Is Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano shooting green gems into the air?

Embedded in the lava still spewing some 130 feet into the air from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano are green crystals. 

Called olivine, these minerals can turn Hawaiian beaches green, and it appears some of the green gems are raining down upon homes near the eruption or popping up near lava flows.

“Yes, the lava that is erupting now is very crystal-rich and it is quite possible that residents might be finding olivine,” Cheryl Gansecki, a geologist at the University of Hawaii-Hilo that studies the composition of Kilauea’s lava, said over email. 

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