Welcome to Wiser Now’s weekly email blast which reflects my eclectic interests and, I hope, yours. This week, my focus is on volcanoes. August is the anniversary month of two of the most famous eruptions: of Mount Vesuvius, that buried Pompeii in AD 79, and of Krakatoa, on an island off the coast of Java, August 27, 1883 – the most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history. Plus, on August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill establishing the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Volcanic eruptions do not fit my usual focus on lighthearted topics, but they are fascinating.



I hope you find these offerings fun, and perhaps even useful, and welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com) And if you haven’t yet pressed the subscribe button so this newsletter doesn’t go to spam, please do so now.

The Quirky Quote

Enthusiasm is a volcano on whose top never grows the grass of hesitation.

~ Kahlil Gibran

The Quirky Facts

According to NASA, “a volcano is an opening on the surface of a planet or moon that allows material warmer than its surroundings to escape from its interior. When this material escapes, it causes an eruption.” That eruption can be violent, spewing rocks, cinders, gases, and ash miles into the air, or calmer (but definitely still dangerous) where lava (liquid rock) flows out over the rim. There are multiple causes, multiple kinds, and multiple strengths.

Because cataclysmic eruptions like Krakatoa are so rare, we tend to think all eruptions are rare, but there are approximately 10 to 20 volcanic eruptions per day on Earth. They come from our planet’s roughly 1,500 active volcanos, most of which are at the bottom of the ocean. Some volcanoes, like Japan’s beautiful cone-shaped Mt. Fuji, still bear an active designation even when they have long been dormant. It's been more than 300 years since Mt. Fuji’s last eruption. And when we talk about inactive volcanoes, there are many more – an estimated 1 million, (!) again, most of them on the ocean floor. According to this article, Indonesia has the most volcanoes (58) that have been active since 1950, followed by Japan (44), the U.S. (42), and Russia (33).

Two of those impressive volcanoes are in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park which covers 230,000 acres from sea level to the summit of the Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa, at 13,677 feet. It also encompasses Kilauea, the world’s most active volcano, which has been erupting since 1983. Check out Resources for much more information.

Most descriptions of volcanoes focus on the destruction their eruptions cause, but ultimately, they give us at least three interesting byproducts: richer soil, pumice and obsidian.

Volcanic ash frequently travels by air miles away from the eruption and may initially produce a blanket that chokes the area it lands on. But the ash is rich in nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorous, sulfur, and silicon, and will ultimately make the soil more fertile, especially if the blanket isn’t too thick and there is enough rainfall.  Lava contains those same nutrients, but when it cools, it’s a rock, and while it will also eventually enrich the soil, it may take hundreds of years to do so.

Pumice is a rock formed by volcanic eruptions that is so porous, it can float in water, until it gets waterlogged. It has multiple uses including polishing, especially heels on feet while showering.

Obsidian occurs as a natural glass rock from the rapid cooling of lava. It’s usually black and is slightly harder than window glass. It was used by the ancient Romans for sculpture, vessels, and—as the 1^st century fragment at left illustrates—decorative panels. (Found at the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York City.) Over the centuries it has been cut, polished, and manipulated into a variety of works of art such as glass eggs, beautiful vases and much more. You can even order an obsidian glass egg on Amazon!

The Quirky Observation

Lava tunnels or tubes sometimes form when the lava and magma flow a certain way. According to this government article, when rivers of lava flow down a mountain, the  center of the river is fastest and hottest, while the edges are slower and cooler and slowly build up crusty sides like a river bank. Sometimes this crust becomes a tube that completely encases the hotter flowing lava. The tube is left behind when the eruption stops, and the lava drains out of it.  Hawaii is criss-crossed by countless lava tubes. The Kazumura lava tube system, a portion of which is shown here, came from a 500-year-old Kilauea lava flow. It is more than 40 miles (65 km) long and is thought to be the longest lava tube cave in the world. Walking through it is amazing. Have you ever done it?

The Featured Product - Last Week Available! 

This is the last week for my first ever, limited-time free webinar: Food Activities. For many years, I have provided monthly webinars for specific clients on wide-ranging topics of interest to activity professionals in residential care settings, often featuring material from Activity Connection. Now, through the month of August, we are jointly offering this sample webinar free through the link above. On the 80+ slides you will learn basic information about nutrition and hydration, and:

• food celebrations built into each year’s calendar,
• unusual food artists,
• food-related trivia quizzes, word games, and discussions, and
• overall, dozens of ideas, many of which can be done intergenerationally.

This series of slides can serve both as a terrific staff training tool, and a source of downloadable, doable exercises. Although it was designed for activity professionals, any WNW reader is likely to find wisdom and delight in it. And, if you’d like to know more about my programs, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com.

The Questions

• Have you ever seen a volcano erupt? Describe the experience.
• Have you ever been to Hawaii or anywhere that you could see lava actively flowing? What was that like?
• Share any other experiences you’ve had with volcanoes.

The Quiz – Vitals on Volcanoes

What do you know about volcanoes? Choose the correct answer.

1. Why is a volcano called a “volcano”?

a.   Short for “volume in a can” ___

b.   Named after the race of aliens, Vulcans, from Star Trek ___

c.    Derived from the Roman god of fire, Vulcan ___

d.   Italian for “hot butter” ___

2. Hawaiians view volcanic ground as sacred and honor Pele, goddess of the volcano, whose poetic name, “Ka wahine ‘ai honoa” means:

a.   Woman who breathes fire ___

b.   Woman who buries the land ___

c.   Lady of the lava ___

d.   Woman needing appeasement ___

3. Which is the largest volcanic zone on Earth?

a.   The midocean ridge system ___

b.   The Ring of Fire ___

c.   The Aleutian Island chain ___

d.   Oympus Mons ___

4. How is magma different from lava?

a.   The two are the same ___

b.   Magma is unerupted lava ___

c.   Lava can have gas in it ___

d.   Magma is a large amount of lava ___

5. These are all terms related to volcanoes. Which one refers to what are created when large volcanoes collapse?

a.   Hotspots ___

b.   Fumeroles ___

c.   Calderas ___

d.   Lahars ___

6. Which of the following statements about the after-effects of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia is NOT true?

a.   The explosion sent ash 50 miles into the air and affected worldwide weather for the next year. ___

b.   It caused tidal waves more than 100 feet high and was heard over 2000 miles away. ___

c.   It destroyed about 150 villages and killed about 30,000 people. ___

d.   It is thought to have caused the eruption of Vesuvius the same year. ___

The Resources

• https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea
• https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/lava-tubes.htm
• https://volcano.si.edu/faq/index.cfm?question=countries
• https://info.glass.com/volcanoes-form-glass/
• https://facts.net/volcano-facts/
• https://nuttyscientists.com/blog/10-fun-facts-about-volcanos/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa
• https://www.national-park.com/welcome-to-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park/

Photo credits unless otherwise noted are purchased from iStock.

• And, as always, check out www.WiserNow.com.

Answers to the quiz

1. c - Worshipped in ancient Rome, Vulcan was thought to live under an island, called Vulcano, off the coast of Sicily. The word “volcano” comes from this island’s name.

2. b

3. a

4. b

5. c - A caldera is a huge, fiery bowl, made when eruptions spew out the magma guts of a volcano. The mountain falls into the place where the magma chamber was, ending the eruption cycle for a while. Crater Lake, Oregon, sits in a particularly well-formed caldera.

6. d - Vesuvius didn’t erupt that year.