Instaling Rift Rangers12/20/2023 ![]() ![]() On a daily basis, Kīlauea usually emits about the same amount of carbon dioxide as a medium-sized coal-fired power plant on the mainland.īut instead of exhausting gases from a several-hundred-foot tall smokestack like a power plant, Kīlauea vents its CO 2 through the vents, fissures, and fumaroles on the caldera floor, forming the pastoral scene we described earlier. ![]() People living in Hawai`i are familiar with the volatile nuisance posed by the smoggy mixture of SO 2 and small acidic particles, locally called vog.Īlso present atop the summit magma chamber, but undetected by our casual observer standing at the edge of Kīlauea's caldera, is another gaseous exhalation we are lately becoming more mindful of: carbon dioxide (CO 2). Magma rising from the depths of Kīlauea, where confining pressures are great (many thousands of pounds per square inch) releases trapped carbon dioxide as the molten rock approaches the surface and the pressure drops. This dreamy spectacle belies what is happening just a few miles away, at Pu`u`O`o vent, where a half a million cubic meters (yards) of lava are coursing through lava tubes, and over a thousand tons of noxious sulfur dioxide gas (SO 2) is released each day that Kīlauea's eruption continues. Summit caldera panorama taken at sunrise during winter's solstice.December 21, 2005.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |