Excerpts from the Report of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Jan.–Mch., 1912.—Published by the Society of Arts of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, now in operation for five years from July 1, 1912, under the direction of the Department of Geology of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the result and culmination of a succession of investigations, constructions, appointments, and expeditions, mostly under that institution, which began in 1898 with the building of a small geodetic observatory in Boston. The work has been concerned with geodesy, astronomy, magnetism, and geology, and has been partly under the direction of officers of the Department of Civil Engineering and partly under professors of geology. The result of this activity that had the most direct bearing on the establishment of the volcano observatory was its influence on the trustees of the Whitney estates, who, on July 1, 1909, gave to the Institute the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) as a memorial of Edward and Caroline Rogers Whitney of Boston, for the conduct of research [[195]]or teaching in geophysics to include investigations in seismology, conducted with a view to the protection of human life and property, present preference being that some investigations in geophysics be undertaken in Hawaii.
M. I. T. HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY, KILAUEA CRATER
The purpose of the science of geophysics is to investigate all the physical and chemical processes going on in the earth. Recent disasters such as Messina and San Francisco have shown how defective, for humane and practical purposes, our knowledge of these processes is. Before the intervention of the Whitney trustees, it had been the desire of the Institute to secure a volcanic site in order to observe the local activities of a particular volcano, as well as the waves which pass through the earth from distant earthquakes. Professor Jaggar had, for some time past, been investigating and considering this subject.
After mature deliberation Professor Jaggar concluded that Kilauea affords the best point for the location of the proposed observatory among those places in the world which have come to his knowledge, for the following reasons:
“1. At other volcanoes the eruptions are more explosive and an observatory located close enough to the centre of activity is in some danger. Kilauea, while displaying great and varied activity, is relatively safe.
“2. Other volcanoes are more or less connected [[196]]in chains, making many stations necessary in order to determine the relations of the different craters to each other. Kilauea and Mauna Loa form an isolated centre of activity, over 2,000 miles from the nearest active vent, so that the phenomena of these two vents can be recorded without complications occasioned by other near-by centres.
“3. Kilauea is very accessible. The near-by harbor at Hilo is only thirty-one miles distant; it may be reached by railroad and a good drive-way, and Honolulu, a centre of traffic and science, is easily reached in a day.
“4. The Central Pacific position is unique, and is of advantage for recording distant earthquakes through the uninterrupted sea floor which lies between Hawaii and many earthquake places such as South America, Mexico, and Japan. For expeditions in case of disaster or otherwise, a relatively short route is assured, with abundant means of transportation to Pacific and East Indian ports. For the study of the deep sea floor, Hawaii is obviously favorable.