> The Japanese have their problems with volcanism, but it was the Hawaiians who named the two types of lava. For a fresh look at pahoehoe and aa, go to Hawaii (the island, not the state). They produce a fresh supply of lava everyday.
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Did you know that historically, the same polynesian peoples who came to inhabit Hawaii on their great sea voyages also came to populate the Rarotonga islands (the Maori, in association with New Zealand)?

I wonder whether 'Pahoehoe' and 'aa' have similar counterparts in Maori.


> The Japanese word, "tsunami" is used for siesmic sea waves such as the killer that hit Hilo, Hawaii in 1946. Knowing how geologically active the sea floor is, you have to wonder why tsunamis don't happen every day.
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Yep. Well, there is a certain amount of 'plasticity' even in solid rock which allows it to give way gradually. It's only traumatic undersea events equivalent to 7+ on the Richter scale which produce tsunamis, is that right?

The seafloor is VERY active geologically, considering that relative to the age of the planet, the continual overturning of magmic material makes the ocean floor very young in geological terms.