Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii -1940 Eruption

[mmikemoore]

@RiveramayaNatsuya Absolutely wrong!

[bmanct]

This ia actually the 1940 eruption of Mauna Loa, not 1933; you can see this when comparing this AMAZING footage with still photos of both eruptions that appeared in scientific publications (e.g., Gordon A. Macdonald (1954) Activity of the Hawaiian volcanoes during the years 1940-1950, Bulletin Volcanologique vol. 15, pp. 119-179). However, color movies were made, to my knowledge, already in the second half of the 1930s.

[beggbog]

I WAS TOLD KODAL MODEL A 16MM WAS 1923 AND COLOUR AND DEAD CHEAP ONLY A FEW HUNDRED POUNDS A CAMERA BUT THIS IS LOOKING LIKE A DREAM IN THE 1930S ITS NOT THAT ITS IN COLOUR ITS RESOLUTION IS MODERN LIKE IT WAS FILMED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS MAYBE THEY USED A PROFESSIONAL 16MM CAMERA NOT A CONSUMER ONE FROM DIXONS INCREDIBLE FOTAGE YOU HAVE SERVED US AMUTER 16MM CAMERA USERS WELL THIS THIS ADVERT THANKS IMA ABOUT TO LOAD MY KODAK 16MM 1936 FOR A LITTLE SHOOT AND A KODAK B

[mmikemoore]

@beggbog Yes, it was filmed using 16mm Kodak movie film.

[RiveramayaNatsuya]

@mmikemoore or maybe it was just here in philippines we use b and w cameras

[midnightblackkat]

From this angle this looks like its actually a fissure eruption!

[mmikemoore]

According the Kodak website, 16mm Kodacolor film was introduced in 1928. Hawaii was surely one of the first places it was used.

[rubin808]

This is from 1930's? Did they have colored film back then?

I like the scenery. I can see snow. Hot lava with snow. Fire and ice!

[christinasketo]

can anyone help me to find some written information about this eruption? i am doing a project

[saliro5]

I just found an old 1950's 16mm projector and a film reel with the label "Islands Eruption" I tried to get the thing going but setting up the film is not easy for a first timer. I hope I see this footage when I finally get it going

[outlawcountryman]

1935?? musta been one of the first color films in exsistence

[oldclassicmovies]

Wow this is cool!

[cute7thgradeboy]

wow. I can't believe that this is from the 1930s. it's unbeleiveable

[mmikemoore]

Stearns is undoubtedly freezing at that altitute in an open cockpit plane. This is probably what caused the camera shaking so much....the only bad aspect of this film.

[bantamopolis]

Thanks for that

Been up as far as the weather station at over 11,000 feet lovely huge lava flows from differenrt eras

What intrigues me is that if you google earth the south west flank of Mauna Loa you can clearly see swathes of molten lava breaking through in many areas. It is remote but I can,t find any acknowledgement of this activity or when it occurred and it surprises me . I live in England so I rely on somebody else for info Love the Kilauea Iki footage this is top

[hawaiinuiloa]

I just looked at an aerial map of Mauna Loa, maybe my perception is "off"....maybe from a small plane that close the terrain does look that big!! The scattered snow patches would be along the "slopes of Mauna Loa" itself. Sorry for being so quick to jude or misjudge, how ever it may be.

[JCJasion]

Remarkable film and wonderful quality.

[molokaicreeper]

This video beats any hi-definition hi-quality video of today. If people knew how hard it was to make a color film these days they would appreciate this video more and they wouldn't mind the fact that it is silent. Thanks for this. I was reading widescreenmuseum and I swear I will NEVER take these old color films for granted! A work of art in all its glory!

[2rijigtonlager]

This film is colored in afterwards with modern technology.

The original was black and white.

[JTB101293]

Yeah nice

[hebneh]

This eruption is in Mokuaweoweo Crater at the summit of Mauna Loa, which is over 13,000 feet in altitude. There's no paved road to the summit even today, so viewing it from the air would've been the most reasonable way to do so. You'll notice there are white patches of snow visible in many shots.

I believe this is the 1940 eruption, and as some other comments have pointed out, 16mm Kodachrome color film was widely available at that time.

[mmikemoore]

Mauna kea has not erupted in over 4000 years.

[bentleius]

I was responding to 05aspeed who said Mauna Loa is the tallest mt in the world foot-to-summit. It isn't. Mauna Kea is. I'm not saying the video is Mauna Kea. It says it's Mauna Loa and I got no reason to doubt it. I have no idea. It could be Sugarloaf Mountain for all I know

[mfleetwood18]

Right Mauna Kea is the tallest. Mauna Loa is the most massive mountain on the planet -- and 2nd or 3rd in the entire solar system.

[2008cmh]

Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984 according to "Hawaii Volcanoes National Park" book publish in 2001. Book is by Sharlene and Ted Nelson. It talks about the park and both volcanoes(Mauna Loa and Kilauea).

