Kaʻū News Briefs Aug. 15, 2024

A FALSE EMAIL INVITING HOMELESS PEOPLE TO STAY AT MAYOR MITCH ROTH'S PERSONAL HOME through Aug. 18, without needing to knock, has been acknowledged by the mayor's staff which has issued the following statement:

Kaʻū  Trojan girls get some air at their first game of the season. It was at home.  Photo by Kamamalu Kaue

    Kaʻū travels to Kea'au on Tuesday., Aug. 20 and hosts Christian Liberty on Thursday, Aug. 22. Kaʻū is on the road to Ka Umeke on Wednesday, Aug. 28 and again to the Kamehameha Tournament, which runs from Thursday, Aug. 29 through Saturday, Aug. 31. LCPCS/SIS comes to Kaʻū on Tuesday, Sept. 3. and Pahoa comes to Kaʻū on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Trojans go on the road to Waiakea on Friday, Sept. 13 and again to Kamehameha on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Hilo comes to Kaʻū on Thursday, Sept. 19. Kea'au comes to Kaʻū on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Kaʻū travels to Christian Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 28 and again to LCPCS/SIS on Monday, Sept. 30. Ka Umeke comes to Kaʻū on Saturday, Oct. 5. Kaʻū travels to Hilo on Saturday, Oct. 12 and again to Pahoa on Monday, Oct. 13. Kamehameha comes to Kaʻū on Wednesday, Oct. 16, followed by Big Island Interscholastic Federation playoffs.

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THE PACIFIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS FOR EXPLORING SCIENCE is the subject of this week's Volcano Watch, the weekly article by USGS Hawaiian Observatory scientists and affiliates. This week's article, Aʻo pū mākou: We learn together with PIPES, was written by HVO geologist Kendra J. Lynn and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo geology professor Lis Gallant:
    The Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science is celebrating its 30th anniversary of growing the next generation of aloha ʻāina leaders in Hawaii and the Pacific through transformative place-based internships, mentorship, innovative programming, and strategic partnerships. The PIPES Moʻo ʻĀina framework houses four transformative pathway programs: Naʻau (Ancestral Pathway Program), ʻĀina (Ecological Pathway Program), Kaiāulu (Community Pathway Program), and Kaʻao (Research Pathway Program).
    This year, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory hosted a PIPES intern in the Kaʻao pathway. In this pathway, an intern can formulate a research project from scratch, develop appropriate protocols for handling data, or contributing to an existing project. The Kaʻao pathway also champions the transfer of knowledge from the intern to their mentors, encouraging reciprocity to make us better stewards of the Hawaiian community.

HVO PIPES intern Kamalani Poepoe and colleagues prepare samples from Kīlauea's June 2024 eruption for analysis. Top Right: Kamalani gets instruction on how to perform eruption response tasks on the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu. Lower Right: Kamalani presenting her work at the 2024 PIPES symposium in Honolulu. USGS photos

    Over the past two months, HVO had the pleasure of hosting Kamalani Poepoe, a University of Hawai'i at Hilo (UHH) undergraduate who is double majoring in astronomy and geology. She pursued a research-focused project that emphasized Indigenous data science, bio-cultural research, and quantitative/qualitative data collection and analysis. Kamalani was paired with co-mentors from HVO and the UHH Geology Department, with a research plan focused on determining the chemistry of Kīlauea's June 2023 summit eruption.
    On Kamalani's first day at HVO, June 3, 2024, Kīlauea erupted briefly from the Southwest Rift Zone . Kamalani jumped enthusiastically into eruption response work with the rest of HVO staff. In a whirlwind of on-the-job training, she assisted HVO staff and UHH partners in determining the chemistry of the most recent eruption samples using dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF).
    In addition to participating in the most recent eruption response, Kamalani also analyzed the June 2023 eruption samples to help us better understand how and why Kīlauea keeps erupting. Her research is part of a larger project to characterize the post-2018 summit eruptive products.

    Kamalani crushed, sieved, and picked olivine—the common green mineral in Hawaiian basalts—for study in the scanning electron microscope. Her preliminary data show that there are two different types of olivine crystals in the June 2023 eruption, indicating that magmas involved in that eruption came from two different regions of storage under Kīlauea's summit.
    In addition to her work understanding the origin of lava erupted by Kīlauea in June 2023, Kamalani felt that it was important for HVO staff to learn Native Hawaiian practices for connecting and observing the ʻāina. This is aligned with the PIPES approach of incorporating indigenous Hawaiian practices and protocols. Kamalani performed protocol at Kīlauea's summit by presenting Pele with a ho'okupu (an offering) and 'oli when conducting field work—and in the process helped HVO staff better engage with the cultural importance of the place in which they work.
    When asked what her favorite part of the internship was, Kamalani said, "I liked being able to work in the lab and in the field with HVO staff. The eruption on my first day of the program was awesome, getting to see fresh lava samples up close was incredible and I've never experienced that before. Where else in the world can you find days-old or even hours-old rocks?"
    At the conclusion of the 2024 PIPES program, Kamalani joined her PIPES peers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and at the Hawai'i Conservation Conference in Honolulu and presented her project.
    The PIPES program, and the partner agencies that participate, provide an important foundation for nurturing future leaders in Hawaii, and the Ka'ao Pathway provides opportunities for students to gain experience in scientific research that will help them in their future careers.
    Mahalo nui loa to Kamalani for her excellent work over the summer and to the PIPES Program staff for providing another wonderful opportunity to collaborate! HVO has been a partner of the PIPES program in years past and we look forward to future opportunities for PIPES mentorship.

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 Volcano Activity Updates
    Kīlauea is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is ADVISORY.
    Seismic activity and ground deformation continues at Kīlauea's summit and upper-to-middle East Rift Zone following the July 22-25 intrusive event. Over the past week, about 170 earthquakes were detected beneath Kīlauea's upper East Rift Zone and about 170 events were detected between Maunaulu and     Puʻuʻōʻō in the middle portion of the East Rift Zone within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Kīlauea's summit and middle East Rift Zone have continued to show slow inflation over the past week. Unrest may continue to wax and wane with changes to the input of magma in these areas; changes can occur quickly, as can the potential for eruption.
    Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
    Four earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M3.4 earthquake 6 km (3 mi) S of Volcano at 2 km (1 mi) depth on August 14 at 6:34 p.m., a M3.7 earthquake 10 km (6 mi) ENE of Pāhala at 31 km (19 mi) depth on August 14 at 8:02 a.m. HST, a M3.1 earthquake 5 km (3 mi) SSW of Volcano at 1 km (0 mi) depth on August 12 at 6:50 p.m. HST, and a M3.5 earthquake 3 km (1 mi) SSW of Pāhala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on August 8 at 5:19 a.m. HST.
    HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.