Hawai’I Volcanoe

Hawai’I Volcanoe

Executive summary by darmansjah

Erupting since 1983, Kilauea has added nearly 600 acres (243 ha) to Hawai’I sout shore

Fire at The Water’s Edge

Tourists’ flashlights stripe the foreground as lava and a steam cloud illuminate the background at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Lava from the Hawaiian volcanoes can reach 2100ᵒF (1200ᵒC)

Keeping an Eye on Pele

An observer monitors the activity at Halemaumau Crater, part of Kilauea’s large summit caldera. The crater periodically explodes with gases, ash, and fragments of volcanic glass known as Pele’s tears and Pele’s hair.

HAWAI’I Volcanoes National Park is varied, changeable, and literally explosive. It s 333,000 acres (135,000 ha) encompass two active volcanoes-Mauna Loa and Kilauea-on the southeast coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Like the rest of the archipelago, the island formed over a hot spot, an upwelling of magma that repeatedly punched through a drifting tectonic plate. The park’s seven ecological zones, ranging from seacoast to alpine, shelter rare species such as the Nene (Hawaii goose), ‘lo (Hawaiian hawk), and Mauna Loa silverswood plant. But the volcanoes put on the biggest show. Kilauea is the world’s most active volcano, with ongoing eruptions that paint the sky like sunset at midnight.