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Volcano Watch — Acid rain, opal, and vegetation contrasts-thanks to Halema‘uma‘u

Volcano Watch — Acid rain, opal, and vegetation contrasts-thanks to Halema‘uma‘u

Few landscape changes are as extreme as that between the windward and leeward sides of Kīlauea's caldera. Simply drive from the Visitor Center in...

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Volcano Watch — Heat is deep and magma is shallow in a hot-spot system

Volcano Watch — Heat is deep and magma is shallow in a hot-spot system

The hot-spot theory is the well-known modern explanation for the origin of the Hawaiian island chain. In it, the Pacific plate drifts northwestward...

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Volcano Watch — Diving deeply into Kīlauea's early history

Volcano Watch — Diving deeply into Kīlauea's early history

Kīlauea wasn't always like it is today. Two hundred thousand years and the change from a seamount to an island can do a lot to a volcano. The trick is...

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Volcano Watch — Lava tube magnetism

Volcano Watch — Lava tube magnetism

HVO scientists have developed techniques to study conditions in the interior of active lava tubes and flows by making measurements on and above their...

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Volcano Watch — An exciting couple of weeks at Kīlauea

Volcano Watch — An exciting couple of weeks at Kīlauea

The last couple of weeks have been exciting ones to be studying active volcanism in Hawai'i. To start with, after several months of fairly constant...

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Volcano Watch — The evolution of the tiltmeter at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Volcano Watch — The evolution of the tiltmeter at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The basic strategy in monitoring a volcano has not changed much since 1912 when Thomas A. Jaggar founded HVO. He recognized the importance of...

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Volcano Watch — The 1950 eruption of Mauna Loa: a nightmare that could reoccur

Volcano Watch — The 1950 eruption of Mauna Loa: a nightmare that could reoccur

On the night of June 1, 1950, after many residents of Ho`okena-mauka village in South Kona had already gone to bed, Mauna Loa began to erupt. Soon the...

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Volcano Watch — Dual volcanic tragedies in the Caribbean led to founding of HVO

Volcano Watch — Dual volcanic tragedies in the Caribbean led to founding of HVO

A pair of devastating eruptions in the Caribbean 99 years ago this week shook the world and, as fate would have it, led indirectly to the founding of...

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Volcano Watch — The 28th anniversary of a very damaging earthquake

Volcano Watch — The 28th anniversary of a very damaging earthquake

In last week's article we mentioned that April is tsunami awareness month in Hawai`i and earthquakeawareness month in California.

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Volcano Watch — April is Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness Month

Volcano Watch — April is Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness Month


Early Monday morning, residents of the northern half of the island were awakened by a magnitude-3.9 earthquake. This was a gentle reminder that we...

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Volcano Watch — Volcanoes exempt from capital gains

Volcano Watch — Volcanoes exempt from capital gains

Here's a riddle for you—which large land holder on the Big Island condemns property at will, holds liens on large parts of the island, and doesn't pay...

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Volcano Watch — Kīlauea's all cracked up, and that's not funny

Volcano Watch — Kīlauea's all cracked up, and that's not funny

Late on March 30, a visiting geology student from Oregon fell about 12 m (40 feet) into a crack in the ground between Crater Rim Drive and the rim of...

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