Pele hair
Pele hair or hair of the pele ( Hawaiian lauoho o pele , Tahitian rouru o pere ) refers to thin threads of volcanic glass that are formed from basaltic lava during volcanic eruptions when it is blown by winds and drawn out.
The fibers can be over a meter long. Their golden color is reminiscent of human hair, which is why they are named after Pele , the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, who , according to mythology , lives in the Kīlauea volcano . In Iceland the material is called nornahár ( norn hair or witch hair ). Pele hair is a natural variant of mineral wool .
The individual threads are easily blown by the wind and can form larger deposits on obstacles.
The drop from which the fiber originates is known as the Pele tear (variants: Peles tear , tear of the pele ). It can often still be found at one end of the strand or, after the hair has broken off, accumulate in depressions.
Pele hair that got caught on the antenna of a measuring station on Puʻu ʻŌʻō
Peles deposition of hair at the curb of a closed parking area below the Halema'uma'u crater
distinctly yellow colored thin layer of pele hair on the Erta Ale
Collection of Peles tears, with US dime and measuring scale for comparison
See also
literature
- Martin Rietze, Marc Szeglat: The hair of the Pele . In: Diess .: volcanoes. Creation and destruction . Herbig, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-7243-1045-7 , pp. 142-147.
Web links
- The hair of Pele (English)