User:Leilani Gibo/Kīlauea

= Article Draft =

Background
Native Hawaiian oral history in conjunction with radiocarbon and paleomagnetic dating places the first documentation of a major eruption of Kīlauea around 1410. Western contact and written history began in 1778, with their first well-documented eruption of Kīlauea in 1823. Since then, the volcano has erupted repeatedly. Most historical eruptions occurred at the volcano's summit or its eastern rift zone, and were prolonged and effusive in character. The geological record shows, however, that violent explosive activity predating European contact was extremely common; in 1790 one such eruption killed more than 400 people, making it the deadliest volcanic eruption in what is now the United States. Should explosive activity start anew, the volcano would become much more of a danger to humans. Kīlauea's most recent eruption (before the currently ongoing one) began on January 3, 1983, and ended in 2018. This was its longest-duration historical period of activity in modern times, as well as one of the longest-duration eruptions documented on Earth; as of January 2011, the eruption had produced 3.5 km3 of lava and resurfaced 123.2 km2 of land. Centuries prior to this event, the 'Ailā'au eruption of 1410 lasted about 60 years, ending in 1470 with an estimated volume of 4-6 km3.

Structure
Kīlauea has a large summit caldera, measuring 4 by with walls up to 120 m high, breached by lava flows on the southwestern side. It is unknown if the caldera was always there or if it is a relatively recent feature, and it is possible that it has come and gone throughout Kīlauea's eruptive history. What is known is that the summit caldera likely formed over several centuries, with its construction estimated to have begun about 500 years ago, and its present form was finalized around 1470-1510 after a particularly long eruption from 1410-1470. A major feature within the caldera is Halemaʻumaʻu, a large pit crater and one of Kīlauea's most historically active eruption centers. The crater is approximately 920 m in diameter and 85 m deep, but its form has varied widely through its eruptive history; the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu is now mostly covered by flows from its 1974 eruption.

1410 to 1790
'''The longest-duration major eruption witnessed by native Hawaiians took place from about 1410 to 1470. Lasting around 60 years, the 'Ailā'au eruption's effusive flow covered most of Kīlauea, north of the East Rift Zone in what is known as the Puna District. Most likely due to the duration of this flow, the summit collapsed around the period of 1470-1510, creating the caldera that is known today. These major discoveries of the 60-year long 'Ailā'au flow over Puna, and the collapse of the summit in the formation of the caldera afterwards were largely supplemented by translations of native Hawaiian chants on the mythology of Pele and Hi'iaka; these events have been interpreted from the following story.'''

'''After arriving in Hawai'i, Pele made Kīlauea her home and sent her sister Hi'iaka to retrieve Lohi'au, an attractive man she met on Kaua'i, on the condition that Pele would protect the forests of Puna if Hi'iaka returned in 40 days. As the journey lasted longer than 40 days, Pele set fire to the forest. When Hi'iaka finally returned to Kīlauea with Lohi'au and made the smoky discovery, she became angry and made love to Lohi'au right in front of Pele. In retaliation, Pele then killed Lohi'au before throwing him in a pit on the summit of Kīlauea where Hi'iaka started digging ferociously, letting rocks fly everywhere to recover his body. These two main events are interpreted to represent the 60-year long 'Ailā'au flow over Puna, and the collapse of the summit in the formation of the caldera afterwards. In addition to the native Hawaiian oral history of these major events, geologists have been able to study and confirm them with radiocarbon and paleomagnetic dating.'''

Following this effusive period and caldera collapse, Kīlauea entered a 300-year period of explosive eruptions from around 1510 to 1790 as discovered by the radiocarbon dating of the Keanakākoʻi Tephra. This tephra was formed after eruptions hundreds of meters into the sky led to ash covering the area.

1790 to 1934
The earliest reliable written records of historical activity date back to about 1820, and the first well-documented eruption by westerners occurred in 1823, when the volcano was first put under observation; although Native Hawaiians are thought to have first settled on the island around 1,500 years ago, oral records predating European arrival on the island are few and difficult to interpret. One pre-European contact eruption in particular, a phreatomagmatic event in 1790, was responsible for the death of a party of warriors, part of the army of Keōua Kuahuula, the last island chief to resist Kamehameha I's rule; their death is evidenced by a set of footprints preserved within the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Kīlauea has been the site of 61 separate eruptions since 1823, easily making it one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.

Oral traditions
Native Hawaiians have passed down ancient oral traditions '''surrounding the volcanoes ever since they settled on the islands. When it comes to hazards management, there is a lot of information that can be taken from these oral histories as they are rich in cultural and geologic knowledge. In the field of volcanology, the use of oral history has not been a common practice until recent years, but geologists now recognize they can be used as a vital resource for understanding and predicting the eruption history of a given region. While oral history can and has been used to confirm previously known geologic data, it can also be used to assess the volcanic hazards before, during and after an eruption, in addition to the rehabilitation of communities afterwards.'''

'''Using the oral history of the 'Ailā'au eruption, summit collapse, and explosive period following, volcanologists recognize that Kīlauea is much more explosive than previously thought. And given the recent effusive eruption history in the past century, it is predicted that a long period of explosive eruptions will return next.'''