where this all goes.  And another reminder:  If thereʻs something, a topic or whatever, youʻd like me to share about, just ask me at:

maniniowali@gmail.com

At Pohoiki, on the coast of Puna ma kai, Pele is in the neighborhood, but as of 7a this morning or so, the boat ramp, Hale family home, and those kamani trees, etc., are all still there.  Just gotta wait and see.  And yes, thatʻs exceedingly frustrating to do.  Wait...

Yesterdays Flow Map, with stats...And because for now the ocean entry is on the south end of the delta, Kumukahi remains the place where Hawaiʻi greets the rising of the sun.

But with F8, Fissure 8, Māwae ʻEwalu (pick one), still going, all we can do is wait, hope, pray, and always remember that we arenʻt in charge here.

The Media have mostly moved on to other issues, though of course for us, what could be more important?

And, importantly for those of us in Volcano neighborhoods, what, oh what, is happening in Kaluapele?  Will the highway stop cracking?  Will the floor of Kaluapele stop subsiding?  Will ʻōlaʻi and exploquakes stop?  Will the Park reopen?  Will visitors return?  Yes.

Note that in the above, "When?", is noticeably absent.  The following was posted before, but it bears repeating:

USGS HVO Summit Scenarios, July 5, 2018

I just happened to be at my desk for this mornings exploquake at 641a, equivalent magnitude of 5.6.  The puffs of yellowish rockfall dust at the left come from the previously buried South Sulphur Bank:

The South Sulphur Bank:

Above, on July 22, 2018, the flat grey area above the South Sulphur Bank is the September 1982 flow.  Keen eyes can barely make out Crater Rim Drive as the horizontal line crossing it from the tan floor on the right.

HVO caption:

"Collapse of Kīlaueaʻs caldera floor has exposed South Sulphur Bank, prominent in the mid-19th century but covered as lava flows filled the caldera.  The flat top of the white deposit shows how high the caldera fill reached.  As the caldera floor dropped in mid-June 2018, South Sulphur Bank was again exposed.  The height of the bank, now more than 65m (213 ft), increases about 2.5m (9 ft) with each collapse event at Kilaueaʻs summit.  On the caldera floor, white patches lie along spatter ramparts formed in 1971 and 1974."

Now, as part of our ongoing Educational Outreach Program, weʻll visit part of the State Department of Accounting and General Services website:

DAGS Map Search

Download the Registered Map Index, peruse, and type in a Registered Map No. of interest in the "Search" box.  CAUTION:  This activity may prove to be highly addictive.

The map below is RegMap1273, by Frank Dodge, August 1886.  Lots of information on these old maps.  Note "Sulphur banks" at the top, and "Old Sulphur Beds" at the bottom.  the latter are part of the white cliffs on the photo above, and lie under the 1971 and 1974 flows.

Also above, the dark blob at the lower right of Kaluapele is the crater, Keanakākoʻi.  And of course, note the shape of Halemaʻumaʻu back then.  Hereʻs another map by Dodge depicting the changes in Halemaʻumaʻu between March 1886 and October 1892.  

Change.  Changes.  Changing.  Changed.

And if we go back even further in time, when Malden was visiting Kilauea in 1825.  First his map:

Then a blowup of the References at upper left of the map.  "8. The Black Ledge..." was a noted feature in those times, and appears perhaps to have been a bathtub ring on the walls of Kaluapele.

And, a note about that "Hut" on the Plain between Kaluapele and Kilauea Iki:

OK then...I trust that all is legible and informative.  And because I canʻt help myself, hereʻs the KEcam image of 1030a today.  When you zoom in, note the pali forming to the left of the recently formed pali and kaulu (ledge) on the east edge of Halemaʻumaʻu.  And the white pali at the right is the same one pictured above.  

Iʻll be here again tomorrow.

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC