Aloha Kalikimaka, Friday, December 25, 2020. Wandering extemporaneously...

 As I start typing, I always, in the back of my mind, wonder where weʻll end up.  Mayhaps Iʻd be more productive outlining and planning, but whereʻs the fun in that???  These posts start with very brief pencilled notes in the black and white composition book (I favor those with unlined pages) I keep.  Many notes are checked off, while others await further inspiration or clarification.

Itʻs again a nearly still and now sunny morning here in the ma uka-most reaches of Keaʻau.  ʻApapane trill as they often do, and though the sun shines, the air is shadowchill.  The amaryllis gifted a few years ago by eb bloom near the front steps.  They, and a red aliʻipoe, are in a particular spot, where conveniently, during these shortest days, barring clouds, sun shines most of the day.  

Purple anthers, breezebounced on slender filaments, are especially striking when the lily first opens.

These are old-fashioned flowers, and along with daylilies, dahlias, snapdragons, and zinnias, and bleeding hearts and honeysuckle, remind me of growing up in Honokaʻa, and gardens at our home and those of grandparents.  They make me smile.

As does the voice of Mrs Kanahele, chanting "E komo maloko o Halemaʻumaʻu" to introduce the video produced by HVO staff commemorating the summit eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu (2008-2018).

HVO Halemaʻumaʻu video

Folks often ask:  Halemaʻumaʻu or Halemaumau?  Those two ʻokina (glottal stops) matter, because their presence (or absence) change meanings of words.  Aside from being the "legal" name of the primary home of Pelehonuamea as listed in databases, "Halemaʻumaʻu" is the way it is traditionally pronounced by Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners such as Mrs Kanahele, and others.

The video is timeless, timely and informative.  Enjoy and learn...

When the current luaʻi pele (volcanic eruption) began just before 930p, Sunday, December 20, as noted previously, Pele appeared at the shore of a water lake at the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu.  Her interaction with water produced violent steam explosions that continued till the water boiled off.

The following two photos by JaniceWei give an idea, however insufficient that idea may be, of the power and drama of Pelehonuamea.  Wow.

Carried aloft in the column are bits of tephra (volcanic ejecta) including Peleʻs hair and tears, and Iʻm guessing small pieces of limu o Pele, the photo below by Ken Hon of UH Hilo.  Limu o Pele forms, as we witnessed many many times as pele flowed into the sea, when water (salt or fresh) is trapped under flowing lava.  The water flashes to steam, blowing big bubbles in still-molten pele.  The bubble skin stretches, freezes and bursts, and shards are carried upward.

The USGS HVO photo below, on October 5, 1988, at the coast.  The bigger parts of bursting skin are limu, while we also see spatter or various forms.

Iʻd venture, agreeing with geologists, that the floating island may be strewn with tephra, including bits of limu o Pele, fallout from violent interactions of molten lava and water.

HVO caption:  A photo from the south rim of Halema`uma`u shows a close-up view of the islands margin, where it abuts the fresh lava on the lake surface. Unlike the surrounding lava lake surface, the island appears to be composed of fragments of ejecta and may have originated from violent lava/water interactions in the opening hours of the eruption when the lake was boiled off. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on December 23.

Too, on the webcam photo above, you can LookClose and make out the horseshoe-shaped spatter rampart rim of the primary vent, captured by HVO in much better detail below on December 23, 2020.

And we see the island, the silvery fresh surface of the lake, and the pale grey fractured rubble on the wall of Halemaʻumaʻu.

For some context:

The view above is more or less toward the northwest.  Kīlauea Military Camp is just off the right edge.    

Perhaps you understand why, from Kīlauea Overlook, a popular eruption viewpoint, one cannot see actual molten pele. She remains hidden from view.  Kalupe is that pale grey laccolith, an intrusive body, at the base of Kapalikapuokamohoaliʻi (the kapu cliff of Kamohoaliʻi), part of the main wall of Kaluapele.  Kamohoaliʻi, a brother of Pele, sometimes assumed the body of a shark, and as such guided the family waʻa (canoe) to Hawaiʻi.  Kalupe, or alternately, Pōhaku Lupe, is named because it resembles a stingray.

And because I adore clear views, this from HVO, May 16, 2020, for a bit of additional context.

The Update for today:

She continues Her work.  Please keep in mind that the filling was fast in the beginning because Halemaʻumaʻu is an inverted cone.  As the Lua fills, given the same volume erupted, rising takes longer because of increased surface area.  Best to take it a day at a time.  No "What If" or "When".  Itʻll all be revealed in due course.

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com

Thursday, December 24, 2020. Polalauahi [Pola.lau.ahi] or Uahiʻawa [Uahi.ʻawa]?

 You know whatʻs interesting???  These CoViD times of stay home are much like those during The Three Months of 2018.  Except I was staying home because nobody knew what would happen, and I didnʻt want to be away if "something" did.  Thus the three months of writing time; an effort to occupy myself.  

Now, like many, Iʻm staying home much of the time, save for weekly or so trips to town (Hilo) for nūnī PT and groceries.  I try to get out for walks, but knees and legs arenʻt as cooperative as Iʻd like.  So today, I borrowed a wheelchair and was pushed to the beginning of the cinder path near Keanakākoʻi thanks to the generous kindness of jp.

And the view, long-missed but indelibly impressed, was much as recently remembered, save for puffs of fume rising out of unseen Halemaʻumaʻu depths.  And the polalauahi.  00On the way we saw Maunakea (barely)...look good, past the blooming molassesgrass just to the left of little dark puʻu Kūlani.

Puffs of uahiʻawa are exhaled, some we saw were very very lightly tinted pink...reflected from active pele circulating on the floor of the Lua.  And too, though too far away for phonelens camera, koaʻe kea were seen soaring between fume and wall.

And below from a very slightly different angle (note the group of three trees), last evening enjoyed by friends mak.  We mahalo them for sharing!

Compare the above to the previous...two of the three trees are off to the left of the frame.

So many different moods and lighting, itʻs not at all surprising I never tire of visiting.

So.  This morning, a friend, pl, shared a bit of poetry:

hoʻi mai ka polalauahi i Hilo

hoʻohiʻi ʻia e Pele

ua nalowale ka wai a Kāne

hoʻihiʻi ʻia ka maka e Pele

"Polalauahi" was new to me.  Turns out, according to Pukui and Elbert, itʻs "Haze, as during a volcanic eruption.  Rare." I love words that are "Rare", those little used gems.  Yesterday I mentioned "uahiʻawa", Lit.,"bitter smoke", the "Pungent sulphur smoke, as from a volcano".  I interpret these as uahiʻawa being the choking sulphurous gases close to vents, while polalauahi is generically "vog".  Not as pungent, but still irritating.  So mahalo piha to pl for my learning today.

The "maka" referred to was inspired by one of the many F1 webcam images Iʻve saved, watching the evolution of the surface of the lavalake, and more fascinating, the slow movement of the floating island, the iris of the maka (eye).

The primary vent, at the left edge of the maka is barely at the surface, if we judge temperatures correctly, though below, 4 minutes later at 152p today, it appears that a low spatter rampart encircles the upper part of the vent.  Both photos from similarly-placed HVO webcams.

I went town Tuesday, and had to put gas when I got back up the hill.  The source of vexatious noxiousness was apparent, even from the highway approaching Volcano during slack wind:

And then at Kūkamāhuākea (Steaming Flat) looking toward Wahinekapu and Kaluapele beyond:

And we read breathless accounts of rate of fill, projections of overflow of Halemaʻumaʻu, of when the floor of Kaluapele may be inundated, and I chuckle, yes, with a bit of annoyance:  No.  Body.  Knows.  Save for Pelehonuamea, and she doesnʻt share her thoughts.  All the statistics in the world makes not a difference, except to temporarily sate curiosities of the moment.  Que sera sera.  Love that song...

