When, not If lava crosses 130...

[hikatz]

Last thing we need to do, is to think of setting any large explosives on the lower south side, this could trigger the Hilina Slump to break away, then we would have a major disaster!

http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf115/sf115p09.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slump

[Seeb]

not talking about a nuke just a little pop

[csgray]

Nuke or pop, I just don't see the National Park Service ever going for it. I'm not arguing the efficacy of doing something like that, just talking about the reality of what the NPS will or won't agree to.

Carol

[mac nut]

I can see a new movie about this and the action hero star will say "just a small thermo-nuclear device placed about here"

[Super8]

This stuff called Dexpan, placed into traditional blast holes expands creating the pressure necessary to shear rock. The mash potato analogy is spot on. You're right. The elevation at which you would relieve the pressure of Pu'u O'o is critical. It is easy to assume blasting, but I never mentioned it. Aside from that, a causeway effectively designed to make use of gravity and Bernoulli's principle could "shore up" the Hilina slump and folks may never need to worry about further incident from Pu'u O'o.

[TomK]

Just some old physics guy here, but I'm struggling with the idea of applying Bernoulli's principle to the lava flows on the Big Island, especially in Puna. Do you have something to back up this idea? Just curious. Bernoulli's principle generally applies to fluids with low viscosity. Not sure that's the case with most lava flows here, especially the current flow.

[Super8]

TomK, Bernoulli's principle applies to all liquids and gases. I am aware the viscosity of this lava is thousands of times greater than say, water, so it is hard to imagine, but it is still liquid until it cools. Therein lies the main obstacle to overcome as it is the main point in building the diversion. Most importantly, the flow would have to remain liquid. In order to do this, you would have to create an artificial lava tube on the surface. Seeing as how there are no other examples of moving lava in such a manner (that I am aware of), no I can't give you a link to something. However, Bernoulli's principle still applies. If you search up a diagram of Bernoulli's principle you can use Pu'u O'o as the input side, the diversion causeway as the low pressure/high velocity area, and the output end would be the Pacific.
The exact same thing occurs when a lava tube forms. A boundary layer forms, cools, and the lava now has a conduit allowing it to remain liquid as it travels over long distances. It wouldn't be anything really new. Just never been done before.

[unknownjulie]

There can't be explosives detonated IMO because it could crack foundations all over Pahoa or shake houses off of piers. Then the county would somehow be responsible for the damages. I predict that no humans will do anything to divert the flow, and will just co-exist with whatever pathway that Pele decides to take.

[Bullwinkle]

I believe using water to cool and direct the flow has been used with some success

seems less drastic than using bombers - they have been tried in the past I believe.

[oink]

Why not just disrupt the tube system every time it advances too far so that it has to start over again as a surface flow. I think that's kind of what it's doing on it's own but it might could use a little help sometimes. Eventually it might build up so much that the flow would find less resistance back on the other side of the rift.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.