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| Pilot David Okita drops water on a fire below Hilina Pali Lookout. See more below. Photo by M. Wasser/NPS |
THE BEATING VOLCANIC HEART OF SOUTHERN HAWAI'I is the way that The Washington Post describes the magmatic chambers below Pāhala. The Washington Post, in its Thursday, Dec. 22 edition, notes that scientists "recorded a shocking spike in deep seismic activity in 2019 way below the town of Pāhala, which sits roughly 25 miles southwest of Kilauea." In considering the possible quakes' connections to magma and lava movement, the story says, "Surely, scientists thought, this cannot be happenstance."
Author Robin George Andrews notes that a team from California Institute of Technology took on the challenge of understanding more. "While the Pāhala quake storm was a chance to unearth the island's buried magmatic treasure, scientists alone would not be able to identify many of the individual quakes in that cacophony, especially the more commonplace smaller ones that could be
smothered by bigger bangs."
The Caltech team "fed the entire recording of the seismic storm to a machine learning program," writes Andrews. The team employed a technique already used to identify millions of hidden quakes in California. "The program quickly taught itself what was a real quake and what was extraneous noise, then identified and characterized thousands of temblors that would have been missed by conventional seismic signal detection programs and their human analysts."
"From November 2018 to April 2022, the system logged around 192,000 quakes below Pāhala. Plotting these luminiferous points on a map, the team was stunned to discover a collection of pulsing magmatic structures - the beating volcanic heart of southern Hawai'i.”
The story says that "When the sinuous structures first came into view on the computer, Caltech graduate student John Wilding's jaw dropped." Wilding told The Washington Post: "I was thinking that it's a part of the Earth that, in this moment, I was the only person on the planet who knew these things were there."
The study by Wilding and colleagues was published Thursday in the journal Science. The Washington Post reports, "The giant feature described in the paper is made up of several elongated chambers named sills. When eruptions drain magma from the shallow reservoirs above, these deep seated sills seem to react. A cacophony of quakes signals when individual chambers begin to fill with molten rock at different times, a bit like 'blood rushing into a heart,'" said Wilding.
See The Washington Post story entitled 'Mind-blowing' network of magma chambers found under Hawai'i's volcanoes at https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/22/hawaii-volcanoes-magma-chambers/
See the study in the journal Science entitled The magmatic web beneath Hawai'i at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade5755
that can promote fire spread and increase fire severity, exacerbating the loss of native species in the area," said the Park statement.
Hilina Pali Road is temporarily closed past Kulanaokuaiki Campground to the Hilina Pali Lookout due to firefighting efforts. Only authorized vehicles are permitted until further notice. Kaʻaha Trail is also closed. Park staff spotted a plume of smoke at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday below Hilina Pali Lookout at the 2,000-foot elevation. Lightning from the recent storm sparked the fire, a rare occurrence in the park and throughout Hawaiʻi. Most wildfires in Hawaiʻi are caused by humans.
Kulanaokuaiki Campground and Hilina Pali Road to the campground remain open, and drivers are reminded to observe the speed limit and watch for fire crews and vehicles on the road.Light precipitation fell on the fire Wednesday night. Light winds and limited showers are forecast into the weekend.
It also offers the PAR website to help citizens introduce and follow bills during the session. It provides a legislative calendar with deadlines for submissions of bills and testimonies. The 2023 Hawai'i Legislature's Regular Session opens Wednesday, Jan 18 at 10 a.m.
Representing Senate District 3, which includes Volcano, Ka'ū and Kona, is Dru Mamo Kanuha. He is the Senate Majority Leader and will serve on the 2023 Legislature's Housing Committee, Education Committee, and Ways & Means Committee. See Kanuha's member webpage at capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/memberpage. See his Facebook at facebook.com/SenatorKanuha. Kanuha's mailing address is Hawai'i State Capitol, Room 206, 415 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96813. His phone is 808-586-9385. His fax is 808-586-9391. Kanuha's email is senkanuha@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Representing House District 5, which includes parts of Kea'au through Volcano, Ka'ū, and Miloli'i into Ho'okena, is Jeanné Kapela. She serves on the Committee on Higher Education & Technology, the Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs, the Committee on Education, and the Committee on Labor & Government Operations. See her member webpage at capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/memberpage. Her mailing address is Room 310, Hawai'i State Capitol. 415 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96813. Her phone is 808-586-9605. Her fax is 808-586-9608. Kapela's email is repkapela@capitol.hawaii.gov.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Christmas Lights & Icons Show brightens up the corner of Lehua and Palm in Ranchos at Ocean View every evening. Santa will be there on Christmas Eve to give 300 gifts, with a drawing for bikes to be given on Christmas Day. See story at kaucalendar.com.
