Posted on: Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Lava flow both impressive and 'a little scary'
| • | Map: Lava flow area |
By Kevin Dayton and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers
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| Lava from Kilauea volcano yesterday was entering the ocean in spectacular fashion at several points along the Wilipe'a delta.
U.S. Geological Survey |
Laura Sanford, 14, spilled a bit of drinking water on jet-black lava rock near the flow, and the water quickly sizzled and cooked off. The sulphur-smelling air around the flow shimmered with heat.
"It was very, very hot," said Laura's father, Tim Sanford. "As you walk on the rocks, it sounds like breaking glass."
Tim and Tracy Sanford, both family practice doctors from Okmulgee, Okla., got up at 4:30 a.m. to make the drive from a Waikoloa resort yesterday with their children Laura, 14, and Mitchell, 11.
They ventured about 100 yards beyond the end of the trail to the flow looking for a stream of lava, and were alarmed to suddenly come upon a red hot flow about 20 feet away that spilled out of sight under cooler, black slabs of lava in front of them.
This made the Sanfords wonder if they might be standing on a crust of cooler lava, with the hot stuff just below that. "It was a little scary," said Tracy Sanford.
| More details
For updates on the eruption, weather conditions and tips on viewing the lava flow, call (808) 985-6000, or go to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Web site. |
"It's pretty humbling," said Marnie Hammar, of Boston, who made the walk with her husband, Arick. "It makes you feel small."
Clouds of steam rose over boiling water as the glowing orange lava entered the ocean along a ledge nearly 200 yards wide. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said some of the lava glided gently down slopes and into the surf while some flows plunged over 30-foot cliffs.
The flow, which has been dubbed the "banana flow" because of an unusual patch of banana plants upslope, reached the ocean sometime Sunday, according to the observatory.
The last time lava reached the sea here was last July, when as many as 3,000 visitors a day flocked to the park to witness the spectacle.
Lava breakouts have been flowing into the ocean from the east side of the delta and because there are so many of them, the site is impressive. Several cascades of lava continue to tumble down an old cliff and onto the delta.
The Kilauea eruption began Jan. 3, 1983, and lava flows since then have created more than 500 acres of land along the coast.
Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012 and Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or 808-935-3916.
