Hawaii's volcanoes don't explode rock, fire, and pumice into the sky like the Icelandic volcano (with a looooong name) but rather result from the earth's hot magma oozing from a gigantic crack in the ocean floor and piling up to the surface, and then far into the sky. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island are nearly 14,000 feet--and measured from their bases, they are nearly 40,000 feet high. That's a lotta lava.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Kilauea Volcano: Not Big Bang Theory
Hawaii's volcanoes don't explode rock, fire, and pumice into the sky like the Icelandic volcano (with a looooong name) but rather result from the earth's hot magma oozing from a gigantic crack in the ocean floor and piling up to the surface, and then far into the sky. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island are nearly 14,000 feet--and measured from their bases, they are nearly 40,000 feet high. That's a lotta lava.