2004-6-15
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VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Sarah Long with the
VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we visit two of the
most unusual national parks in the United States. They are Volcanoes
National Park and Haleakala National Park, both in Hawaii.
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VOICE ONE:
Let me ask you a question: What is the tallest mountain on Earth?
Most school children will say the answer is Mount Everest near the
border between Nepal and Tibet.
There is something that is three-hundred-four meters taller than
Mount Everest. However, it is mainly underwater. It begins at the
bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and rises more than seventeen
kilometers from the ocean floor.
Its name is Mauna Loa. In the
Hawaiian language, Mauna Loa means "Long Mountain." Mauna Loa is
more than half of the island of Hawaii, the largest of the Hawaiian
Islands.
It is also the largest and most active volcano on Earth. It has
produced liquid rock called lava more than thirty times since
records were first kept in Eighteen-Forty-Three. Today, Mauna Loa is
quiet. It is not producing lava. However volcano experts say it is
only a matter of time before this happens once again.
VOICE TWO:
Mauna Loa is not the only volcano on the island of Hawaii. There
are four others. Three of them are no longer active. One of them
still is active. It is named Kilauea. It has produced lava more than
fifty times in the last one-hundred years. At this moment, red hot
lava is pouring out of Kilauea. It has been doing this since
Nineteen-Eighty-Three.
Sometimes the lava moves slowly.
At other times it pours out very fast as huge amounts of pressure
force it from the volcano. During these times, it moves almost as
quickly as water moving down the side of a mountain. Sometimes
Kilauea produces large amounts of lava that seem like rivers of
fire.
VOICE ONE:
When the lava from Kilauea reaches the ocean, its fierce heat
produces great amounts of steam that rise into the air. The lava is
so hot it continues to burn underwater for some time. The lava from
Kilauea continues to add land to the island as the volcanoes of
Hawaii have always done. It is these volcanoes that formed the
islands of Hawaii.
Most of the time the lava of Kilauea seems to move peacefully
toward the ocean. Yet it is not as peaceful as it seems from a
distance. In recent years the lava destroyed one small town on the
island. The liquid rock slowly covered the town. It blocked roads
and destroyed them. Nothing can stop the lava of Kilauea. Experts
say the volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea are a serious threat to
property on many parts of the island.
Experts say the volcanoes of the island of Hawaii are proof that
the changing environment of Earth is, and will always remain, beyond
human control.
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VOICE TWO:
Mauna Loa and Kilauea together form Volcanoes National Park in
Hawaii. But another national park has a huge volcano. It is on the
island of Maui. It is the Haleakala National Park. Haleakala in the
Hawaiian language means "House of the Sun."
Haleakala is another huge volcano. Together with a smaller, much
older volcano it helped form the island of Maui. It is no longer
considered to be active. In about Seventeen-Ninety, two areas in the
side of the huge volcano opened and lava came out. The lava moved
down the mountain and into the sea. That was the last recorded
activity at Haleakala.
The volcano that contains Haleakala National Park rises
three-thousand-fifty meters above the sea. We would like to take you
for a visit to Haleakala. For a few minutes, sit back while we drive
the road up to the top of the volcano.
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VOICE ONE:
Our trip begins near the ocean today. We drive through the city
of Kahului. We see businesses and homes, the buildings you find in
any American city. There are more flowers than in many American
cities. The Hawaiian Islands are famous for their flowers.
Soon the road begins to go up. The road moves back and forth and
around corners as it moves up the face of the mountain. At times our
driver must slow the vehicle and turn very sharply. Soon, there are
no more homes or stores.
From the city of Kahului to the top of Haleakala is about
fifty-five kilometers. We will be three-thousand-fifty meters higher
at the top of the mountain.
Very soon, we no longer see trees. We have traveled too high for
them to survive. Soon there are only a few plants. Then there is
nothing but black lava rock. At one place, we begin to enter the
clouds that hang close to the mountain. Our driver turns on the head
lights of the vehicle. Ten minutes later, we are above the clouds in
the bright sunshine.
The road is good, so the trip takes only about an hour.
VOICE TWO:
The National Park Headquarters is about two kilometers from the
top. Park officials at the information center tell you about the
history of the volcano. They say that it is very safe…today. They
also tell you that it could very well become active again. The
experts just do not know.
We soon leave the Park Headquarters and travel up again, this
time to the top. There is an area here to leave our vehicle. We walk
the last few meters to the top.
As we reach the top, almost everyone says similar things. How
strange! Did the violence of a volcano form this? This is so
beautiful!
VOICE ONE:
We are on the top looking down inside what was the most active
part of the volcano. The shape is almost like a circle except the
sides have been stretched…almost the shape of an egg but longer.
There are only a few plants here and no trees. However the
volcano has left thousands of different shapes of lava stone.
Hundreds of years of rain and bright sun have cut long paths in the
stone.
Time has turned the oldest lava to a soft sand. There are huge
mountains. There are also smaller hills that seem to be made of ash
or sand. The place is a riot of color.
One big mountain seems to be a deep dark red. Another area seems
almost yellow. Another is green, and still another is a beautiful
brown color. One area is colored gray that seems to move into a deep
black. It looks as if someone has spilled many colors of paint over
the huge area. The volcano produced these colors because the lava is
very rich in many kinds of minerals.
VOICE TWO:
The area we are seeing stretches for a long distance. This
morning, high on the mountain in the bright sun, we can see almost
forty kilometers of the park. And this is only part of it. There are
eleven-thousand-five-hundred-ninety-six hectares of land in the
park.
Some of the park is closed to visitors. Scientists do research in
those areas. Experts are trying to learn how to grow and protect
some of the very unusual plants that live in Haleakala.
One of these plants is called the Silver Sword. It grows only in
Hawaii. It has long thin silver leaves. It is very beautiful and
unusual.
The Hawaiian Nay-Nay goose also lives here. It is a large bird.
Visitors are asked not to come too near the Nay-Nay. Experts are
helping both the Silver Sword plants and the Nay-Nay geese to
reproduce so they will not disappear from the Earth.
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VOICE ONE:
Thousands of visitors each year enjoy Haleakala National Park on
the island of Maui, and Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the island of
Hawaii. Ships stop at the two islands and buses take the groups of
visitors to see these huge volcanoes.
VOICE ONE(cont):
Many people also fly over the volcanoes in airplanes or
helicopters. This is a safe and popular method of watching Kilauea's
lava moving slowly toward the ocean. Other people see it from
ships.Visitors also may walk into the rain forest created by the
volcano thousands of years ago. Here they can see Waimoku Falls
where water drops one-hundred-twenty meters down the face of a
mountain.
Both parks offer visitors a sight of nature that most people
never have the chance to enjoy. Visitors can see how an active
volcano adds mass to the island. And they can see inside a volcano
that has been silent for hundreds of years.
The United States Park Service is responsible for both Haleakala
and the Hawaii National Volcanoes Park. It works hard to keep both
these areas as nature created them.
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by Paul
Thompson. Our recording engineer today was Bob Phillips. This is
Sarah Long.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another
EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.
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