Celebration on a volcano.

Celebration on a volcano

The Kilauea volcano sure knows howto prepare for a party. During the two months prior to last week's festivities commemorating the 75th anniversary of the nearby Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) and the opening of its new facilities, the volcano added 18 acres of lava to the island of Hawaii. And since the current eruption began three years ago, Kilauea has produced a record-breaking 850 million cubic yards of lava. That amount would ocver, to a depth of almost 31 feet, four lanes of an interstate highway from New York to San Francisco, according to Dallas L. Peck, director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which manages the HVO.

The new HVO building, perched onKilauea's rim, is equipped with an elevated tower from which both Kilauea and the neighboring Mauna Loa volcano can be observed. Peck says the HVO, which is the United States' first and oldest volcano observatory, has been responsible for the development of most of the volcano monitoring techniques now used worldwide. After dedication ceremonies Jan. 16, volcanologists were meeting Jan. 19--25 for a USGS symposium entitled "How Volcanoes Work."