Watching the volcano: Words matter – lava, not fire, but an island, a raft, or a basalt tower?

Words are important in volcanology just as they are in the rest of society.

Words are important among volcanologists themselves, of course, but they are especially important in our interactions with the public, when we try to say what is happening and educate about how volcanoes work. Accurate words enhance understanding and clarity of thought and are essential for both informing and teaching.

Volcanology terminology runs under the burden of previous misunderstanding about volcanoes. The ancients believed that volcanoes were somehow associated with fire. The fire caused volcanoes to erupt, and fires erupted volcanoes. An underground fire broke out, directed by the Roman god Vulcan (Hephaestus is the Greek equivalent), and volcanoes were formed when Vulcan was formed.

Many of the terms we use today reflect an ancient misunderstanding. Igneous, a scientific term used for one of three large families of rocks (sedimentary and metamorphic being the other two) is derived from the Latin word for fire, ignis. The volcano comes from Vulcan. Fire produces ash, scoria and ash, but volcanologists use all three terms for particles erupting from volcanoes that have nothing to do with fire. These ancient words are a little strange and even charming, but their long-term use makes them permissible among volcanologists.

It’s all good. The words must be derived from something. A problem comes, though, if scholars use fire terms as metaphors when dealing with audiences. Perhaps the best or worst examples of misleading expressions are the fire fountain, the fire curtain, and the river of fire. Colorful metaphors, to be sure, but totally wrong. The fire does not spring, does not flow and does not form curtains. Unfortunately, some volcanologists still use the fire fountain and fire curtain, even though it slides away. Lava fountain, line or row of lava fountains, and lava river, respectively, are the preferred terms in discussion with the audience as well as among us.

Fire makes smoke. Volcanoes do not burn, so they do not smoke. Instead, smoke or gas rises above them. This is an easy distinction in Hawaii, because the residents are all familiar with Vogue (volcanic air pollution), which does not smell like smoke. Of course, heat from volcanoes can ignite smoky fires, and fires from burning hot gas in the air can sometimes decorate vents.

Fiery is a word often applied to a volcanic landscape. It means “consisting of fire or igniting strongly and lustrous” and is therefore used inappropriately for explosion. This word is widely used, however, and volcanologists are unlikely to win the semantic argument.

Other examples of the word’s dubious use of volcanoes do not include the metaphor of fire. What happens when some things don’t have a word to describe it accurately? Are we expanding the meaning of an existing word or do we come up with something new?

Examples of this problem are blocks of floating solids in the present Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. These slowly moved up the lake and rose as the lake deepened. Thus the masses are not fixed islands in relation to their surroundings. Volcanologists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) 100 years ago used the phrase “floating islands” for such features, which is expressive but imprecise.

HVO used the word “island” to describe these erupting masses in the present-day lava lake in Halema’uma’u, although raft may be a better term to acknowledge its mobility. The raft, however, is usually seen as a floating mass with a shallow draft, but for various reasons we suspect (with little confidence) that the current largest island / raft has a relatively deep draft that reflects the slow foundation.

A colleague at the Smithsonian Institution, only half of them in jest, suggested that the floating blocks be called a “ basalt tower ” in analogy with the beads of ice, which are often submerged. Floating islands, rafts, basalt, or whatever – only time will tell which name will remain in the end.

In Lewis Carroll’s book “Through the Looking Glass,” Humpty Dumpty tells Alice with disdain, “When I use the word … it only means what I choose to mean – nothing more, no less.” Worthy of praise, as long as he chooses the correct meaning! This is the problem we volcanologists face when informing and educating the public: how to choose the right word with the correct meaning and do it with precision. In this sense, as in many others, words matter.

Volcano activity updates

Kolaoya volcano erupting. The USGS Volcano Alert Level is at WATCH (https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/volcano-hazards/about-alert-levels). Kīlauea updates are released daily.

Lava activity is limited to Halemaʻumaʻu with lava erupting from a vent hatch on the northwest side of the crater. As of the morning of January 28, about 208 meters (684 feet) of lava has filled up from Halemaʻumaʻu and only the western part of the lava lake is active. The sulfur dioxide emission rate measurements made on January 23 were about 2,200 tons / day, below the range of emission rates from the lava lake before 2018. Slantometers with a peak are in an inflationary direction. Earthquakes are still high but stable, with steady elevated tremor and some minor earthquakes. For the most recent information on the eruption, see https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/current-eruption.

Mauna Loa does not erupt and remains at Volcano Alert Level. This alert level does not imply that an outbreak is imminent or that progression to an outbreak from the current level of disturbance is certain. Mauna Loa updates are released weekly.

Last week, about 60 small-scale earthquakes were recorded under the upper elevations of Mauna Loa; Most of these occurred at depths of less than 8 kilometers (about 5 miles). The largest earthquake on record was M2.6, southwest of the Caldera summit, on January 24th at 10:39 AM GMT. GPS measurements show continued slow summit swell, consistent with the supply of magma to the volcano’s shallow storage system. The gas concentration at the sulfur cone monitoring site remains stable (<2 ppm sulfur dioxide). Fumarole temperature was ~ 90 ° C. This value is in the normal range.

Web cameras do not show any changes to the landscape. For more information on the current monitoring of Mauna Loa volcano, see: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/monitoring.

There was one event with 3 or more hairy reports on the Hawaiian Islands over the past week: the M2.5 earthquake 40 km (24 mi) west of Kailua Kona at a depth of 33 km (21 mi) on Jan.22 at 1:41 am HST.

HVO continues to monitor both the ongoing Kīlauea and Mauna Loa eruptions for any signs of increased activity.

Visit the HVO website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake information, and more. Questions emailed to [email protected].

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by the scientists and affiliates of the US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

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