Big Island Volcano Tours http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:53:02 -1000 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:53:02 -1000 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.9) http://www.feedforall.com A number of factors recommended Hawai‘i for specific research. Its volcanoes are eminently accessible. They are frequently active. And they are not so explosive that studying them puts scientists in physical danger. Many professional and lay volcanologists visited and studied the Hawaiian mountains throughout the 1800s, and detailed surveys were performed as early as the 1870s under the Hawaiian monarchy. But it wasn’t until 1911 that the first permanent observatory was built. In that year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Thomas Jagger and volcanologist Frank Perret established themselves at the rim of Halema‘uma‘u. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was founded the next year with funding from both MIT and Hawai‘i business officials. The work often involved active inventing, since equipment and techniques were required that no one ha ever before envisioned. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/study.htm D6390E51-C51D-4C39-99BB-F2CDF46F8B7D Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:33 -1000 A HOT SPOT is an area where superheated rock moves from deep within the Earth’s mantle upward toward the center crust. And while the Pacific Plate moves, the Hawaiian Hot Spot remains fixed in relation to the planet as a whole. Some scientists believe the plate “floats” on a bed of magma that is forced up from deeper in the Earth, and is pushed out laterally in all directions beneath the crust. The Pacific Plate is believed to be moving slowly but steadily at the rate of about three inches a year. When a thermal plume forms a hot spot, magma pushes through the crust to erupt. Initially, as with the Hawaiian hot spot, much of that magma erupted under water millions of years ago. Yet that same process is going on now with the undersea volcano, Lo‘ihi, about 20 miles off the east coast of the Island of Hawai‘i. Geologists theorize that the upwelling of magma finds its way to the surface through cracks that become permanent supply routes, feeding underground magma storage chambers beneath the summits of various volcanoes. There is a huge amount of magma available, and it is capable of supporting several active eruptions. Lo‘ihi, Kilauea and Mauna Loa are all being fed by the same Hawaiian hot spot. Sometimes, two of these erupt simultaneously. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/archipelago.htm 606C65F4-0CFC-4ABD-94AA-83BD643A0CA3 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:32 -1000 Long ago Hawai‘i’s chiefs pronounced the Polynesian gods defeated and replaced them with the Christian God, but many ancient traditions live on. And occasionally, the placid Hawaiian volcanoes remind residents of the tempers of the old gods. Sometimes earthquakes rip open great chasms in the ground where roads used to be. Eruptions build new mountains while lava flows destroy whole villages. But even these violent events leave just the tiniest impressions on the broader picture of Hawai‘i’s geology. The last few million years of the islands have seen a constant exchange between biology and geology. Vegetation takes hold almost as soon as the lava cools; although often another flow roars down to retake the same terrain. Scientists find charcoal between old lava flows, and the molds of trees surrounded and burned millennia ago. The history of these islands which goes back 75 million years or more spans most of the width of the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the story of how our planet works. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/gods.htm 179FB064-251D-4B27-B7CC-83F3E4579435 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:31 -1000 HAWAI‘I’S ACTIVE VOLCANOES overwhelmed early travelers. Most of them came in the era before photographs and videotape, and had never been seen anything like a live eruption. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/viewthevolcanoes.htm A46BF49A-DD77-4949-AE0D-64D3C41BCD3A Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:30 -1000 Hawai'i's volcanoes are known for their placid natures, as volcanoes go. They seldom explode or send hot ash-flows down mountainsides. Kilauea is sometimes called the world’s only “drive-in” volcano. Good roads lead to the very edge and down inside its caldera, the broad basin formed by the collapse of the volcano’s cone. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/destruction.htm 44484E13-4669-4975-BD3F-065778659F6E Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:29 -1000 We tend to think of the atmosphere and oceans as fluids in constant motion, and of the Earth as a solid. But study of the earth has shown the structure of our planet is anything but static. It is a constantly moving system. Rocks roll and land slides on the surface and great plates that form the planet’s crust shift, causing earthquakes and tsunami. The mantle of the Earth sags under the weight of the highest mountains, and recovers as those mountains erode away. Solid rock melts, its lighter elements rise and heavier ones sink. The fluid material of lava moves in currents deep under the Earth. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/hotspots.htm BE4D5F2B-554C-4298-B313-6615A71C6BD4 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:28 -1000 All About Volcanoes http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/historyscience.htm 7420DF2C-7421-4AAB-82CC-6B238A1D1EAB Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:27 -1000 Contact Big Island Volcano Tours http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/contact.htm 0B1C32F5-D1D8-4974-851C-9C8E9F6DA796 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:26 -1000 Maps of the Hawaii Islands http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/map.htm 554BE3EE-3800-466B-9A3C-5A3FDF640601 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:25 -1000 Testimonials http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/testimonials.htm E454BC83-5F05-4220-A998-174D6BC10395 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:24 -1000 Hawaii Big Island Volcano Photos http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/hawaiivideos.htm D6A08372-A2EA-450B-BD58-F51045C038C4 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:23 -1000 Hawaii Big Island Volcano Eco Tours from the Big Island, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai. http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/bigislandtours.htm 4A1970A2-5E46-49FB-87C5-9F15CB01F04E Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:22 -1000 Experience the ultimate fusion of fire and water in this thrilling excursion to the world’s most active volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii! http://bigislandvolcanotours.com/ 4C8E2833-8AAC-4066-A4E7-93FA6DCB56E0 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:51:21 -1000