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Kaʻū's member of the state House of Representatives Jeanne Kapela urges residents to apply for funding to grow their own food. Deadline to apply is Monday, Sept. 19 at noon. See more below. Photo from Kapela |
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A REMINDER TO GET HELP TO GROW FOOD came from state House of Representatives member Jeanne Kapela on Saturday. Kapela is the incumbent running for re-election for the district that has expanded to include all of Kaʻū into Kona. She noted that Hawai'i households in food-insecure areas areeligible for up to $5,000 for small-scale gardening, herding and livestock operations grants through the state Department of Agriculture. Eligible projects include purchase of soil, animals, plants, seeds and refrigeration for small-scale farming, as well as constructing and repairing fencing for livestock. To fill out the Farming Gran Application, see:
https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/add/md/mgfsp-application-fy21/. For more info, see https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/nr22-12mgfsp/ Kapela's message said, "Together we are growing a more sustainable future for our community and our keiki. I look forward to working with you to ensure that our state's small farmers are given the resources they need to strengthen food security for Hawai'i."
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR DUKE AINOA FOCUSED ON HOUSING THIS WEEK, announcing that it is the most important issue facing the public and promising town hall meetings across the state to discuss it.
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| Duke Aiona and Junior Tupai run for Governor and Lt. Governor of Hawai'i. Photo from Aiona |
Aiona said he plans to take this housing initiative and other plans to small town meetings across the state.
What are these instruments and what do they tell us about the samples they analyze? Well, before any sample from an eruption can be processed, it must be dried of any rainwater. The first instrument is a
scientific oven that’s about the same size as one in your kitchen. This provides ample drying space to fit most of a large sample, or many small samples so that material can be analyzed quickly.
Next, there are six instruments focused exclusively on density. Density is important to analyze because it’s indicative of the gas-to-rock ratio that causes magma to erupt.
Another fast way to measure volume is with a pycnometer. HVO’s new lab has four of these instruments, which provide volume measurements for ash and foams (lava rocks with bubbles, called reticulite). Most often the pycnometers will be used for density of fine-grained samples like ash or individual fragments up to golf-ball-sized scoria or reticulite.
The sixth density-oriented machine is a 3D scanner, which scans a sample and creates a 3D model of it from which the volume is calculated. In the lab, the scanner can measure the volume for golf ball to football sized samples or it can also be detached and used on larger objects in the field.
Once the density is determined, the sample then moves to particle analyzers that measure size and shape of small grains. Grain size and shape are important to analyze because both parameters determine how far the fragments of lava can travel in the air. Size helps geologists determine the level of eruption explosivity, while the shape of shattered lava fragments indicate how the magma erupted explosively.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green, the Democratic candidate, also named housing as the most important issue with a plan called the Emergency Housing Plan for Hawai'i.
For more on these candidates see www.dukiaiona.com and www.joshgreenforhawaii.com.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
KA'U TROJANS TRAVELED TO KOHALA on Saturday to play the Cowboys. The Trojans posted its highest scoring of the season, coming up with 30 points. However Kohala won its home game with 36. Other games this season saw the Trojans scoring 6, 20 and 8 against its opponents.![]()
The next football game for the Trojans, which is comprised of talent from Kaʻū High and Volcano School of the Arts & Sciences, is next Saturday, Sept. 17 at Pahoa, followed by hosting Hawai'i Prep on Saturday, Sept. 24, with another home game Saturday, Oct. 1. Trojans take to the road to Kamehameha on Thursday, Oct. 6 and return home, hosting Kohala on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 22.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
ST. JUDE'S IN OCEAN VIEW offers a church service live and by zoom on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. For those who are unable to attend in person, the Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85987340947pwd=VmJOUWkvM3lCT0N2cVN2RUFiM1kzQT09.
Meeting ID is 859 8734 0947. Passcode is Aloha. The Rev. Angus Aagaard is officiating the month of September
St. Jude's Episcopal Church also offers free food on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, or until food runs out. During the same time, it offers free showers until noon and a use of computers until 1 p.m.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
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New Accessibility for Puhimau Puhimau, an echoing crater along Chain of Craters Road, is open to the 530 foot deep overlook. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park has announced that workers have completed a project to improve accessibility, the parking area, and much more. Improved accessibility makes it possible for more people to park and approach the overlook to enjoy this steaming crater. Puhimau in 'ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian) means the steam which issues forth constantly. NPS photo |
VOLCANOLOGY LAB AT HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY has been purchased, installed and collaborated. The funding came from the Disaster Relief Act of 2019. It is the subject of this week's Volcano Watch, written by USGS scientists and affiliates, who describe the new lab:
"It is a unique combination of 13 instruments that will provide exciting new insights into the density, size, shape and componentry of volcanic rocks.What are these instruments and what do they tell us about the samples they analyze? Well, before any sample from an eruption can be processed, it must be dried of any rainwater. The first instrument is a
scientific oven that’s about the same size as one in your kitchen. This provides ample drying space to fit most of a large sample, or many small samples so that material can be analyzed quickly.
