Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016

Pu`u O`o sends lava to the sea.  Photo by Ann Bosted

THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START of Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone's Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption will be  Jan. 23, 2017. In this week's Volcano Watch, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists point out the following:

     Given the duration of this eruption, people who were children when it began are now old enough to be parents, or possibly, grandparents. And, many Island of Hawaiʻi residents have never known a time when Puʻu ʻŌʻō was not erupting.
     During the past 34 years, Kīlauea's East Rift Zone has seen a dizzying array of changes. High lava fountains gave way to tube-fed pāhoehoe flows. Vents opened, fed flows to the ocean, and were abandoned. Neighborhoods were buried by lava, rebuilt, and partly buried again.
     On May 24, 2016, two new flows broke out on the flanks of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone on Kīlauea
Volcano's East Rift Zone. The silvery sheen of new lava erupting from the northern 61f breakout (center) and eastern 61g breakout (upper left) stands out in contrast to the older flows on and around Puʻu ʻŌʻō (right). The 61f flow stagnated within two weeks, but the 61g flow, which advanced downslope and reached the ocean on July 26, 2016, remains active today. USGS photo.
     This past year was no exception. A new vent opened and formed a new lava flow that is still active today.

On May 24, 2016, two new flows broke out on the flanks of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone

 on Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone. The silvery sheen of new lava erupting

 from the northern 61f breakout (center) and eastern 61g breakout (upper left) 

stands out in contrast to the older flows on and around \Puʻu ʻŌʻō (right). The 61f 

flow stagnated within two weeks, but the 61g flow, which advanced  downslope 

and reached the ocean on July 26, 2016,  remains active today. USGS photo.

     As the East Rift Zone eruption begins its 35th year, let's review what happened over the past 12 months.
     When 2016 began, lava was erupting from the June 27th vent on the north flank of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone. This was the same vent that fed flows toward Pāhoa in 2014 and early 2015.
      During late 2015 and early 2016, however, the vent fed surface breakouts over a broad area up to about 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. These flows were upslope from communities in the island's lower Puna District, but were relatively weak and posed no threat to infrastructure.
     As 2016 progressed, lava also began to erupt within the small crater atop Puʻu ʻŌʻō, suggesting that more magma was arriving at Puʻu ʻŌʻō than was being erupted. This culminated in two new breakouts on the north and east flanks of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone on May 24. The June 27th flow northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō gradually stagnated and ceased over the following week.
     The northern May 24 breakout at Puʻu ʻŌʻō, called episode 61f, was dead by June 4. But the eastern breakout, called episode 61g, captured the entire output from Puʻu ʻŌʻō and kept going. Lava advanced downslope to the southeast, initially at rates of up to several hundred meters (yards) per day, and reached the top of the Pūlama pali on Kīlauea's south flank in late June.
     Spectacular channelized ʻaʻā flows were visible for the next several days as lava streamed down the pali and puddled at its base. By early July, the 61g flow was back on the move and headed toward the ocean.

Multiple flows into the ocean. Photo courtesy of Lava Ocean Tours

   Lava crept across the coastal plain over the following weeks and crossed the gravel emergency access road (constructed in 2014 when flows were threatening Pāhoa) on July 25. The 61g lava flow reached the ocean early the next day and began to build two lava deltas, known as the eastern and western Kamokuna ocean entries.

     The western, and weaker, of the two lava deltas grew to about 6 acres in size before it was abandoned in late September. The eastern Kamokuna lava delta persisted, however, and by the end of 2016 was about 26 acres.
     Kīlauea's East Rift Zone eruption settled in to a relatively consistent pattern of behavior this past year. Lava erupted from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent was carried downslope through a lava tube, where it emptied into the ocean. Occasionally, short-lived breakouts of lava occurred along the tube, creating surface flows.
     In a few instances, more substantial breakouts occurred from the vent itself, burying the upper end of the 61g flow field beneath new lava. The largest of these breakouts, to date, occurred on November 21, and sent lava to the east of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This breakout was still active as of late December, advancing slowly—a few tens of meters (yards) per day—to the southeast along the edge of the older 61g flow. The 61g flows currently pose no threat to Puna communities.
     As the New Year begins, we see no indication that Kīlauea's East Rift Zone eruption is about to change significantly or stop. This leads us to wonder, will it outlast another generation?
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PHILANTHROPIST RIGINA KAWANANAKOA, heiress to the Campbell estate and a member of Hawai`i’s royal family, died Dec. 10 at the age of 69 at her home in East O`ahu. Her family is known for holding title to large parcels of property in Ka`u. Her brother, Pi‘ikoi, owns 1,115 acres makai of the Hawaiian Ranchos neighborhood in Ocean View. It is adjacent to the 3,200 acres now owned by the County and to be conserved as open space.  According to county records, he also owns about 200 acres mauka of Hawahi`i Ocean View Estates.

