An eruption from Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano has prompted the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents and the declaration of a state of emergency in affected areas. There are reports of lava rolling into several areas including roadways, forestry areas and close to residential districts.
Jeffrey Karson is a geologist and professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences. He is also one of the principal investigators of the Syracuse University Lava Project, which provides a laboratory setting to experiment with volcanic eruptions. Karson says this latest eruption in Hawaii represents just one small addition of lava to the mountain.
Karson says:
“Besides the danger of exposure to hot lava spatter and flows (~1200°C or 2200°F- 5 times hotter than your oven’s maximum temperature), other hazards are fissures opening along the rift zone, fires and poisonous sulfur dioxide gas emissions. The eruption could last for a few days or much longer.
“The ongoing eruption in Hawaii is no surprise. In a geological sense, this is ‘business as usual’. The big island of Hawaii is a giant volcano- the largest on Earth- most of which is below sea level. It has been built up by countless lava flows over about half a million (500,000) years. This eruption represents just one small addition of lava to that mountain.
“The Kilauea center has been erupting for decades and this is just a slightly more vigorous phase. Recently, lava from the summit of Kilauea has been advancing in surface flows. The current eruption is a fissure eruption with lava fountaining and flowing from vertical conduit injected along the East Rift Zone, comparable to the Holuhraun eruption in Iceland in 2014-15.”
To request interviews or get more information:
Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing
T 315.443.1184 M 315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu | @DarylLovell
820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu | syracuse.edu
Syracuse University
The lack of access to clean drinking water impacts billions worldwide. With an estimated 46% of the global population affected, underdeveloped communities don’t have the means to utilize efficient technology for water purification. As the percentage of those affected grows,…
The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is known as the “gateway” for National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant applications. Expert peer review groups—also called study sections—formed by the CSR assess more than 75% of the thousands of research grant applications…
Are you interested in knowing how living cells function? Do you wonder how scientists grow human tissues in the lab? Have you pondered how robots are programmed to work? If science piques your interest, delve into the topic at the…
Katya Mueller, a student in the School of Information Studies’ master of library and information science (MLIS) program, was selected as a 2023 National Center for Data Services data librarianship internship participant. Mueller, who plans to graduate in spring 2024,…
There are an estimated 8.7 million eukaryotic species on the planet. These are organisms whose cells contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Although eukaryotes include the familiar animals and plants, these only represent two of the more than six…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