Next, there are six instruments focused exclusively on density. Density is important to analyze because it’s indicative of the gas-to-rock ratio that causes magma to erupt.
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| USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has acquired new physical volcanology laboratory instruments for rapid and accurate analysis of eruption samples. Left photo shows four pycnometers that determine volume and density. Right photo shows two particle analyzers that determine grain size and shape. Photos from USGS |
To measure density, we need to weigh the sample and divide that by the sample volume. Weighing a sample is easy and uses a scale like the one you may have at home. The volume, however, is tricky to measure because volcanic products don’t have regular shapes. Traditionally, measuring volume is done by waterproofing a rock with wax and thensubmerging it in water. Archimedes’ Principle tells us that the volume of water displaced is equal to the volume of the rock. The waterproofing process can be laborious, meticulous, and time consuming when
done by hand, but a thermo-vacuum machine fits a waterproof plastic sheet around the rock in seconds.Another fast way to measure volume is with a pycnometer. HVO’s new lab has four of these instruments, which provide volume measurements for ash and foams (lava rocks with bubbles, called reticulite). Most often the pycnometers will be used for density of fine-grained samples like ash or individual fragments up to golf-ball-sized scoria or reticulite.
The sixth density-oriented machine is a 3D scanner, which scans a sample and creates a 3D model of it from which the volume is calculated. In the lab, the scanner can measure the volume for golf ball to football sized samples or it can also be detached and used on larger objects in the field.
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Kealakomo Overlook is Open Funded with Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park entrance fee dollars, the old wooden deck at Kealakomo on Chain of Craters is rebuilt and improved. Visitors find sweeping views from the windy escarpment where Kealakomo overlook is is perched at 2,000 ft (600 m) above Hōlei Pali, along the Hilina fault system. The overlook provides views of Kīlauea volcano, old lava flows, and the vast Pacific Ocean. Download the NPS App and take the Chain of Craters Road Driving Tour to learn more: https://go.nps.gov/appdownload NPS Photo |
Once the density is determined, the sample then moves to particle analyzers that measure size and shape of small grains. Grain size and shape are important to analyze because both parameters determine how far the fragments of lava can travel in the air. Size helps geologists determine the level of eruption explosivity, while the shape of shattered lava fragments indicate how the magma erupted explosively.
Traditionally, size is measured by hand sieving, which can be time consuming. Both particle analyzers measure the size and shape of millions of particles in minutes. They do that by taking photos of particles as they fall in front of high-speed cameras. Photos are automatically analyzed for area and perimeter, which are translated into several different measures of particle size and 2D shape. The particle analyzers document a range from about an inch (2.5 cm) to much less than one thousandth of an inch (0.8 microns). Any larger particles will still be hand processed with large sieves.
The final four instruments are microscopes. Two stereographic microscopes are used to inspect the components in the eruption: freshly erupted materials such as glass, pele’s hair, pele’s tears, and ash, or older fragments of rock (called lithics) and minerals. This componentry helps geologists understand the dynamics of the eruption.
Two petrographic microscopes are used for documenting minerals and vesicle (bubble) textures: mineral type, chemical structures, crystal zoning patters and the shape of vesicles, presence of micro fractures, and other features. These mineral characteristics help geologists determine how deep magma originates, how fast it rises, and potential eruption triggers while the vesicle traits and fractures indicate fragmentation mechanisms and fluid dynamic processes.
HVO’s new physical volcanology laboratory will be able to quickly process eruption samples, providing insights during an eruption crisis. Ultimately, this can lead to better constraints on eruption models and allow scientists to provide better hazard assessments. The new lab will be a resource for not only HVO but other volcano observatories and their collaborators across the globe as well.
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The final four instruments are microscopes. Two stereographic microscopes are used to inspect the components in the eruption: freshly erupted materials such as glass, pele’s hair, pele’s tears, and ash, or older fragments of rock (called lithics) and minerals. This componentry helps geologists understand the dynamics of the eruption.
Two petrographic microscopes are used for documenting minerals and vesicle (bubble) textures: mineral type, chemical structures, crystal zoning patters and the shape of vesicles, presence of micro fractures, and other features. These mineral characteristics help geologists determine how deep magma originates, how fast it rises, and potential eruption triggers while the vesicle traits and fractures indicate fragmentation mechanisms and fluid dynamic processes.
HVO’s new physical volcanology laboratory will be able to quickly process eruption samples, providing insights during an eruption crisis. Ultimately, this can lead to better constraints on eruption models and allow scientists to provide better hazard assessments. The new lab will be a resource for not only HVO but other volcano observatories and their collaborators across the globe as well.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.
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| See September issue of The Kaʻū Calendar at www.kaucalendar.com, and in the mail - Volcano, Kaʻū to South Kona. |
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