Tilt, this time for a Month, at both Uēkahuna (UWE) and Puʻuʻōʻō (POO).  Note the steep UP on 12/02 on the UWE graph, then 

see the plots of ʻōlaʻi during the summit intrusion on 12/2/20:

Map showing locations of earthquakes at Kīlauea’s summit on December 2, 2020. Motion detected by HVO’s GPS monitoring network is shown as green arrows.  The length of the arrow corresponds to the amount of motion and the direction it points shows the direction of motion.  Earthquakes are plotted as circles with color corresponding to the time of day they occurred, and size scaled according to earthquake magnitude.  The green box shows the minimum size of the magma intrusion, as constrained by ground deformation. The intrusion model shows opening of a rectangular surface with its top edge to the south-southeast that trends downward to the north-northeast at an angle of 40–60 degrees.  Black lines are local roads. 

For more detail about the intrusion, see the HVO Volcano Watch for December 17, 2020.

Todays Update:

Thatʻll be it for today...

As always, with aloha, and prayers for good health and common sense.

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com

Wednesday, December 23, 2020. Lake, Island(s), Vog, Oh My!

 A still, sunny morning, blue skies here, but voggy there...The excitement about elemental Pelehonuamea again revealing herself in her home Halemaʻumaʻu is perhaps diminishing as her uahi ʻawa (bitter, pungent sulphur smoke, a.k.a. vog) envelops us.  Of course it remains to be seen how long Her visit lasts, and of course we manage as best we can, though already I miss crisp clear views.

From an HVO Maunaloa cam on November 27, 2020:

And the same view with slackish winds this morning:

A classic "No can help" situation.

So.  As I did a couple years ago, I mostly compile and share information.  I visit various sites, mainly the web page of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and encourage all of you to wander.

HVO Website

I muse and wonder and often go off on tangents, but find that most bits of info are useful to some to some degree.

I sometimes forget, and get frustrated, that many others lack my (unique?) perspective on our surroundings.  How can people not know that the M4.4 ʻōlaʻi at 1037p Sunday night, December 20 last was a separate event unrelated to Pele announcing her presence at 929pm-ish that same night?  The earthquake an aftershock of the M6.9 of May 4, 2018, and the eruption, well... thatʻs what Pele does...

And so I try to clarify, remind, and move on.  

A cool thing about the filling of Halemaʻumaʻu is the floating island.  We can watch it drift, albeit ever so slowly.  The F1 webcam (first on the list below) has been my best friend.  Its thermal imagery offers clarity through the 30,000 tonnes of Sulphur Dioxide exhaled daily from the pele.

[From Wikipedia:  The tonne (/tʌn/ ( listen) or /tɒn/; symbol: t) is a metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is commonly referred to as a metric ton in the United States. It is equivalent to approximately 2,204.6 pounds, 1.102 short tons (US) or approximately 0.984 long tons (UK).]

HVO Webcams 

Plus the thermal imagery has a fun color palette...Dates and times are useful.  I have a series of these, but wonʻt bore you with tiny incremental change.  I will say that the first image below reminds me of one of those deep deep sea denizens, fish with huge eyes to allow them to make out things in the dark dark.  And red fish is a traditional offering, a mōhai, for Pele.

I wondered last night whatʻll happen when the vent is drowned by the lake?  And one thing I thought is that maybe not much, other than perhaps increased circulation of molten pele with plates overturning and gas bubbles bursting.  Kinda like happened in Halemaʻumaʻu from 2008 to 2018.  And Kīlauea Iki, and Puʻuʻōʻō, and...  As long as pele ascends and plumbing is under positive pressure, the lakeʻll keep rising.  I think.

Always remember that systems are dynamic, and sometimes seemingly whimsical.  We cannot know or predict whatʻll happen.  Just gotta

be outside...pay attention    noho i waho...a maliu

or TryLook the webcams.

And too, always remember that this isnʻt the first time...

