Lava (Not The Hand Soap)

Lava (Not The Hand Soap) was Originally Posted on October 27, 2014 by lavarock

There is a hand soap made in America since 1893 called “Lava” and made with pumice. I have not found where the pumice comes from, but probably not from Hawaii.

There are also “lava rocks” sold for grills that are imported to America, but also, not from Hawaii.

Hawaiians believe that the volcano is sacred and have been the home (or still is the home) of the Goddess Pele .

Many feel that advancing lava is Madam Pele reclaiming what is hers and the humans refuse to interfere. In fact, attempts to interfere (by redirecting lava) have failed.

The Hawaiian Islands, the state and in fact many places on earth have been created by lava, a molten form of rock from beneath the earths surface. How far beneath the earth depends upon how far you are from Hawaii. Here we have had lava flowing for decades and it has often been accessible to walk to. Years ago I was able to drive into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, park the car and walk to flowing lava. The most accessible lava was a 5 minute walk.

There is a crater in the park with a nearby parking lot. Busloads of visitors would make a short walk to the edge of a crater where lava had flowed while Mark Twain had stood watching. In recent years there was steam but no real lava seen. THEN there was the explosion. At 3am or so in the morning, an explosion occurred that showed on equipment as an earthquake. It was gasses exploding and hurling lava and rocks into the air from the crater. Some rocks were described as large as small cars. Needless to say, that area of the park was cordoned off and visitors kept away. This webcam has still images from this crater:

In this past photo, you can see a red hotspot in the center and that the lava around that area is smooth (fresh).

 

 

Here, I took a photo of someone standing next to 2000 degree F lava.

Here in Hawaii you have to have a respect for the land, ocean, plants and animals. We have more endangered plants and animals here than anywhere else.

You would think that being endangered, you would not come across a species easily. That is not the case.

Here is a photo of the `Io (Hawaiian Hawk) which I took out of my bedroom window. Seconds after the photo the hawk flew off, having been scared by my movement.

Here is a photo of the silversword plant on Mauna Kea. Beside the visitors center is a cordoned off area where these plants have been resettled and are being propagated. The fencing is there to keep wild animals away, but humans are allowed in if they are careful not to touch the plants.

It is quite cool up there being about 9,200 feet above sea level. Visitors are advised to stop here before attempting to drive the last few miles to the top of Mauna Kea Summit (14,000 feet above sea level). This is one of the only places in the world where you can drive from sea level t o14,000 foot elevation in 2 hours and altitude sickness is a big concern.

This story from 2004 is quite sad as it marks the time the species may have become extinct .

Read more here.

So there you have it, a quick trip to the Islands, some lava and interesting reading.