chapter 368

11/14/2014

Molten Lava

magma my way

There's something about molten lava that makes my blood boil. Some of the home owners on the Big Island of Hawaii were dismayed to see the molten lava approaching to engulf their homes recently. Maybe Hawaii was formed from volcanoes, who knew.

Took this shot 40 years ago of "dormant" Mauna Kea, the highest volcano on the Big Island as we drove along the north shore from Hilo toward the Parker Ranch to Kona. No it was after hotel at Hilo? Or was it Mona Loa . A cloudy day but still was impressive. You may think you are immune to magma flow but it's right below your feet, maybe 20 miles down. But only a couple miles down if you live in Iceland where there are faults in the upper mantle.

We drove right thru old lava flows. You could see it's path from upper right down to lower left as it proceeded to the Pacific Ocean. This one had cooled off years ago but there was some active flows threatening homes at the time and closing roads on the southeast. I re-drove this route on Google Street View but couldn't quite match up the exact spot.

Everywhere you go there is lava. The beautiful 400 foot Akaka Falls cuts right through the rugged lava terrain. We had 5 different terrific trips to this true paradise state. Kathy always wanted me to remind everyone that I wouldn't have done all this if it wasn't for her.

We went right up to the Haleakala crater on the Island of Maui since it was a lower risk of lava flow eruption hazard zone 3 to 9 compared to the recent eruptions on Kilauea (more severe hazard zone 1). You can go hiking horseback riding and camping in the crater when no warnings are posted. Couldn't remember much else- took no pictures there or on our last trip. Photos are a great aide to recall.

On the Island of Kauai we drove up in the clouds of  Waimea Canyon below their largest volcano.

It was wild, windy and spooky but beautiful the farther up the canyon we went. Waimea means red water.

The 5000 foot elevation and topography creates a micro climate giving it the title of the wettest place on earth at 450 inches per year.

Back home met this Geology Professor Garver on his Union College field trip to my stomping grounds. He let me sit in on the lecture where the objective was to determine the horizontal magnetic bearing and vertical declination of these metamorphic uplifted folds and fault layers of melange, flysch, greywacke, sandstone, and shale from the ordovician period 440 million years ago. (don't quote me on this)

more research:

my fireplace granite rocks from Helderberg Mountains 

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