Below is a picture of a picture in "The Volcano Letter", Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987.  TVL was published by HVO from 1925 to 1955, and is awesomely excellent, filled with details and details...

And then Volcano Watch for June 18, 2015 has this photo and excellent Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake summary info:

VW June 18, 2015

Looking southwest across the surface of Halema‘uma‘u lava lake on January 23, 1918. Jagged "crags" of stranded, solidified lava rise as much as 30 m (100 ft) above the surface of the lake. A natural levee separates the smooth surface of the active lava lake from overflows of pāhoehoe in foreground. Photo by Thomas A. Jaggar, Jr.

Expect the unexpected...

And I had to chuckle when a friend and fellow curious person told me this morning, "This episode brings to mind your comments about naming caldera features.  Something to the effect that: “Never mind will soon be gone anyway!” "

 

I had mused outloud about new names for sections of pali, and the new pali itself, and then thought "Why?"...  Kinda like conversations folks had about Halemaʻumaʻu...what are we going to call the new pit?  Ummmm Halemaʻumaʻu???  Itʻs perhaps new to us, but as the home of Pelehonuamea, itʻs been there for centuries, through many remodels and reconfigurations.  Itʻs still Halemaʻumaʻu.

October 11, 2019... Iʻll work on getting a current view, dependent on behavior of knees!  Looking across (west) from near Keanakākoʻi.  

Iʻll close for now.  The outdoors beckon.  Hereʻs the morning Kīlauea Update:

and the Tilt graphic at 1058 this morning.  As long as thereʻs a downward trend, itʻs likely that Pele will continue her work...

Be well, stay safe, WEAR A MASK!!!

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com

Monday, December 21, 2020, Ka māuikiʻikiʻi o ka hoʻoilo, Winter Solstice

 Ahhhh.  It feels good to be doing this again.  My brain is engaged, figuring out what to say and how, and I trust that, as with past posts, the info presented here is useful.

I started writing two and a half years ago when media conveyed inaccurate and erroneous information to The Public.  And theyʻre doing it again:  Ash explosions.  People are advised to stay in their houses.  Then phone rings, texts appear:  You OK? friends wonder.  So, I write.

Such a busy time.  Lots of ʻapapane are about, now taking a break from higher elevation chill.  The sun is brushing Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kanaloa, the Tropic of Capricorn to our south, and then starts its journey to northern latitudes.

So.

We rely on webcams, as well as our friends at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for timely updates and insight.

Tilt is declining as pele is erupted.  We anticipate a flattening when the eruption wanes.

The webcam screenshots are from earlier today.  Heavy traffic on the HVO website has  s l o w e d downloading images, but we do what we can with available resources.

I make out four different streams feeding the new lava lake.  That purplish area in the middle is a dome of pele that formed, perhaps after the water lake was gone and lava pooled.  The dome was the slightly cooled surface of the new lava lake, and as molten lava flowed down and filled the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu, some of it may have made its way under the cooled crust, causing it to bulge upward.  Or not.  We look, we muse, we guess...

A daytime view from the HVO tower.  Vog is back, carried on trades to the southwest.

Much of my information comes off the HVO website:

HVO Website

Noodle around and see what you discover.  Lots of News, video, and photos...

I am most pleased with the following two screenshots obtained from a timelapse gif.  we were wondering where and when Pelehonuamea appeared.  At 928p last, all seemed visually normal, though tilt was declining and small ʻōlaʻi (earthquakes) increased.  The orange was the lake of hot water, an exposed surface of the local watertable.  Think digging a small lua in sand at the beach, close to the wash of waves.  Go deep enough and water appears...

Then, Hoʻopuka ka Wahine:  the Woman emerged and appeared:

...very close to the shore of waterlake, causing it to boil, steam rising up.  We can see the streaks of purple (hotness) on the wall encircling the pit, but none yet emitting pele.

Lots of thinking and musing and contemplation... the following, I pray, is legible.  Posted previously, itʻs a page from the Nogelmeier mā translation of "The Epic Tale of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele" by Hoʻoulumahiehie.  

