Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, June 4, 2022

Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program map showing the 48 volcanoes that were in a continuing eruption  status as of March 17, 2022. Continuing does not always mean persistent daily activity but indicates at least intermittent  eruptive events without a break of three months or more. Map from GVP. See https://volcano.si.edu/

KILAUEA'S COLLEAGUES: WHAT OTHER VOLCANOES ARE CURRENTLY ERUPTING ON EARTH? This is the title of this Volcano Watch, the weekly column by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's scientists and affiliates:
    Kīlauea, one of Earth's most active volcanoes, has been on the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program list of erupting volcanoes since the current summit eruption began on Sept. 29, 2021. Prior to that, Kīlauea was on the list continuously from 1983 to 2018, after which it took a welcome two-year break. Kīlauea jumped back on the list in December 2020, but quickly dropped off when that eruption ended in May 2021.
    Typically, in a given year, 40–50 volcanoes erupt, or a bit less than 10% of the world's active volcanoes. Let's take a look at a few of Kīlauea's notable contemporaries this year.
    As of March 17, the GVP reported 48 volcanoes in an erupting status! This includes volcanoes that may be intermittently erupting without a break of three months or more.

See https://volcano.si.edu/

    Many of the volcanoes in this list have been erupting recurrently for years to decades to even centuries. Yasur volcano, in the Republic of Vanuatu (South Pacific, Oceania), has been erupting intermittently since at least the year 1774. Stromboli volcano, in Italy, is thought to have been erupting semi-continuously for ten times as long according to Roman records!
    The volcano to join the list most recently is Volcan Wolf in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador (South America). Volcan Wolf began erupting on January 6 of this year, with an 8-km (5-mile)-long fissure sending lava flows about 18.5 km (11 miles) down its flanks.
    Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional, the organization responsible for monitoring volcanic activity in Ecuador, reported that the eruption ceased on May 5. So, Volcan Wolf may not be long on the list of erupting volcanoes, unless the eruption resumes or another eruption begins within the next two months.
    Breaking the list of erupting volcanoes down by continent demonstrates how variable in location they are on Earth: One in Antarctica, two in Europe, four in Africa, four in North America, six in Asia (including three on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East), seven in Central America, seven in South America, and 17 in Oceania.
    It's no surprise that Oceania, much of which lies within the "Ring of Fire," dominates the list of locations on Earth with erupting volcanoes. The Ring of Fire outlines the Pacific Ocean, and it is an area where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are common due to tectonic plate boundaries.
    Most of the erupting volcanoes in Oceania, South America, Central America, North America, and Asia are part of the Ring of Fire. Kīlauea, however, is located on the Hawaiian hot spot in the middle of the Pacific Plate and Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire where eruptions and earthquakes are common due to tectonic plates boundaries. USGS map

 Well-known volcanoes on the list of erupting volcanoes include Erebus (Antarctica) and Erta Ale (Ethiopia, Africa). Erebus, Erta Ale, and Kīlauea are three of the eight volcanoes on Earth that are known to host persistent lava lakes.
    Lesser-known volcanoes on the list include Dukono in Indonesia (Oceania), Telica in Nicaragua (Central America), and Suwanosejima in Japan (Asia). Dukono occupies the remote island of Halmahera and has been erupting sporadically since 1933. Telica has been erupting intermittently since April 2021 whereas Suwanosejima has been doing so since October 2004.
    Domestically, four volcanoes in the United States make the GVP list of volcanoes in an erupting status, including Kīlauea and three volcanoes in Alaska: Pavlof, on the Alaska Peninsula, has been on the list since August 2021; Great Sitkin, in the central Aleutian Islands, since May 2021, and Semisopochnoi, in the western Aleutian Islands, since February 2021.
    So far, this discussion has been human-centric, only considering the volcanoes that we can see. But hidden deep beneath the ocean surface are volcanoes that erupt undetected. Though they account for 75% of Earth's magma production, mid-ocean ridge volcanoes are poorly understood and usually erupt unseen.
Iceland, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes to the surface, offers us a window into this predominantly submarine world. The recent eruption of Fagradalsfjall volcano, from March–September 2021, was a spectacular example of mid-ocean ridge volcanism and one of the rare times when a mid-ocean ridge volcano made the GVP list.
If you're curious to learn more about volcanoes and eruptions on Earth over the past 12,000 years, the GVP hosts a Volcanoes of the Word database that you can explore at https://volcano.si.edu/.

Volcano Activity Updates: Kīlauea volcano is erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is at WATCH (https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/volcano-hazards/about-alert-levels). Kīlauea updates are issued daily.
    Over the past week, lava has continued to erupt from the western vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission rates remain elevated and were last measured at approximately 3,900 tonnes per day (t/d) on May 31. Seismicity is elevated but stable, with few earthquakes and ongoing volcanic tremor. Summit tiltmeters showed little ground deformation for most of the past week, though deflation began just before midnight on June 1. For more information on the current eruption of Kīlauea, see https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption.