[mmikemoore]

@2008cmh It erupted for several years....perhaps even a decade or more if memory serves.

[05aspeed]

same thing

[davidsquall351]

wow! great footage.

old school lol

[lordrudy44]

great stuff thx for sharing

[ATwinklingStar]

very kewl information from most of you and for this being a 1930s video its totally kewl :)

[nic95starz]

ooo tis is creppy~~~scary!!

[05aspeed]

mauna loa is the tallest mountain in the world from base to sumit. Everest is only the highest from sea level. If you stood them next to eachother, mauna loa would be taller.

[esetnod32]

holy crap cool

[walakakeiki]

Geologists were quite brave in those days. I was fortunate to have met some when I was small.  Though I did not become a geologist, I have been fascinated all my life with all the wonders here in Hawaii.

[ninjarocker1]

where they join or come apart, when the tectonic plates come apart than causes the pressure to go down and magma to rise to the surface... you could call that a volcanic eruption i guess.

[shaunlamb944]

this video is amazing

[thispagesux]

am i right in thinking that you only get volcano's at the point where tectonic plates join or can they form anywhere?

[mmikemoore]

Hawaiian islands are on a plate, in the middle of the Pacific Plate far from a plate boundary, moving southeast across what is called a "hotspot" thus the progression of volcanic produced islands in a "chain" that trends in the opposite direction; northwest. Yellowstone National Park is on top of another hotspot in the middle of a continent...but the North American Plate is not moving so rapidly as the Pacific Plate.

[thispagesux]

there's a place in ethiopia where the dessert is black and there are lakes of toxix sulphur and all sorts of nasty shit. the air around these lakes would make someone really ill if not kill them. im pretty sure there are valleys and deep cracks with lava and smoke oozing out everywhere. does that mean it's on the edge of a plate or has the magma and gasses pushed it's way up through a weak point in the crust?

[mmikemoore]

I believe that the location you speak of is on or near the East African Rift zone. If you're familiar with the "horn" of Africa, it is a divergent plate boundary and the horn is pulling away from the continent of Africa towards the east....this results in a thinning of the crust and the volcanic phenomena that you mention.

[MVillani1985]

You can also get volcanoes in hot spots.

[bwlfp]

Great to see this rare footage.

[1luvmoosic]

So very cool.

[mmikemoore]

This film was locked away and not viewed by anyone from about 1940 until just recently. The Widow Stearns only released it upon Harold's passing.

[Argamen123]

there is also the possibility that the colour may have been digitally enhanced onto the film later on about the 90's and 00's.

[mmikemoore]

Nope, the original 16mm film was digitized by the same lab that digitized the 8mm Kennedy assasination film. This film was cleaned only, no color correction at all. Howard Stearns just had a very, very good day!

[Argamen123]

This video is amazing though, for the 1930's the colours are really good, much better than I had expected, and the shots are excellent, with a nice sweeping shot at the end for dramatic effect :)

[doraemonblue]

oh god, it nice!

[wgjpinoy654]

Wow that's awesome, i've been to Haleakala volcano, was my first time in a volcanic crater, too bad no lava that time.

[cnossie13]

they had color tv in the 30ies?

[leiatyndall]

As I understand it, color film came out before color TVs (i.e movies were in color, but color TVs weren't generally available to the public until the mid or late '60s).

[mmikemoore]

In the mid and late 1930's Harold Stearns toured the nation's leading universities charging admission to see "his"

16mm color film and hear his lecture about Hawaiian volcanism. All of which got him in trouble with his boss, the Director of the USGS. Even though the raw film and movie camera belong to Stearns, the Director advised him that since the film was made on government time, it (this film) belong to the USGS (placing it in the public domain).

[jakopfaltman]

how many people wtached it then? they couldn't have the technology at home... or did they?

[madpaintbalerx]

No, they did. the TV was invented in either the 20's or 30's, and color followed, but it was much more expensive, and TVs couldn't display color at that time.

[jakopfaltman]

amazing. they couldn't air it at that time though...

[RKBrockstheworld]

they don't make em like that anymore..the volcano is dying

[Shandchem]

Amazing video footage of fountains of molten rock! Thank you.

[bigeggone2007]

is this in color? this would lead me to believe the date isnt accurate.?

[mmikemoore]

Kodak sold 16mm color reversal film all over Hawaii beginning in the early 1930's. Look up history of Eastman Kodak.

[littledevil112233]

???????wats happening???????

[InnerSakura1993]

This Volcano reminds me of eating choco and nuts.

[xtimxfatex]

OH MY GOD

stunning

[rtb1980]

That is incredible. YOu should upload it to GaiaGoneWild dotcom, they are compiling a huge collection of this type of footage.

The lava is stunning!

[septcore]

wow... incredible eruption... can you imagine the proportions of that.. immense... and beautiful :) thank you for posting this film :)

[kevin12abcde]

wow