# Lava viewing area opens today!



## HappyGoLucky (Jun 30, 2016)

For those visiting the big island, if lava viewing is on your bucket list, you may want to add Kalapana to your itinerary. 

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2016/06/30/video-lava-update-flow-reaches-base-of-pali/


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## LilyPond (Aug 21, 2016)

It's been a good 10+ years but I felt the drive to Kalapana was worth it to see real lava flowing out of the earth.  But - I like earth-based stuff like that.   

There at least used to be a trailer out at the end of the road where they'd post 'lava flow conditions' for the day.  Here is another link for the latest from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory:

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm


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## dsmrp (Sep 12, 2016)

I was at Volcanos National Park this past Wed.  From the Jagger Museum, you could see the lava roiling up from Halemaumau crater.  It looked like glowing embers on a charcoal fire from that distance, but with binoculars or scope was more impressive to see the lava roiling surface.  The park rangers were excited, said it started up the day before (Tuesday).


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## jacknsara (Sep 14, 2016)

dsmrp said:


> I was at Volcanos National Park this past Wed.  From the Jagger Museum, you could see the lava roiling up from Halemaumau crater.  It looked like glowing embers on a charcoal fire from that distance, but with binoculars or scope was more impressive to see the lava roiling surface.  The park rangers were excited, said it started up the day before (Tuesday).


Aloha,
We're staying in Kapoho (VRBO rental) and drove to the Jagger overlook both Sunday 9/11 and Monday.  The lava lake was high enough to see and boiling vigorously both days.  
bigislandvideonews is a reliable resorce.
btw - Sandra, we appear to be neighbors.
Jack


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## dsmrp (Sep 14, 2016)

jacknsara said:


> Aloha,
> We're staying in Kapoho (VRBO rental) and drove to the Jagger overlook both Sunday 9/11 and Monday.  The lava lake was high enough to see and boiling vigorously both days.
> bigislandvideonews is a reliable resorce.
> btw - Sandra, we appear to be neighbors.
> Jack



Hi Jack, yes we are neighbors! I'm on the north end ...
Sounds like the lava lake is boiling more vigorously than when I saw it on 9/7, and has risen a quite a bit.  Amazing we saw Halemaumau 10 years ago, and it looked so dead-dormant back then.

We did the long day trip from Waikoloa and back. Maybe next time we'll stay closer to Hilo for a day or two.


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## carl2591 (Sep 18, 2016)

we were on big island in late sept 2013, and made the trip to jagger on thur, which was good cause that following Monday? all the national parks, all over the US, were closed due to a government shut down. 

but back to the point, the lava level was no where near the up far enough to see it during the day and at night you could only see a glow with lots of vog coming off. 

hearing the lava level is soooo high make me wonder when, or if, this thing is going to blow. 


we took the helicopter tour over the eastern vent, Puʻu ʻŌʻō, that had been flowing but the week or so before we got there, the week before Iron Man, we heard the lave was not flowing.. bummer we thought but as we were on the tarmac waiting for the folks to clear so we could board the chopper some one said,, lava was flowing...and it sure was, back to burning trees and covering grass area.


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## DaveNV (Sep 18, 2016)

carl2591 said:


> hearing the lava level is soooo high make me wonder when, or if, this thing is going to blow.



I've heard the thing about Hawaiian volcanoes is that they DON'T blow, in the Mt. St. Helens sense.  They ooze, sputter, and splatter. More or less.  That's why Kilauea has been going off and on since, what, 1983? There isn't that much restricted pressure under it, and it doesn't build up, so no "blow" required.

Maybe Steve, our resident geology guru, can shed more light on it.

Dave


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 18, 2016)

DaveNW said:


> I've heard the thing about Hawaiian volcanoes is that they DON'T blow, in the Mt. St. Helens sense.  They ooze, sputter, and splatter. More or less.  That's why Kilauea has been going off and on since, what, 1983? There isn't that much restricted pressure under it, and it doesn't build up, so no "blow" required.
> 
> Maybe Steve, our resident geology guru, can shed more light on it.
> 
> Dave


See the on-going Hawaii tsunami thread.


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## HappyGoLucky (Oct 4, 2016)

Kilauea erupted in 1983 and hasn't stopped flowing. That particular eruption was on a much smaller scale than elsewhere. We used to watch the fountain of lava nightly, while Trying out best to avoid "Pele's hair." Mauna Loa is showing more signs of activity these days. But nothing crazy yet. 

For more info about, check out this website. 
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Oct 4, 2016)

DaveNW said:


> I've heard the thing about Hawaiian volcanoes is that they DON'T blow, in the Mt. St. Helens sense.  They ooze, sputter, and splatter. More or less.  That's why Kilauea has been going off and on since, what, 1983? There isn't that much restricted pressure under it, and it doesn't build up, so no "blow" required.
> 
> Maybe Steve, our resident geology guru, can shed more light on it.
> 
> Dave



Added comment re why it oozes instead of blowing. 

That has to do with the chemistry of the rocks comprising the magma.  Essentially, when the magma has melted continental rocks (higher silica content), the volcano is explosive. When the magma originates from the sea floor, it oozes.  So volcanoes that occur on continents are generally explosive.  Those that occur in the ocean (the mid-oceanic spreading ridges and hot spots such as Hawaii) are oozers.  

One situation where "oozers' occur on dry land is where a continental plate has "extensional cracking". That's where one part of the continent is moving faster than the rest of the continent.  Which is the situation in the southwestern US.  North America west of the Yellowstone, the Colorado Front Range, and the Colorado Plateau is moving to the west faster than the rest of North America.  That fractures the crust, and causes blocks of the crust to drop down between sets of parallel cracks.  That is the story behind the Basin-and-Range province in the Southwest.






Lava flows within the Basin and Range Province are (or were) oozers.  The most recent flows in the series are the ones in the Snake River Plain in SE Idaho.


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## Ty1on (Oct 4, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> That is the story behind the Basin-and-Range province in the Southwest.



AKA "Nevada"


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