Pele hair

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Pele hair at Kīlauea in Hawaii

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

  • almost completely covered with Pele's hair area not far from the Halema'uma'u Crater (except larger lapilli and bombs )

  • distinctly yellow colored thin layer of pele hair on the Erta Ale

  • Detail of the Erta Ale

  • Peles hair with Peles tears

  • Pele tears as an exhibit in the Jaggar Museum on Kilauea

  • Collection of Peles tears, with US dime and measuring scale for comparison

See also

Commons : Pele-Hair  - Collection of Images
Commons : Pele Tears  - Collection of Images

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pele's hair in Hawaiian Dictionaries ; lauoho in Hawaiian Dictionaries