Ground and surface water heated to steam is thought to be responsib...

Ground and surface water heated to steam is thought to be responsible for many of the explosions at Mauna Loa's lower neighbor, Kīlauea. But, Mauna Loa stands so high that it is hard to imagine that much water was available. Could there have been buried ice lenses large enough to have powered the explosions? Could large snow banks have supplied the water? Or, could the explosions have been driven by carbon dioxide or other gases derived from magma? Much research remains to be done before these questions can be answered. Meanwhile, explosions should be viewed as an infrequent, but nonetheless present, hazard at the top of Earth's largest volcano.