On January 3, 1983 Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii began what seemed to be a fairly routine eruption. It wasn't anything that caught the attention of the world's media like Mount Saint Helen's or Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. There were no spectacular explosions or wide spread devastation from thick ash falls. There was virtually no ash at all. What there was was lava. At first in the form of a fountain or geyser and then, as the years passed (yes, that's YEARS) the lava took on what vulcanologist call an "effusive" character where it simply oozes out of various vents and flows downhill. While it occasionally still produces geyser-like outbursts its been basically oozing lava continuously now for 28 years expanding the landmass of the Big Island by 2 square kilometers in the process.