One Hundred. A hundred blogs...how did that happen? One settles into a groove, a pattern, and just keeps going...like the Energizer Bunny...apropos for a Rabbit Year guy.
One thing I havenʻt been doing is responding to Comments posted. I forget to look, I forget to reply, life gets in the way sometimes...But Billy Richards posted a Comment yesterday on the Sunday, August 26th post. His comment is regarding ʻAilāʻau and "Old Lava"...
Iʻve talked about ʻAilāʻau and about old lava...and yes, there are those thinking that the elemental force driving pele in Keahialaka is the old guard...ʻAilāʻau, who inhabited Kīlauea Iki until he fled when Pele and her family arrived. This wouldʻve been several hundred years ago.
The "old lava" erupted at the beginning of this eruption refers to magma that had been emplaced in dikes in the East Rift Zone in...1924,1955, 1960??? and was pushed out in front of the lava that erupted during the beginning of this eruption. The stored magmas "evolved". They changed chemistry as mineral crystals grew and settled in the dike, as gases escaped, and as the magma in the dike cooled ever-so-slightly. That evolved magma, when erupted, simply looked different than fresh, hot lava. The evolved "older" lava is pasty, black, and roughly-textured. Fresh, hot, lava that has not spent a lot of time hanging out in the rift, erupts at hotter temperatures, is often pāhoehoe, and when it cools, has a silvery sheen, as weʻve seen for many years ma kai of Puʻuʻōʻō.
So "old", of course, is relative....And the Presentation suggested in Billyʻs comment would indeed very likely include lively discussion. Iʻd enjoy listening and watching...
I donʻt know if these brief comments have added anything of substance for people to think about, but itʻs all a process...
And now, taking advantage of the generosity and hard work of folks at the United States Geological Surveyʻs Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, we are able to share the following video. Itʻs posted on their website. An excellent summary for #100. Definitely worth replaying again and again. Whatʻs missing, of course, are the sounds of rocks cracking, tumbling, and falling, the smells, the sensations of dozens of lūʻōniu and thousands of ʻōlaʻi, the feel of winds and rains; all of it stupefying.
The Before/After photos:
And the Video:
Kaluapele, April 14, 2018 to August 20, 2018
wow...We have watched and participated in history being made. Decades from now, others will likely also say "wow"...
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
maniniowali@gmail.com
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