[Rockhounds] possible eruption at Kilauea

[pmodreski at aol.com]

Hi, Kitty, and all the Rockhounds friends,


I guess I haven't been posting anything very much these days--to be honest, I think I post and respond at lot more to things on facebook--here on Rockhounds, I read the posts, but I just don't often have anything to add, so I sort of become just a "lurker" most of the time.


I've of course been following with interest, all the action in Hawaii.  Part of my job at the USGS is also to look at & share (internally) news stories about the USGS, so I've reviewing all these stories, and the USGS bulletins, about the Kilauea eruptions, too.


Here's a link that's very interesting to watch/listen to; the USGS had a public meeting & news conference yesterday, to share their info on what the volcano is likely to do next, and it's recorded for anyone to watch:  The whole video, with questions & answers at the end, is a little over an hour.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_s8cZiKcck


They do a very good job explaining things (with diagrams, etc.), all about how the level of the lava lake down in Halemaumau has been dropping steadily, and how and why the steam explosions are likely as it continues to drop; very informative!


Mahalo to all,
Pete


-----Original Message-----
From: Kitty <kahako at hawaiiantel.net>
To: rockhounds <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
Sent: Fri, May 11, 2018 12:54 am
Subject: [Rockhounds] possible eruption at Kilauea

Hi List,Geologists say if the magma column in the Kilauea crater lake drops and goes below the water table, and the groundwater interacts with hot rocks -- as have happened today with rocks tumbling down from the crater walls -- steam pressure would build, and then explode sending rocks the size of cars and lots of small rocks and pebbles over the surrounding area.  This happened in 1924 (I may be off by a year) and it was devastating.  We hope we are far enough away from such an explosion to only get pebbles, and especially hope the residents closer to the explosion don't suffer.  Mostly we hope that such an event doesn't happen!Hare's a link:https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/geologists-say-another-explosive-event-at-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-is-possible Aloha, Kitty_______________________________________________Rockhounds mailing listSubscription Services:  http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.comList Usage Policy: http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml