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44 Acres of Coastline Collapses in Hawaii
HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii - About 44 acres of coastline collapsed into the ocean this week, setting loose a glowing stream of lava that shot out from the newly exposed cliffside 45 feet above the water.
The plume, 6 feet in diameter, sent up a tower of steam as it hit the water and began forming a ramp of new land.
The collapse of solidified lava shelf and sea cliff Monday was the largest since Kilauea Volcano began its current eruption in 1983.
Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said a collapse warning was issued in June because the shelf had become large and had formed cracks. Large collapses had happened in the area before.
Rumblings tipped scientists to Monday's collapse, which took about 4 1/2 hours. Even at that relatively slow pace, the effect was spectacular.
"The cliff just caved away like a glacier," said park spokesman Jim Gale. "It just sheared off that old wall. There's this gigantic steam plume and you see the red just falling down — an incredible fire hose display."
The collapse sent out globs of lava and head-size boulders. Sheets of volcanic glass called limu o Pele, after the Hawaiian goddess of fire, and thin strands of volcanic glass known as Pele's hair were found 1,800 feet inland.
Originally posted by soficrow
...44 acres is huge when you're talkin beaches in Hawaii - but not in cattle country.
from link below
Huge chunks of the Hawaiian Islands have been sliding into the Pacific Ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. (SF#101) Geologists classify these slides as either "slumps" or "debris avalanches." Slumps move just a few inches a year but are prone to bigger, jerky adjustments. Debris avalanches are fast cascades of rocks and soil. In Hawaii, both varieties of movement can involve massive blocks of real estate. In the huge Nu'uanu debris slide, stone blocks 6 miles across tumbled 30 miles out to sea. Both slumps and debris slides may create colossal tsunamis.