Since 1994 – Hawaii’s First Online News Source
Archive for December, 2004
Monitoring Mauna Loa a challenge
Dec 30th
Several recent Volcano Watch articles have discussed the difficult nature of making specific eruption predictions about Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth. One way to decrease the difficulty is to monitor many different behaviors of the volcano. In addition to monitoring seismic and ground deformation changes, we also measure the gases coming out of Mauna Loa.
Case announces service academy nominees
Dec 17th
Rep. Ed Case today named 27 island residents to the U.S. Air Force, Naval, Military and Merchant Marine academies. The list includes both principal and alternate nominees, and followed interviews Case conducted himself. “Like my last two years, I am very impressed with the caliber of these applicants,” Case said. “They are all achievers and leaders; they all have so much to offer our country in our services; and they will all do Hawaii proud wherever they end up.”
New instruments tracking Mauna Loa
Dec 16th
In early December every year, thousands of earth scientists gather in San Francisco to present and discuss their latest findings. This meeting is organized by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). It has become the defacto forum for sharing early results of US volcanological research. This year, the dominant topic for the volcanological community will be the ongoing eruption of Mount St. Helens. The lava dome offers a rare, close-up look at a very different kind of lava extrusion than we have here on Kilauea.
Volcano glow a winter show
Dec 9th
As the winter solstice draws near, people everywhere are bringing light to this darkest time of the year. Homes, shops, and trees are gaily lit with strings of Christmas bulbs, and this past week, Chanukah, the “Festival of Light” began. On the island of Hawaii, however, there was an unanticipated light slow this past week.
Seismologists spar over semantics
Dec 2nd
What’s in a name? In geology, plenty. Some of the biggest controversies erupt over terminology. For example, HVO scientists like to argue over terms like “lava delta” and “lava bench.” Careful readers of Volcano Watch and the accompanying Eruption Update have probably noted that the two terms sometimes appear to be used synonymously and sometimes not. What’s up with that?
