The name for this Earth Cache was inspired by the first image that sprang to mind as we drove up to park here. The puff balls in Western Australia are a little smaller but similar in shape and texture.
This cache is located on the slopes of the volcano Mauna Loa. It can be accessed by turning south off the Saddle Road near Hairy Hill onto Hilo Kona Road and Observatory Road. The tarmac surfaced roads are easily traversed in a normal car. You will be at a very high altitude so some stops during your ascent may prevent altitude sickness.
The coordinates will take you to geological features easily accessed right on the edge of the road. We found the surface here a little different to the usual clutter of a’a and pahoehoe lava that dominates the terrain here. Cooled chunks of rock that have been formed by prior volcanic action have been coated in a thin layer of low-viscosity lava creating a ball-like appearance. The hot flow soon discontinued leaving an unusual surface texture.
This little crater is the result of a flank eruption that has spewed out lava released at a very high temperature for a short period of time. At WP2 you’ll see many small cracks in the surface of the rock and areas that have begun flaking away through weathering and erosion. These areas show the depth of the lava that settled as it erupted and cooled.
There are several droplets in the shape of a stalactite hanging under the rock at the given coordinates (take care as they are right on the edge of the crater). These lavasicles are the result of molten lava cooling as it dripped from the host rock above. They can also be found under overhanging structures in a lava tube where molten lava has splashed up and dripped from the roof of the tube.
There’s good parking within 30m of GZ.
You may log this Earthcache straight away but then please email your answers to the questions to the CO. We will contact you ONLY if your answers need extra work. Logs with no answers sent will be deleted.
Q1. Which option would best describe the walls and floor of the crater?
- Rocky and loose
- Hard and smooth
- Wet and mossy
Q2. Which option would best describe the surface features here?
- Angular and sharp
- Spherical and smooth
- Heavily eroded and worn
Q3. Give your opinion as to why the terrain surface is different here compared to the rest of the lava surroundings.
This Earthcache was developed with knowlege and information gained after a week-long study of the volcanic processes on Big Island with the Geoventure group led by leaders from the Geological Society of America.
Images used on this page were obtained from Google Images at https://www.google.com.au