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Geology News
Hawaii Current Events

Insurance companies providing homeowners coverage in Hawaii have used USGS maps to set their rates for a long time. Now some companies are modifying rates or dropping coverage and homeowners want to know if the lava flow hazard maps – which were made 35 years ago – still represent the hazard accurately.

Petroglyphs, sometimes known as “rock art,” are images cut into or scribed onto a stone surface by people. They are often produced as a form or art or communication. This photo gallery features petroglyphs from worldwide locations including: Arizona, British Columbia, California, Chile, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nevada, New Mexico, Norway, Ontario, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington.

Getting insurance coverage is not easy or cheap if you live on an active volcano and want to be reimbursed for losses if your home is overrun by lava. In areas where lava flows are possible, the land is categorized into zones with Zone 1 being the most likely to be overrun by lava. Some companies do not offer insurance to homes in that high probability area.

Article: Homeowners Insurance Does Not Cover Most Natural Hazards

Jessica Ball has authored an article on the types of volcanic eruptions. It has descriptions and photos of Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, Plinian, Surtseyan and lava dome eruptions. Check it out!

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program is working on a ultradeep drilling systems that they believe will enable them to have a much better chance of drilling a hole to the mantle.

Hurricane Felicia is now a Category 4 storm moving west in the Pacific towards Hawaii. It is expected to slowly decline in strength over the next couple of days as it moves over cooler waters on its way to Hawaii.

Since the Kilauea Volcano began erupting in 2008, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has been collecting samples of tephra. The USGS has released a report that details the findings.

Stormwater runoff and sewage contaminate many US beaches. A study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council sampled, tested and rated 200 of the most popular beaches in the United States – both ocean and freshwater beaches were included in the study. Some of them had consistently high water quality and some had consistently low. You can view the report and a listing of the beaches on their website.

A collection of petroglyph photos from Arizona, British Columbia, California, Chile, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nevada, New Mexico, Norway, Ontario, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Utah, Virgin Islands, Washington.

Raven Maps are the most beautiful state wall maps that I have ever seen. They show the elevation and relief of a complete state through a skillful use of vibrant colors and topographic shading. Maps are available for individual states, the Conterminous United States, North America, Mexico and the world.

Learn about the geology of your favorite state as seen along the highway. This series of books by Mountain Press are filled with maps, photos, park locations and detailed descriptions. Get one before your next trip.

A video on the USGS website provides a rare view of active lava churning within Kilauea Volcano’s summit vent located in Halema’uma’u Crater.

The-Vug.com has a comprehensive listing of mineral and lapidary clubs from across the United States. It could be the most complete and up-to-date listing on the web. Included are hundreds of clubs and organizations located in all 50 states.

How did the Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain form? This article discusses how shifting plates and hotspots created the curving shape of the seamount chain.

Project Niu is a science curriculum that will help students learn about ocean currents and remote monitoring. Three “message in a bottle” drifters were released from Honolulu on January 30. They are now being tracked by satellite and their paths recorded on a Google map.

After the end of the world wars, massive amounts of leftover chemical weapons were disposed of in the ocean. Now, these bombs are resting on the bottom of the sea. Studies are being done at a Hawaiian dump site to assess if the containers are leaking or dangerous.

Some geothermal wells were being drilled near Kilauea Volcano when one of the boreholes broke into a magma chamber. The well was being drilled in the lava fields of Kilauea.

Hawaii has an ongoing problem with invasive species such as snails and slugs. They can damage a variety of crops and cause substantial losses at nurseries, farms and home gardens. University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers are documenting the problems.

Jessica Ball has posted “A Big Island Geology Tour” on her Magma Cum Laude blog. It has lots of great photos, interesting commentary and a Google map for geographic reference. Visit there to see lots of information about volcanoes, a few tourist shots, and some local flora and fauna.

“New discoveries about how even small amounts of sediment can severely impact fragile ocean coral and suggestions about solutions are illustrated and described in a new book written by a team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their colleagues. Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and a leading cause is the runoff of sediment and pollutants from nearby land surfaces.” Quoted from the USGS release.

Kilauea was active again last week, releasing a plume of ash and gas from the summit crater on August 7th. Earth Observatory has a satellite image that shows the plume as seen from space.

Volcanic eruptions at Kilauea earlier this year produced unusual levels of vog – volcanic smog caused by the sulfur dioxide in volcanic emissions mixing with dust and sunlight. The vog damaged some crops and now a disaster declaration makes them eligible for low-interest emergency loans.

THe Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has a number of research projects in progress. A page on the WOVO website summarizes their work related to gas geochemistry, ground deformation, tiltmeters, GPS monitoring, electronic distance monitoring, and seismology.

Here’s a short article about an international group of students from New Mexico Tech going to Hawaii for a ten-day course titled “Geophysical Field Volcanology School and Digital Sound Processing”. Professor Jeffrey Johnson hopes to make this an annual course and go to Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador next year.

Dr. Gary Greenberg, author of A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder”, shares some of his photomicrographs of colorful and interesting sand grains in this gallery of images.

Beach sand is much more than just little brown granules. It is comprised of microscopic shells, pieces of coral, tiny gems, mineral fragments, and more. This colorful and interesting slideshow displays the microphotography of Dr. Gary Greenberg.

Kevin Lange

A petroglyph is an image that has been carved into a rock. People have been making them for thousands of years. This photographic collection of petroglyphs includes rock art from Arizona, British Columbia, California, Hawaii, India, Namibia, New Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Utah, Virgin Islands and Washington.

NOAA Image

Sea surface temperatures are important determinants of hurricane formation and the data is valuable for a variety of studies. NOAA has a website where you can view sea surface temperature maps for US Atlantic, US Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Equatorial Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California, Gulf of Alaska, Great Lakes, Hawaii, Bering Strait, Global and many more.