Field of Science

Hawaii's Kilauea Eruption Did Not Rain Gemstones From The Sky

Since the beginning of May 2018, the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii has been erupting. First a cloud of fragmented older lava, volcanic ash and vapor rose from the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater on the summit, magma then migrated to the flanks, opening a series of fissures from where now lava is pouring out.

Around five weeks into the eruption, some residents of the town of Kalapana reported small, green crystals to be found on the ground, soon speculating that the crystals rained out from the eruption column or the lava fountains of Kilauea.


Olivine sand from the Papakolea Beach on Hawai'i. Source and Credit: Wikipedia-user Tomintx, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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