Princess Regina Kawananakoa in 2002
in historic costume in front of Iolani
Palace, a museum she supported.
Photo by Deborah Booker

   Born in Honolulu, Regina Abigail Mary Wahiika`ahu`ula Keopuolani Kawananakoa was the eldest daughter of the late Edward Kawananakoa — a descendent of Kaua`i’s King Kaumuali`i and the great-great-granddaughter of 19th-century Hawai`i industrialist James Campbell — and Lila de Clark Whitaker.
     Kawananakoa supported preservation and historical societies and was a lifetime member of the Friends of Iolani Palace, which works to preserve the one-time home of her great-great-grand uncle and aunt, King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani.
     “Princess Regina was a philanthropist who exemplified the spirit of opualii — charitable generosity embodied in the actions of a true ali`i,” said Hailama Farden, a member of the Hale O Na Ali`i O Hawai`i, a Hawaiian royal society.
     Kawananakoa was a member of various Hawaiian royal benevolent societies and participated in the Daughters of Hawai`i. She was also a lifetime member of the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club, which was founded by her grand-aunt, Liliuokalani Kawananakoa, who also founded the Friends of Iolani Palace.
    In 1999 she published a historical biography, Kaumuali`i: King of Kaua‘i, with Kristin Zambucka.
    Kawananakoa spent much of her youth in California but returned to Hawai`i, where she married her first husband, Jim Bartels, the former curator and managing director of Iolani Palace and later director of Washington Place.
    Recently she endorsed Mililani Trask of Kurtistown, who challenged Bob Lindsey as a candidate for the Office of hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees on the Big Island.
    A public service will be held Jan. 14 at St. Augustine-by-the-Sea Catholic Church at 130 Ohua Ave. in Waikiki. The public is welcome at 10 a.m. with services at 11 a.m. A private inurnment will be held at a later date.

  She is survived by her mother, who lives in Mexico; her son, Erik Linstrom Kawananakoa of Texas; three grandchildren, Nicholas, Alexandra and Lucas; her brothers, Edward, David, Quentin and Pi`ikoi; and an aunt, Marchesa Kapi`olani Kawananakoa Marignoli.
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Hawaiian sunsets help draw more visitors to
the Hawaiian Islands. Photo by Ann Bosted

TOURISM ARRIVALS ARE UP with  696,890 visitors arriving in Hawai’i last month - the most ever recorded for the month of November, and a 4.7 percent increase over November 2015. Visitors spent $1.2 billion on the islands, an increase of 5.6 percent compared to November last year, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai`i Tourism Authority.  
     “Hawai`i’s tourism industry continued to build upon its momentum in November, recording the state’s best-ever totals for visitor arrivals and spending for the month,” said George Szigeti, CEO and president of HTA. In November, growth in visitor arrivals and higher average daily spending contributed to gains in total visitor spending.
     Visitor spending by tourists from the western U.S. rose 5.1 percent to $457.3 million. Visitor spending from Japan rose 13 percent to $187.5 million. Spending from Canada rose 7.5 percent to $85.3 million in November, while visitor spending from all other international markets rose 11.4 percent to $236.4 million.
     From those traveling from the U.S. East, despite an increase in visitors, lower daily spending led to a 4.5 percent drop in total visitor spending to $246.3 million, compared to November 2015.
     There were 686,970 visitors who came by air, up 4.2 percent, compared to November last year, and 9,920 visitors who came via cruise ships, an increase of 56.8 percent.
     Arrivals by air from U.S. West rose 2.3 percent to 293,744 and U.S. East arrivals rose 4.5 percent to 124,328.
     Arrivals from Japan rose 4.6 percent to 125,982, while visitors from Canada rose 3.1 percent to 44,371 and all other international markets rose 9.5 percent to 98,544.
     “Our state’s tax revenue base continues to benefit from tourism’s success,” Szigeti said. “Through November, Hawai`i’s tourism industry has generated $1.64 billion in state tax revenue, which is $64 million more than last year. December looks to be an outstanding month for tourism and will further add to this total.”
     The HTA said it was the sixth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in visitor spending on the Islands.
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OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP. MEETING is Friday, Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. at Hawaiian Ranchos Office.

CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY is ongoing through the holidays at Volcano Art Center in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

VOTE FOR THE BEST DECORATED Kilauea Military Camp cottage through the holidays.

NEW YEAR'S DAY BRUNCH is this Sunday, Jan. 1 at Kilauea Military Camp's Crater Rim Cafe. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored buests. Park entrance fees apply 9670835,