Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, is the world’s most active volcano. Its latest eruption began in 1983 and it hasn’t stopped since. Since that time it has created 544 acres of new land and has consumed 200 homes. But as we watch nature’s own fireworks display and witness the devastation wrought by flowing lava, we’ve also been able to observe a process that’s central to life on these islands. The most spectacular moment of creation is when lava pours into the ocean creating new land, and it is here that filmmaker Paul Atkins finds himself getting a shot few have ever filmed — the cataclysmic meeting of 2,000-degree lava and 75-degree ocean water — a sight to behold.
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This episode premiered March 29, 2008.
(29 votes)
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Superb!
Great show… for more video shot of the underwater flow that same day check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQZFaKx69Q
Thanks for posting this program for our TV free family in Hawaii on the night of broadcast. We enjoyed it and all the hard work you shared.
It was a good show, but where is the Global Warming/Global Climate Change tie-in? Every other story you produce has a tie into some CO2 nonsense and we are all going to die senario.
Or was it that there was no way to credibly blame the American people for this. The sheer amount of gases and the tremendous heat that is being forced into the atmosphere has not effect?
Please do not blame me for this political statement. If anyone is to blame, it is PBS by making unproven statements and playing the Global Warming card at every opportunity in your presentations.
Make no mistake Nature does a wonderful job in its videos and I found it educational, but as far as I am concerned the show Nature is tainted and far less than it could be if it didn’t become political.
With all this material flowing out of the Volcano, doesn’t that create a VOID in the earths mantel some where else??
How can it discharging this much matter without taking any material back into itself to replace it??
I was on my Honeymoon in 1983 and visited the Volcano just before it erupted.
PBS does another great job again!!
Thanks,
RFF
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The aerial footage was great. I’ve hiked and explored every inch of those areas for 17+ yrs. Puu Oo was like a 2nd home. Lucky the upper vents briefly opened during the filming period. Good U mentioned Jack. It’s actually very easy to track the tube system without the fancy equipment. U really should get the perspective of the everyday explorer on occasion. That ocean entry is less then ideal for diving as the footage showed. Too many bench collapses. It’s just too steep of a drop off along there for new land to hold. There have been way better opps in past years. Overall well done.
lavapix.com
I am a “closet” geologist and volcanologist and this program was superb. I took a Hawaiian cruise a few years ago and the ship passed by Kilauea at 2:00 a.m. early one morning. The passengers had been given notice so I was ready. We watched it from our own private balcony and I will never forget seeing the bright lava against the black night. I actually visited the lava beds the next day and took pictures. Seeing your program brought back a wonderful experience. Keep up the good work!
This a fantastic program. It shows that the creator is still at work perserving and reshaping the planet for the benefit of life on earth.
An exceptional program combining beauty with understanding. The photography is exquisite but the dedication and ingenuity of the scientists is superb.
Poetic. Sublime. Outstanding. Mesmerizing. Beautiful. I said the word “Wow!” about 50 times while watching this! It’s rare that a program can reduce my vocabulary to one three letter word. The world we inhabit is truly amazing and dynamic. I am inspired by Earth’s seemingly limitless measure of brilliance, diversity and activity. The same can be said for the scientists and filmmakers who, along with Kilauea made this experience possible. Thanks.
RF Fisher asks:
“With all this material flowing out of the Volcano, doesn’t that create a VOID in the earths mantel some where else??
How can it discharging this much matter without taking any material back into itself to replace it??”
Through “subduction”, the void is replaced by the Island chain moving slowly to the northwest and sinking back into the sea floor.
The underwater footage of the lava flowing is awesome!
This is the quilting center of Volcano, a co-op made up of local Volcano artists and crafters who make quilts, jewelry, feather leis, ceramics, baskets, and fiber arts. Gift items made by Volcano artists are also sold here, but it’s the quilts and quilting materials that distinguish the shop. Starter kits are available for beginners. I also like the Hawaiian seed leis and items made of lauhala, as well as the locally made soaps and bath products and the greeting cards, picture frames, and candles.
Volcanoes National Park (808-985-6000; http://www.nps.gov/havo) on the southern rim of Hawaii island is home to two of the world’s most active volcanoes. Jocelyn Fujii, who has lived on O`ahu most of her life and wrote “36 Hours in Honolulu” (Sept. 29, 2006), recommends exploring in the late afternoon until sunset and driving the Chain of Craters Road which ends at the ocean. This drive may offer, if Pele the volcano goddess is with you, views of lava flow that give off a mesmerizing glow at dusk.
The Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has been erupting steadily since January 1983. I have friends who remember lava fountaining several hundred feet in the air, lighting up their living room windows like it was daytime, even at midnight. I can remember, and mostly flows in underground tubes from the Pu’u O’o vent to the ocean.
I have absolutely adored PBS for years and these new additions (shows) are wonderful. Hawaii is absolutely amazing and this was well put together. thanks a bunch!
was a great show i thought it was nicly done i love nature on pbs and sort of like the cooking and the nova show NATURE IS ASWOME GO PBS!!
BORING
dis is amazin!!!but pbs is to protective…
Is there a closed captioning option on your videos watched directly from your website?
it was fantastic!!!!
Fantastic! One of my trips to this spectacular volcano convinced me to pursue and finish a masters in geosciences. Thank you for such an amazing video!
Used this with my English language learners. They had questions about volcanoes, and this was perfect. Answered some questions and generated more.