AGU Week in Review

Posted by Alexandra Matiella Novak Jan 2, 2009

The 2008 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco was a first for me. It was the first time I was there as an exhibitor and a lookey-loo instead of as a researcher. I got to connect with some of my friends from Michigan Tech and also a few familiar faces from my days at UCLA. Unfortunately, the week ended two days early for me as I had to leave San Francisco for a family emergency. But still, I got to visit some posters and sit in on a couple of talks before I left.

One of the posters I particularly enjoyed was presented by Matt Patrick of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. His poster highlighted the current increase in the Kilauea eruption. This is a very exciting time for volcanologists at HVO becausue Kilauea is the more active right now than it has been in about two decades. Usually, Kilauea Volcano is erupting gases and lava flows in a non-explosive way, which is still very useful - and safe - for collecting valueable information on volcanic activity. This information includes gas, seismic, deformation and lava extrusion data. But now, with explosive activity, the volcanologists at HVO can gather data on a more complex eruption. This data will provide great insight into what factors control the explosiveness - or non-explosiveness - of a volcano. 2008 might not have been a great year for the rest of us, but it was a great year for science at HVO.

For more information: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory