Hawaii National Park - Thurston Lava Tube
At the turn of the century, Lorrin Thurston, publisher and owner of the Honolulu Pacific Advertiser, and majority investor in the Volcano House, spent many of his days exploring the area of Kīlauea volcano. One of his discoveries was a giant lava tube. Lava tubes are formed when rivers of lava cool and crust over. The still molten lava in the interior continues to flow down hill. Eventually the lava drains out of the tube leaving a cave like shell. Some of these tubes can be up to ten miles long and quite large in the interior. Some have been measured from twenty to fifty feet from floor to top and twenty to thirty feet wide. They are indicative of the great volume of lava which has passed through them. What is most interesting geologically about the Thurston Lava Tube is where did the lava come from which formed this tube. The lava tube is above the summits of Kilauea Iki and Kīlauea. The answer to this puzzle is that Thurston lava tube is of great age. It was created well over ten thousand years ago when the summit of Kīlauea was much higher than it is today. Geologists call this ancient Kīlauea, `Ailau (pronounced: “eye-lau”), meaning “to eat much.” The summit of `Ailau was located where Kīlauea Iki is today and disappeared in a massive summit explosion over ten thousand years ago, leaving behind the only evidence of its existence in the Thurston Lava Tube.
The Thurston Lava Tube is a major attraction along the Crater Rim Drive. Thurston Lava Tube is located in the rain forest ecological zone. The abundant rainfall contributes to the lush growth of the forest canopy trees and the under storey vegetation one sees along the trail to the lava tube. These forests are most characterized by the presence of large `ōhi`a trees and hapu`u (pronounced: “ha-poo-oo”), or the large tree ferns which dominate the forest here. These tree sized ferns grow slowly, maybe only one inch per year, so some of the larger tree ferns here are over one hundred years old. The lush growth also attracts abundant native birds such as the `amakihi and `apapane which can be easily heard and seen in this area. Lava tubes have extremely interesting ecology and support rare live forms such as blind crickets and spiders which have adapted to these dark, cave like, structures. The visit here consists of a short walk down a paved trail as it descends into a pit crater (the sides of which are hard to distinguish because they are covered with vegetation) and then through a short section of the lava tube itself. The tube has interior lighting so you may be able to observe the drip line and features of the once liquid lava. Tree roots dangle from the roof and water drip in the cool, dark, environment. Finally, the trail loops back to the starting point.
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