astra_nomer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
astra_nomer) wrote2005-10-24 10:35 am
astra_nomer) wrote2005-10-24 10:35 am
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Aloha!
I'm spending the week at this conference, on the Big Island of Hawai`i. I've been markedly unexcited about the trip, for a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with reluctance to travel. But here I am now.
I think if I were to start all over again, I might study the geology and seismology of island atolls, just so I could come back to Hawai`i over and over. Much of the terrain between Kona airport and Waikoloa is lava flows. Looks something like sloppily made burnt brownies, or chewed up asphalt. There are parts that are smoother and more cohesive, where you can tell that yes, it used to be actual liquid rock. In other places, it looks like a ground-up asphalt parking lot. The only thing growing on it is tufts of long yellow grass -- sparser on the more recent flows, thicker on the older ones. There is some greenery up on some of the inland slopes. The areas next to the road are dotted with graffiti, formed by arranging white stones (presumably imported from off-island) into words and pictures. Much of it was the I-heart-Joe or "HJ+MC Forevah" variety, though "Aloha" was a polular one. I spotted some Chinese characters, and a pretty good picture of a humpback whale. There were also lots of foot-high-or-so stacks of rocks, sometimes mixed with the white stones. Turning into the resort complex was kind of a shock because suddenly the ground was neatly covered with sod and full of palm trees.
For comparison, I went to Kawa`i about this time last year for a different conference. Kawa`i is one of the western-most island. The Hawaiian chain of island was formed by a "hot spot" under the earths crust. As the Pacific plate moved west, the volcanic islands formed by the hot spot moved, too, and a new island formed in its place. So Kawa'i is much older, and therefore smaller, and Kona is the newest island, much larger, and with active volcanism. Kawa`i is lush and green. It's nicknamed "the Garden Island." It's got some nifty valleys and waterfalls. Kona is not so green, and valleys and waterfalls have not yet been formed by erosion. The island is still growing. But millions of years from now, Kawa'i may have eroded away, with Kona there in its place.
If the sun rises soon, I will go for a jog. Or maybe I will go for a swim in the sand-bottom pool. Or maybe I will just be lame and hide in my room until breakfast time.
I apologize if I don't have time to comment on all my lovely friends' journal, but you understand, right?
ETA Forgot to pack my jogging shorts. Rats.
I think if I were to start all over again, I might study the geology and seismology of island atolls, just so I could come back to Hawai`i over and over. Much of the terrain between Kona airport and Waikoloa is lava flows. Looks something like sloppily made burnt brownies, or chewed up asphalt. There are parts that are smoother and more cohesive, where you can tell that yes, it used to be actual liquid rock. In other places, it looks like a ground-up asphalt parking lot. The only thing growing on it is tufts of long yellow grass -- sparser on the more recent flows, thicker on the older ones. There is some greenery up on some of the inland slopes. The areas next to the road are dotted with graffiti, formed by arranging white stones (presumably imported from off-island) into words and pictures. Much of it was the I-heart-Joe or "HJ+MC Forevah" variety, though "Aloha" was a polular one. I spotted some Chinese characters, and a pretty good picture of a humpback whale. There were also lots of foot-high-or-so stacks of rocks, sometimes mixed with the white stones. Turning into the resort complex was kind of a shock because suddenly the ground was neatly covered with sod and full of palm trees.
For comparison, I went to Kawa`i about this time last year for a different conference. Kawa`i is one of the western-most island. The Hawaiian chain of island was formed by a "hot spot" under the earths crust. As the Pacific plate moved west, the volcanic islands formed by the hot spot moved, too, and a new island formed in its place. So Kawa'i is much older, and therefore smaller, and Kona is the newest island, much larger, and with active volcanism. Kawa`i is lush and green. It's nicknamed "the Garden Island." It's got some nifty valleys and waterfalls. Kona is not so green, and valleys and waterfalls have not yet been formed by erosion. The island is still growing. But millions of years from now, Kawa'i may have eroded away, with Kona there in its place.
If the sun rises soon, I will go for a jog. Or maybe I will go for a swim in the sand-bottom pool. Or maybe I will just be lame and hide in my room until breakfast time.
I apologize if I don't have time to comment on all my lovely friends' journal, but you understand, right?
ETA Forgot to pack my jogging shorts. Rats.