The most active volcano on Earth is also the most visited......
Explosions in Paradise
Eruptions in the Hawaiian volcanoes are normally preceded by multiple earthquakes which create fissures and facilitate the magma’s flow to the surface.
Mesmerizing Lava Flows
The semi-solidified lava structures may look as curious lava-lamp oddities, but conceal behind their fanciful shapes a highly dangerous nature. The lava tongues and “tentacles” may look solid but often they remain incredibly hot and unstable for long time.
A creeping lava tongue… A fiery waterfall curtain…
The bizarre coloring observed in the lava flowing in the tubes:
Such openings are called “skylights”, offering a view into a hellish kingdom below:
Newly-cooled lava solidifies into incredibly sophisticated banded and blobbed shapes, with new ferns sprouting already… as life takes over the blasted landscape.
In some areas you can really sympathize with poor hobbits climbing toward the Mount Doom. Such landscape does indeed exist on a fairy-tale tropical island… unstable reality, poised on the brink of disintegration:
Fire meets the sea in a surreal spectacle
So much about the beauty. What about the danger?
Granted, the Kilauea eruptions are not as violent as some might imagine after watching the movie “Dante’s Peak”:
However, they are deadly enough to eradicate a few villages and incinerate a multitude of houses, as recently as 1990.
Not much is left from a house and a car in that flow:
The trees don’t stand a chance:
Much larger eruptions had occured in the 1920s, caused by the fiery lava interaction with sea and ground water. Eruption columns had gone as high as 20 kilometers!
Kilauea volcanic activity is also are known for creating vog, or volcanic smog, reaching over to other Hawaiian islands. In other words, what you get is a full smorgasbord of geological thrills and horrors.
Explosions in Paradise
Eruptions in the Hawaiian volcanoes are normally preceded by multiple earthquakes which create fissures and facilitate the magma’s flow to the surface.
Mesmerizing Lava Flows
The semi-solidified lava structures may look as curious lava-lamp oddities, but conceal behind their fanciful shapes a highly dangerous nature. The lava tongues and “tentacles” may look solid but often they remain incredibly hot and unstable for long time.
A creeping lava tongue… A fiery waterfall curtain…
The bizarre coloring observed in the lava flowing in the tubes:
Such openings are called “skylights”, offering a view into a hellish kingdom below:
Newly-cooled lava solidifies into incredibly sophisticated banded and blobbed shapes, with new ferns sprouting already… as life takes over the blasted landscape.
In some areas you can really sympathize with poor hobbits climbing toward the Mount Doom. Such landscape does indeed exist on a fairy-tale tropical island… unstable reality, poised on the brink of disintegration:
Fire meets the sea in a surreal spectacle
So much about the beauty. What about the danger?
Granted, the Kilauea eruptions are not as violent as some might imagine after watching the movie “Dante’s Peak”:
However, they are deadly enough to eradicate a few villages and incinerate a multitude of houses, as recently as 1990.
Not much is left from a house and a car in that flow:
The trees don’t stand a chance:
Much larger eruptions had occured in the 1920s, caused by the fiery lava interaction with sea and ground water. Eruption columns had gone as high as 20 kilometers!
Kilauea volcanic activity is also are known for creating vog, or volcanic smog, reaching over to other Hawaiian islands. In other words, what you get is a full smorgasbord of geological thrills and horrors.
