https://bereket-haileab.geology.sites.carleton.edu/files/original/140951cbe287d9fca0186fa06776d1a2.jpg aa45a3ee2266cc5e7bdf23d5712abd20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Igneous Rocks Subject The topic of the resource This collection covers both volcanic and intrusive rocks, including rhyolites, granites, diorites, andesites, basalts, gabbros, diabases, pumices, obsidians, syenites, phonolites, peridotites, carbonatites, dacites, trachyte, dunites, xenoliths, ignimbrites, and pegmatites. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bereket Haileab Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Housed in Anderson Hall, Carleton College. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Thin sections, thin section scans, hand samples, hand sample images, photomicrographs, chemical analyses (major elements, trace elements and REE analyses for selected samples). Hand sample Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BH250-232b Subject The topic of the resource Pele’s Hair Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Location: Hawaii, Fissure 8 GPS Locations: 19°27'44.53"N, 154°54'29.61"W Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From the rock collection of Bereket Haileab. Sample 232b. Housed at Carleton College in Minnesota. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022 Type The nature or genre of the resource Hand sample Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bereket Haileab Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Bereket Haileab Relation A related resource <iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sU0hhve3Q4tWK37AJNt3uvT4oxvuVNf3/preview" allow="autoplay"></iframe> <iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VtJY2gMqN9CXYaXo6DN-I_NiAL3dhI6L/preview" allow="autoplay"></iframe> <iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tsJI8YORz75oaz56tyUkasdnqTrqNHpG/preview" allow="autoplay"></iframe><iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/10dJAVgLsSavTO-69BV1FRfSMWbUufUUl/preview" allow="autoplay"></iframe><iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZjT-GMaJ-GofB3as4KwoSoUoj1GbKylb/preview" allow="autoplay"></iframe> Description An account of the resource Pele’s Hair is a striking volcanic product named after Pele. Although it resembles human hair, Pele’s Hair is actually composed of delicate strands of volcanic glass formed from molten basaltic lava. These thin, silky fibers develop during lava fountaining, spattering, or vigorous lava flows when blobs of lava are thrown into the air and stretched by wind, motion, and surface tension into long filaments before cooling rapidly. Once quenched, the molten threads solidify into shimmering golden, amber, or dark brown strands that may blanket the ground downwind of an erupting vent. Pele’s Hair is most commonly associated with basaltic volcanoes such as Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, where low-viscosity magma and lava fountains provide ideal eruptive conditions. Because basalt is fluid and gas-rich, droplets can be drawn into threads several centimeters to tens of centimeters long, though many are much shorter. Chemically, Pele’s Hair is basaltic glass rich in iron, magnesium, calcium, and silica typical of Hawaiian tholeiitic lava. Mineralogically, it is mostly natural volcanic glass, though tiny microlites of plagioclase, pyroxene, or olivine may begin to crystallize if cooling is slightly slower. In hand sample, Pele’s Hair appears as fine golden threads with a metallic sheen, often tangled into wispy nests or draped across lava surfaces, vegetation, fences, or rocks (see photos). It is extremely lightweight, brittle, and sharp enough to irritate skin or eyes, so it should be handled carefully. Because it is so fragile, wind and rain quickly break it down, making fresh deposits especially prized by collectors and volcanologists. Pele’s Hair can also provide clues to eruption style, fountain height, wind direction, and magma viscosity. Long, abundant strands generally indicate vigorous lava fountaining and efficient stretching of molten droplets in the air. Often found alongside Pele’s Hair are Pele’s Tears, tiny rounded droplets or tear-shaped beads of volcanic glass that cooled before being stretched into fibers, as well as reticulite, highly vesicular volcanic glass foam. These materials form from the same eruptive process but preserve different responses of airborne lava to motion and cooling. In many eruptions, they occur together, recording the dynamic fragmentation and rapid quenching of lava during Hawaiian fire-fountain eruptions. Specimens such as BH250-232c beautifully illustrate this association, where strands of Pele’s Hair accompany small glassy beads and frothy reticulite fragments. basaltic glass Basaltic volcanic glass fibrous glass filamentous fine volcanic glass glassy fiber Hawaii Hawaiian volcanism Hawaiian Volcanoes igneous Kilauea Lava fountaining products mafic Mauna Loa Microlites Pele's hair Pele’s Hair Pele’s Tears pyroclastic Pyroclastic droplets Quenched silicate melt Rapid quenching Reticulite tephra Vesicular Glass Vesiculated volcanic glass volcanic Volcanic glass Volcanic tephra Volcanic textures wind blown volcanic material