Holiday Lighting and Decor are dressing up the cottages at Kīlauea Military Camp for the public to see. See story at kaucalendar.com.
Christmas in the Country is ongoing until the New Year at Volcano Art Center Gallery and VAC's Ni’aulani Campus. See story at kaucalendar.com.
The Hiking Incentive Program at Kahuku Unit of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park wraps up at the end of year. For the Kūkini Challenge, hikers, and walkers can turn in miles, recording them at the Visitor Contact Station for a chance to win a silver water flask and accolades for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Walk into the Past with Thomas A Jaggar to 1939. Talk with the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar, at the edge of Kīlauea volcano on Friday, Dec. 23, at 10 a.m. and noon. Dressed in period costume, actor Dick Hershberger brings the renowned geologist to life. Space is limited; pick up free tickets at the Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai the day of the program. Supported by Kīlauea Drama Entertainment Network.
Volcano Thursday Market Christmas Fair will be Friday, Dec. 23 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with crafts, food, produce, live music, and entertainment for kids at Cooper Center in Volcano, Wright Road.
Showers, soup, haircuts, and decorating of St. Jude's Church in Ocean View on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m to 1 p.m., with carols at 3 p.m. and Christmas Eve Service at 4 p.m, followed by Aloha Hour.
FREE FOOD
St. Jude’s Hot Meals are free to those in need on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until food runs out, no later than noon. Volunteers from the community are welcome to help and can contact Karen at pooch53@gmail.com. Location is 96-8606 Paradise Circle Drive in Ocean View.
Volcano Evening Market, Cooper Center, Volcano Village, Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with live music, artisan crafts, ono grinds, and fresh produce. See facebook.com.
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| The scientists' cartoon of chambers of magma under Pāhala. Image from the journal Science |
smothered by bigger bangs."
The Caltech team "fed the entire recording of the seismic storm to a machine learning program," writes Andrews. The team employed a technique already used to identify millions of hidden quakes in California. "The program quickly taught itself what was a real quake and what was extraneous noise, then identified and characterized thousands of temblors that would have been missed by conventional seismic signal detection programs and their human analysts."
"From November 2018 to April 2022, the system logged around 192,000 quakes below Pāhala. Plotting these luminiferous points on a map, the team was stunned to discover a collection of pulsing magmatic structures - the beating volcanic heart of southern Hawai'i.”
The story says that "When the sinuous structures first came into view on the computer, Caltech graduate student John Wilding's jaw dropped." Wilding told The Washington Post: "I was thinking that it's a part of the Earth that, in this moment, I was the only person on the planet who knew these things were there."
The study by Wilding and colleagues was published Thursday in the journal Science. The Washington Post reports, "The giant feature described in the paper is made up of several elongated chambers named sills. When eruptions drain magma from the shallow reservoirs above, these deep seated sills seem to react. A cacophony of quakes signals when individual chambers begin to fill with molten rock at different times, a bit like 'blood rushing into a heart,'" said Wilding.
See The Washington Post story entitled 'Mind-blowing' network of magma chambers found under Hawai'i's volcanoes at https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/22/hawaii-volcanoes-magma-chambers/
See the study in the journal Science entitled The magmatic web beneath Hawai'i at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade5755
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
A SMALL WILDFIRE IN VOLCANO was 70 percent contained early Thursday evening. A statement from the Park said it is located in a remote wilderness area and sparked by lightening. A 15-person National Park Service wildland firefighting team, assisted by David Okita and his helicopter, doused flames and mopped up Thursday in steep, rocky terrain below the Hilina Pali Lookout. "The burn area contains remnant dryland ‘ōhiʻa trees and native shrubs but is otherwise dominated by alien grasses
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| Photo by M. Gallegos/NPS |
Hilina Pali Road is temporarily closed past Kulanaokuaiki Campground to the Hilina Pali Lookout due to firefighting efforts. Only authorized vehicles are permitted until further notice. Kaʻaha Trail is also closed. Park staff spotted a plume of smoke at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday below Hilina Pali Lookout at the 2,000-foot elevation. Lightning from the recent storm sparked the fire, a rare occurrence in the park and throughout Hawaiʻi. Most wildfires in Hawaiʻi are caused by humans.
Kulanaokuaiki Campground and Hilina Pali Road to the campground remain open, and drivers are reminded to observe the speed limit and watch for fire crews and vehicles on the road.Light precipitation fell on the fire Wednesday night. Light winds and limited showers are forecast into the weekend.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
GET ACTIVE AT THE HAWAI'I LEGISLATURE. That's the recommendation of its Public Access Room, with trainings, lessons in advocacy, and its website to help citizens keep up with their legislators.
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| Ka'ū's state Rep. Jeanne Kapela |
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| Ka'ū's state Sen. Dru Mamo Kanuha |
Representing Senate District 3, which includes Volcano, Ka'ū and Kona, is Dru Mamo Kanuha. He is the Senate Majority Leader and will serve on the 2023 Legislature's Housing Committee, Education Committee, and Ways & Means Committee. See Kanuha's member webpage at capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/memberpage. See his Facebook at facebook.com/SenatorKanuha. Kanuha's mailing address is Hawai'i State Capitol, Room 206, 415 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96813. His phone is 808-586-9385. His fax is 808-586-9391. Kanuha's email is senkanuha@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Representing House District 5, which includes parts of Kea'au through Volcano, Ka'ū, and Miloli'i into Ho'okena, is Jeanné Kapela. She serves on the Committee on Higher Education & Technology, the Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs, the Committee on Education, and the Committee on Labor & Government Operations. See her member webpage at capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/memberpage. Her mailing address is Room 310, Hawai'i State Capitol. 415 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96813. Her phone is 808-586-9605. Her fax is 808-586-9608. Kapela's email is repkapela@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Ahead of the opening, the public can register for one of the Public Access Room’s free online training sessions and learn more about advocacy, the Legislature’s website, and the session calendar and its deadlines. The PAR programs are designed to make sessions more manageable. PAR advocates that members of the public "Learn How to Use Your Voice at the Legislature."
The free Your Voice training focuses on how to advocate. According to PAR, "We’ll cover everything from an idea for a new law to testifying and following bills through the process, and we’ll highlight a couple of websites that can help you.We offer this Zoom training at three different dates/times. Plan on an hour (with time for questions) and get yourself prepped for session!" Here are the dates for Your Voice training: For Tuesday, Jan. 3, 12p.m. noon, register here. For Thursday, Jan. 12, 6 p.m., register here. For Thursday, Jan. 19, 3 p.m., register here.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
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| See The Ka'ū Calendar in the mail and in stands from Volcano through Miloli'i. Also see stories daily on Facebook and at www.kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com. |
Christmas Lights & Icons Show brightens up the corner of Lehua and Palm in Ranchos at Ocean View every evening. Santa will be there on Christmas Eve to give 300 gifts, with a drawing for bikes to be given on Christmas Day. See story at kaucalendar.com.
Holiday Lighting and Decor are dressing up the cottages at Kīlauea Military Camp for the public to see. See story at kaucalendar.com.
Christmas in the Country is ongoing until the New Year at Volcano Art Center Gallery and VAC's Ni’aulani Campus. See story at kaucalendar.com.
The Hiking Incentive Program at Kahuku Unit of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park wraps up at the end of year. For the Kūkini Challenge, hikers, and walkers can turn in miles, recording them at the Visitor Contact Station for a chance to win a silver water flask and accolades for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Walk into the Past with Thomas A Jaggar to 1939. Talk with the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar, at the edge of Kīlauea volcano on Friday, Dec. 23, at 10 a.m. and noon. Dressed in period costume, actor Dick Hershberger brings the renowned geologist to life. Space is limited; pick up free tickets at the Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai the day of the program. Supported by Kīlauea Drama Entertainment Network.
