Trouble in Paradise : Eruptions from Kīlauea Volcano ( continued )
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Trouble in Paradise : Eruptions from Kīlauea Volcano ( continued )
Volcanic hazards at Kīlauea and the ‘ ash problem ’
Hazards from violent explosive activity at Kīlauea ’ s summit are substantial . Magma and water interactions are highly intense and violent – think hot oil in a frying pan mixing with cold water .
Eruptions are likely to have very little or no warning , and the “ how big ” and “ how long ” are impossible to predict .
Bumper to bumper trsffic on the way to see the eruption in 1959 .
Reading the rock record
Kīlauea is not a gentle giant of a volcano . It has a long-lived and violent explosive history as determined from detailed geological investigations of volcanic rocks and ash layers in the rock record .
Civil Air Patrol flight CAP20 reported seeing plume tops at about 2.9km with the dispersed plume rising as high as 35 km .
Residents on the fringe of the national park are not in lifethreatening hazardous conditions . But they are susceptible to the annoying “ ash problem ” where ash accumulation on electricity infrastructure interrupts supply , contaminates water , causes health hazards such as throat and lung irritation , and damages crops .
This will have complex social , health and economic impacts , further devastating communities if the summit activity does begin and is long-lived .
Society ’ s fascination of volcanic phenomena and the curiositydriven need of people to know more , see more and experience more will make the safe management of the millions of tourists each year in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park a significant challenge .
Nearly 50km of bumper-to-bumper traffic to view the 1959 eruption of Kilauea testifies to the impending management issues .
Exclusion and access will be an important and potentially longlived management issue as the geological rock record at the summit tells a story of violent , centuries-long explosive activity .
The last period of violent explosive activity was between the years 1500 and 1800 , when magma frequently interacted with the groundwater table deep within the volcano .
During those three centuries of activity , Kīlauea ’ s summit produced around 10km high columns and umbrella clouds of volcanic ash , short-lived violent explosions and ballistic ejecta , and ground-hugging high-velocity currents called pyroclastic density currents , which destroyed everything in their path .
This period is not without observation . Native Hawaiians were within the summit area and in 1790 at least 80 Hawaiian warriors were killed in a devastating hot , high velocity explosion that seared their lungs .
Back to basics : the geological rock record as a prediction tool
Kīlauea is one of Earth ’ s most well studied volcanoes . It has been the site of an active volcano observatory since 1912 , and current monitoring technologies are state-of-the-art .
Volcanic behaviour is by its nature complex . Prediction of the exact when , duration and how big is riddled with uncertainty despite sophisticated monitoring technologies .
As such , disaster management challenges are numerous , but observational records in 1924 and the geological rock record
41 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2