Kilauea Volcano Could Erupt 'Explosively,' But What Does That Mean? The outlook for Kilauea volcano took a turn for the worse this week, when the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) warned that the dramatic draining of the summit crater could herald an “explosive” eruption. The action at Kilauea that has gripped the world’s attention for the past week has mainly consisted of lava oozing out of fissures in Leilani estates, along with volcanic smog-forming sulfur dioxide. But at the same time, Kilauea’s summit crater has undergone wild transformation. What was recently an overflowing lake of lava has dropped by nearly 300 meters (1,000 feet), and now appears like the eye of Sauron staring angrily up at us from some hellish underworld. If that lake continues to drain, scientists at the HVO now believe it could set off a cascade of events that lead to violent explosions of rock from the summit, along with widespread ash-fall. This kind of action is typically associated with stratovolcanoes like Mount St. Helens in the Cascades rather than shield volcanoes like Kilauea. But while the explosive results may look similar, the processes that lead to them are unique. “So this is not a typical magmatic Cascade-type [explosive] eruption, it’s very different and that’s because it’s driven by steam,” Janine Krippner, a volcanologist at Concord University, told Earther. Here’s how this explosive steam engine would work. Scientists think the rapidly falling lava lake is being supplied by a much larger underground magma chamber via a relatively narrow column. As the height of the column continues to drop, eventually it’ll fall below the water table. When that happens, water which is now being naturally repelled from the lava column by the intense heat will be able to flow in, rapidly expanding into steam. In a best-case situation, that steam would just rise up the column and escape. But the column itself is unstable, as evidenced by rockfalls on Wednesday from the walls of the summit crater. As Krippner explained, too much infalling rock from the walls of the column could effectively seal over the lava tube. And that could cause a serious buildup of steam-driven pressure beneath the surface, triggering explosive eruptions that fling multi-ton ballistic projectiles into the air. This isn’t just educated guesswork. The exact scenario played out at Kilauea nearly a century ago, in May 1924. As the USGS details on its website, a lava lake drained out of the summit crater, triggering earthquakes and transferring magma into the East Rift zone (sound familiar?). Eventually, Kilauea saw a series of violent explosions that belched clouds of rock into the air for two weeks.
I'm no geologist but why can't we just fill the volcano with concrete? Why so many people have to suffer.
Russ: "Do you have asteroids?" Cousin: "No, but my dad does. Can't even sit on the toilet some days."
Trump should charter some amigos to the island and have them build a wall around the volcano. Then leave them on the island. Win-win.
I love that the hippie chic is surprised that her "meditation retreat" clients are cancelling their reservations. Nothing says "calm and chill" to me like an active volcano nextdoor.
There has to be a moment there where those guys are like, "o sh*t did we just jumpstart a huge eruption?"
"Hey man, look. There's a volcano." "Yeah, it looks pretty calm." "You think we can piss it off?" "Hold my beer."