Volcano Thursday Market Christmas Fair will be Friday, Dec. 23 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with crafts, food, produce, live music, and entertainment for kids at Cooper Center in Volcano, Wright Road.
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| Pictures with Santa at Ocean View Community Center on Christmas Eve from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. |
FREE FOOD
St. Jude’s Hot Meals are free to those in need on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until food runs out, no later than noon. Volunteers from the community are welcome to help and can contact Karen at pooch53@gmail.com. Location is 96-8606 Paradise Circle Drive in Ocean View.
Those in need can also take hot showers from 9 a.m. to noon and use the computer lab from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Masks and social distancing required.
Ka’ū Food Pantry Distribution, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 9:30 a.m. until pau at St. Jude's Episcopal Church above Kahuku Park in Ocean View. Sponsored by Hawaiʻi Island Food Basket.
ʻO Ka’ū Kākou Pantry Food Distribution, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 10 a.m. until pau at Kaʻū District Gym in Pāhala. Sponsored by Hawaiʻi Island Food Basket.
Cooper Center Community Pantry Food Distribution, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 9:30 a.m - 11 a.m. at 19- 4030 Wright Road in Volcano. Sponsored by Hawaiʻi Island Food Basket.
Free Meals Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are served from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Nāʻālehu Hongwanji. Volunteers prepare the food provided by 'O Ka'ū Kākou with fresh produce from its gardens on the farm of Eva Liu, who supports the project. Other community members also make donations and approximately 150 meals are served each day, according to OKK President Wayne Kawachi.
Free Meals Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are served from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Nāʻālehu Hongwanji. Volunteers prepare the food provided by 'O Ka'ū Kākou with fresh produce from its gardens on the farm of Eva Liu, who supports the project. Other community members also make donations and approximately 150 meals are served each day, according to OKK President Wayne Kawachi.
OUTDOOR MARKETS
Volcano Evening Market, Cooper Center, Volcano Village, Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with live music, artisan crafts, ono grinds, and fresh produce. See facebook.com.
Volcano Swap Meet, 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month from 8 a.m. to noon. Large variety of vendors with numerous products. Tools, clothes, books, toys, local made healing extract and creams, antiques, jewelry, gemstones, crystals, food, music, plants, fruits, and vegetables. Also offered are cakes, coffee, and shave ice. Live music.
Volcano Farmers Market, Cooper Center, Volcano Village on Sundays, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., with local produce, baked goods, food to go, island beef and Kaʻū Coffee. EBT is used for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps. Call 808-967-7800.
'O Ka'ū Kākou Market, Nāʻālehu, Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Nadine Ebert at 808-938-5124 or June Domondon 808-938-4875. See facebook.com/OKauKakouMarket.
Ocean View Community Market, Saturdays and Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., corner of Kona Drive and Highway 11, where Thai Grindz is located. Masks mandatory. 100-person limit, social distancing required. Gate unlocked for vendors at 5:30 a.m., $15 dollars, no reservations needed. Parking in the upper lot only. Vendors must provide their own sanitizer. Food vendor permits required. Carpooling is encouraged.
Ocean View Swap Meet at Ocean View makai shopping center, near Mālama Market. Hours for patrons are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Vendor set-up time is 5 a.m. Masks required.
The Book Shack is open every Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Kauahaʻao Congregational Church grounds at 95-1642 Pinao St. in Wai'ōhinu.
'O Ka'ū Kākou Market, Nāʻālehu, Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Nadine Ebert at 808-938-5124 or June Domondon 808-938-4875. See facebook.com/OKauKakouMarket.
Ocean View Community Market, Saturdays and Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., corner of Kona Drive and Highway 11, where Thai Grindz is located. Masks mandatory. 100-person limit, social distancing required. Gate unlocked for vendors at 5:30 a.m., $15 dollars, no reservations needed. Parking in the upper lot only. Vendors must provide their own sanitizer. Food vendor permits required. Carpooling is encouraged.
Ocean View Swap Meet at Ocean View makai shopping center, near Mālama Market. Hours for patrons are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Vendor set-up time is 5 a.m. Masks required.
The Book Shack is open every Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Kauahaʻao Congregational Church grounds at 95-1642 Pinao St. in Wai'ōhinu.