pahoehoe

American  

[pah-hoh-ey-hoh-ey, puh-hoh-ee-hoh-ee] / pɑˈhoʊ eɪˌhoʊ eɪ, pəˈhoʊ iˌhoʊ i /

noun

1. basaltic lava having a smooth or billowy surface.

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pahoehoe Scientific  

/ pə-hoi′hoi′ /

1. A type of lava having a smooth, swirled surface. It is highly fluid and spreads out in shiny sheets.

2. Compare aa

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Word History

The islands that make up Hawaii were born and bred from volcanoes that rose up over thousands of years from the sea floor. Volcanoes are such an important part of the Hawaiian landscape and environment that the people who originally settled Hawaii, the Polynesians, worshiped a special volcano goddess, Pele. Not surprisingly, two words have entered English from Hawaiian that are used by scientists in naming different kinds of lava flows. One, pahoehoe, refers to lava with a smooth, shiny, or swirled surface and comes from the Hawaiian verb hoe, “to paddle” (since paddles make swirls in the water). The other, aa, refers to lava having a rough surface and comes from the Hawaiian word meaning “to burn.”

Etymology

Origin of pahoehoe

First recorded in 1855–60, pahoehoe is from the Hawaiian word pāhoehoe

Example Sentences

Emerson pulverized a bit of hardened pahoehoe from a 1920 eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano and heated the powdered rock in a furnace until it was white-hot and oozed like honey.

From Science Magazine

The mucky gunge resembled a certain type of lava referred to as "pahoehoe", which is observed at Hawaii's famous Kīlauea volcano.

From BBC

It was followed by a grueling three-hour trek over a volcanic smorgasbord of chunky lava — ropy pahoehoe formations, cinder cones and a goulash of grit.

From Washington Post

It produced two small pahoehoe flows, which paved over its a'a flow.

From Scientific American

Kilauea, by contrast, is a shield volcano: Its magma is relatively low in silica and flows easily, oozing out in characteristic ropy flows called pahoehoe and thick, blocky flows called aa.

From Scientific American