Thanks again to HK for keen observations. The month of Kaulua on the Prince Kūhiō Hawaiian Civic Club moon calendar for 2021, starts February 11 and ends March 12.
Emphasizing from yesterdays post: Kau = a period of time, Lua = two. Changeable, fickle, what-la...
https://www.pkhcc.org/mooncalendar/
The clear weathers yesterday transitioned to gentle rain last night. Up at Mokuʻāweoweo, as temperature warms and snow slowly melts, billows of fogcloud are seen in the pit.
At Kaluapele, raindrops fleck the lens of the KWcam, and the low (cloud) ceiling brightens pele.
Compare these images to yesterdayʻs clear sunrise...The differences are not at all unusual. And they make no apparent difference in the lives of birdlife, as they continue to go about their quotidian busynesses.
The staff of HVO continue to post excellent photos. Because we canʻt GoLook in the CLOSED areas, being able see virtually and understand processes is very very helpful. Link below for your perusal. Set aside time to nānā (look at), because itʻs easy to go go go...just one more...
HVO Photos, Video, Webcams
February 12, 2021 was a great day for HVO Staff working in the Closed Area, and their photography of the Lua. The following two pics are big files, so if youʻre inclined to LookClose, download the hi-res versions and explore.
The west vent on the right, with a tiny spot of pele red at the base of the fume. This was taken on the NW rim, view to the SE. We can make out, just below the horizon, the dark horizontal lines of caldera-bounding faults. The pale grey band on the flat just below them are the September 1982 flows. And the Pit, all of what is seen, all of it, collapsed during Summer 2018. Those collapses, during 62 lūʻōniu, revealed the white pali top left of the wall. Old maps of the 1800s label it as the South Sulphur Bank. And like the sulphur bank at Haʻakulamanu we visit today, the pōhaku have been baked, steamed, and chemically altered, turning them white. The SSB was buried as Kaluapele filled (and collapsed and filled and...) in the 1800s.
The floor of Halemaʻumaʻu, the papa of the loko ahi (surface of lava lake), is bordered by the previously referenced "bathtub ring", that flat narrow shelf encircling the floor of the Pit. Stranded are moku, islands or islets of various sizes. Eleven by my count to the left of the central moku nui, and a few hard to see ones on the silvery pāhoehoe floor.
That silvery floor looks more coarsely textured below, in a super-telephoto pic. Looking down from the rim into an opening of the west vent, stalactites hang from the roof inside the visible window and fume escapes through porous pōhaku. Pele (molten lava) bubbles up on the floor at the inlet to the loko ahi, and spreads out in concentric rough ropy pāhoehoe arcs. Imagine the heat, the choking uahi ʻawa (sulphur smoke), the heat, the wind, the heat... Pele issues forth at about 2,000dF. hotHotHOT...but the air is relatively frigid, so a crust forms nearly instantly. That skin, close to the source is thin and flexible, and carried on currents twists and folds. The farther from the inlet, the ever-so-slightly cooler, and red in the hollows fades. What an amazement!
Note, please, the decrease in loko ahi depth from 712 feet yesterday to 705 feet today. Pelehonuamea is active, and her works are wonders of complexity. Thus, the only accurate answer to a "When will..." question is, "I Do Not Know". Period. Kinda curt, but true...
I popped into the "Monitoring" section of the HVO web page, and was reminded of the joyful fun-appearing ōlaʻi (earthquakes) graphics. Yes, I know that for many, myself definitely included, ōlaʻi are NOT fun, but I can only smile when seeing all the colorful bubbles. Five Years of Data Summarized. First, a SE portion of our Hawaiʻi Nei is obscured...
Below are shown the "Last 20" today...generally the same region of the Island of Hawaiʻi. The little cluster at the lower left corresponds with the blue (deep) cluster, lower left above.
And below, arranged by depth. That cluster of big bubbles, top left below, nearly obscuring "Available", are the lūʻōniu, Summer 2018.
And one last Bubble thingy...I learned something from
fm yesterday, clarifying what I subconsciously noted while cooking on Tuesday. Those big shiny bubbles, and the texturecolor of the darker malasadas are NOT a good thing. The big bubbles are a sign that the oil isnʻt clean. Flour and water etc. get into the oil during prolonged cooking and they boil off. That boiling is different from frying. Texture suffers, and now I know. PayAttention, Robert!!!
OK then! Onward!
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
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