The feature shown in the photograph is a drainage outlet for the active lava lake of Halema‘uma‘u. Surface plates from the active lake surface are dragged into  the outlet and churned up. A small standing wave, about 1 meter or 1 yard tall,  is present in the center of the outlet structure. USGS photograph by L. Gallant

     Mauna Loa is not erupting and remains at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. This alert level does not mean that an eruption is imminent or that progression to an eruption from the current level of unrest is certain. Mauna Loa updates are issued weekly.
    This past week, about 30 small-magnitude earthquakes were recorded below the summit and upper elevation flanks of Mauna Loa—the majority of these occurred at shallow depths less than 15 kilometers (9 miles) below sea level. Global Positioning System measurements show low rates of ground deformation over the past week. Gas concentrations and fumarole temperatures at both the summit and at Sulphur Cone on the Southwest Rift Zone have remained stable over the past week. Webcams show no changes to the landscape. For more information on current monitoring of Mauna Loa, see: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/monitoring.
   One earthquake was reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M2.2 earthquake 3 km (1 mi) SW of Honalo at 5 km (3 mi) depth on May 31 at 12:46 a.m. HST.
    HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea's ongoing eruption and Mauna Loa for any signs of increased activity.
  Visit HVO's website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake info, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

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IN RESPONSE TO RECENT MASS SHOOTINGS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, VOLCANO RESIDENT AND PEACE ADVOCATE Howard Shapiro, released an op-ed. Shapiro is Executive Director of the Performing and Fine Artists for World Peace and employs his music and compositions for his cause. He and his wife Marsha Hee are longtime Volcano residents. He noted that June 3rd was National Gun Violence Awareness Day and said, "Today instead of focusing on anger, I am feeling love and com
passion for all those who have lost loved ones to gun violence." Here is the op-ed.

Volcano's Marsha Hee and Howard Shapiro. Photo from alohagotsoul.com

    My wife Marsha and I were discussing the mass shooting in Uvalde last week. Marsha was an elementary school teacher and I was a substitute teacher for many years. I taught in elementary, middle and high school so these horrible events affect both of us very much. I have been contacting teacher associations across the country sharing with them the idea of having walkouts by teachers for the next school year. These would be held if sensible gun safety legislation is not passed by Congress. These 
walkouts could be coordinated with students who want their voices to be heard on this issue.
    This could be done one day a week and teachers and students could leave the classroom, but stay on campus. Teachers could also decide to take off using their “sick days”. This could be a national effort having teachers coordinate when these sick days would be.
    In 2018 Greta Thunberg protested outside the Swedish parliament asking them to take action against climate change. She would skip school every Friday to protest. Her protests went viral on social media which were spread with the hashtag #FridayForFuture. This became an international protest by young people around the world. I believe this could happen around the issue of commonsense gun safety measures that would save the lives of not only students and teachers, but people shopping at super markets, attending concerts, going to nightclubs, going to movie theaters or worshipping at churches, temples and mosques, these are some of the places where mass shootings have occurred.

The National Rifle Association supported the National Firearms  Act in 1934 requiring registration of certain firearms and restricting sales of "gangster weapons."

    Those of us who speak out on the issue of gun safety legislation do not want to take guns away from legal gun owners. This is propaganda spread by the NRA, gun lobby and a number of members of Congress and other politicians. The Second Amendment allows for the ownership of guns, but I doubt that the founders of our country had the ownership of weapons of war such as AR-15s equipped with high-capacity magazines in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.
    In 1934 Congress passed the National Firearms Act restricting the sale of “gangster weapons” which included machine guns and sawed off shot guns. The NRA supported this action. In 1994 the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly called the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, was signed into law by President Clinton. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan wrote a letter in May 1994 supporting the bill. After both these acts were passed into law, the government did not confiscate guns from legal gun owners. There was no “slippery slope” that the NRA promotes where if there are any restrictions on gun ownership more restrictions will be enacted until guns are finally confiscated by the government. What utter nonsense. There is an estimated 350-400 million guns in our country today. That is enough guns for every man, woman and child in the United States.
    One of simplest things to do that most Americans support would be to raise the age to 21 that a person could buy an assault weapon. There is a database project undertaken by the Washington Post that tracks every act of gunfire at schools in the United States since 1999. Two thirds of these incidents the shooter was found to be18 or less.
    I do not belong to any political party. If Democrats were opposing gun safety legislation, I would speak out against them. Sadly, it is Republican elected officials who are blocking meaningful gun safety measures that the vast majority of people in our country support.    When will we finally stand up and say “No more Columbine’s, no more Sandy Hook’s, no more Virginia Tech’s, no more Stoneman Douglas’, no more Robb Elementary’s, no more deaths at our schools?” Let your voices be heard!