09-02-2017, 05:06 PM
Linchpin - That flow is from 1868. Although it's not far away as the crow flies, it would be very difficult for a flow to reach DH or Waiohinu. Even with the altered topography, any eruption from the same area wouldn't be able to head eastward until it gets makai of the highway, due to a series of north-south slumps that mark the rift zone. To avoid those it would have to originate further upslope, but just above the 1868 vent the rift zone moves west, through Kahuku and over towards Ocean View. So to reach DH a flow would have to start all the way up at around 7500 feet elevation or higher, around where the 1926 flow came from.
It could certainly reach Naalehu from there - it's Mauna Loa after all - but that slope is much less steep than the Kona side, and while several flows from that upper rift zone have gone through the upper regions, none have passed through Kau Forest Reserve in the past ~1500 years or so.
It could certainly reach Naalehu from there - it's Mauna Loa after all - but that slope is much less steep than the Kona side, and while several flows from that upper rift zone have gone through the upper regions, none have passed through Kau Forest Reserve in the past ~1500 years or so.