Itʻs about Hiʻiaka, a younger sister of Pele, digging down through various strata of Kaluapele, seeking water to drown her sisterʻs fires.  Hiʻiaka, mad with grief, was seeking revenge after Pele killed Lohiauipo.  Perhaps the waterlake was heated "cold spring water", and in this instance, last night Pelehonuamea won the battle by replacing water with pele.  If we consider that the waterlake was the surface expression of a connection to the ocean, Pele couldnʻt/wouldnʻt/didnʻt appear through the waterlake but rather at its edge.  

But...not being anywhere close to competent in understanding the complexities of Peleʻs relationships, all I can do is wonder...

Just pulled the following off the HVO cams:  238p and 244p.  Though the lavalake is getting bigger, Pele seems to be relaxing a bit, save for the very hot brightness at the bottom of the image.  Compare with the 958a shot, above.  Looks like the vent at the bottom is being drowned by the lake.

Thermal cams are great...else weʻre left with vog-shrouded imagery, left to puzzle our way to clarity.

And this from HVO at 1120 this morning...Clarity...

OK then.  Happy perusing.  Feel free to write with questions and/or comments.

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com

E Pele e huaʻina hoʻi!!! Pele bursts forth again!!!

Well...it had to happen sooner or later... on this Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kanaloa, the winter Solstice, as I sit and type, Pelehonuamea is visiting Halemaʻumaʻu.  Again.

She appeared late yesterday (Sunday night).  Not sure of the time yet, but Iʻm certain our friends at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will post details tomorrow.  I left my house and was opening my car door during the 4.4 ʻōlaʻi we had at 1036.  Heard rattlings in the house, but didnʻt feel it, even though I was standing still.   

Judging from the location shown above, it was another aftershock of the M6.9 we had in May 2018, and Iʻd guess is unrelated to the current eruption.  

Drove up to the Kīlauea Overlook.  Different iPhones, different images.  Top one is courtesy of friend CS, and the one below that is mine.

And then we have a webcam image from the tower at HVO.

Note that while thereʻs a whole lotta glow going on, She remains hidden, except for the webcams on the south rim of the Lua.

Kīlauea and Maunaloa webcams

The link above provides several different views, though keep in mind high traffic may slow the loading of images.

The thermal image below shows (I think) a fissure near the left (west) rim of Halemaʻumaʻu.  

Same view below, though because itʻs not a thermal image, the lava is a bit better defined.

Please, please note that viewing is limited to Her glow.  No red pele can be seen, and daytime views will be limited to billowing clouds of fume.  And, please remember that no one can say when Pele will take a break again.

The Tilt graph above, from the Deformation website page of HVO is at UWE (Uēkahuna) near the former HVO and Jaggar Museum.  Seems that a decline started at about 3p yesterday afternoon, and has not declined appreciably.

And...though there was an interaction of groundwater and molten lava, there hasnʻt been explosive activity.  So much of our understandings of our volcanoes are hypothesis and theory.  We canʻt make direct observations of the plumbing, or of watertables, or internal structure, so a lot of research is ongoing, trying to understand.  Because people are generally curious and want to know, there are always questions...

And though I posted about Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kanaloa awhile ago, hereʻs an informative piece I enjoy as a refresher, and trust that you will too:

about Hawaiian Astronomical Concepts

Below from the HVO website.  Fountaining vent at the left, with lava cascading to the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu.  Smaller fissures on diagonals near bottom of image.

Detailed Description

An eruption started at Kīlauea summit on December 20 at approximately 9:30 p.m. HST with multiple fissures opening on the walls of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lava cascaded into the summit water lake, boiling off the water and forming a new lava lake at the base of the crater. The northern fissure, pictured, was producing the tallest lava fountain at roughly 50 m (165 ft), and all lava was contained within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kīlauea caldera. USGS photo. 

And Iʻll leave you this morning (!) with two webcam images... About the same time.  

We shall see what the morning brings.

Till then, and as always, with aloha,

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com