PAHOEHOE Definition & Meaning

pahoehoe

[ pah-hoh-ey-hoh-ey, puh-hoh-ee-hoh-ee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

basaltic lava having a smooth or billowy surface.

pahoehoe

/ ��ə-��Ǿ�′��Ǿ�′ /

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of pahoehoe¹

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

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�y��vlog 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.”

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Example Sentences

Understanding how pahoehoe morphs into aa is more than just scientific curiosity because the two lava types move at different speeds and pose distinct hazards.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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