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Research about Hawaii

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Hawaii.

At least 811 records · Page 45Linked to original sources
USGS2004

Maps of Hawaiian Islands exclusive economic zone interpreted from GLORIA sidescan-sonar imagery

The map is geology around the Hawaiian Islands derived from GLORIA data collected in 1986-1989 from the southeastern Hawaiian Ridge EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), which covers more than 1,000,000 km 2 of sea floor. The seafloor is characterized by a variety of volcanic and sedimentary processes. Cretaceous age seafloor underlies both subaerial and subaqueous erupted lava forming the Hawaiian Ridge and various Cretaceous seamounts. Subaerial lava quenches and brecciates as it enters the ocean forming smooth slopes. The mobile flanks of the islands have given way into slumps and debris avalanches.

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USGS2003

Kilauea east rift zone magmatism: An episode 54 perspective

On January 29 30, 1997, prolonged steady-state effusion of lava from Pu'u'O'o was briefly disrupted by shallow extension beneath Napau Crater, 1 4 km uprift of the active Kilauea vent. A 23-h-long eruption ( episode 54 ) ensued from fissures that were overlapping or en echelon with eruptive fissures formed during episode 1 in 1983 and those of earlier rift zone eruptions in 1963 and 1968. Combined geophysical and petrologic data for the 1994 1999 eruptive interval, including episode 54 , reveal a variety of shallow magmatic conditions that persist in association with prolonged rift zone eruption. Near-vent lava samples document a significant range in composition, temperature and crystallinity of pre-eruptive magma. As supported by phenocryst liquid relations and Kilauea mineral thermometers established herein, the rift zone extension that led to episode 54 resulted in mixture of near-cotectic magma with discrete magma bodies cooled to ≤1100°C. Mixing models indicate that magmas isolated beneath Napau Crater since 1963 and 1968 constituted 32 65% of the hybrid mixtures erupted during episode 54 . Geophysical measurements support passive displacement of open-system magma along the active east rift conduit into closed-system rift -reservoirs along a shallow zone of extension. Geophysical and petrologic data for early episode 55 document the gradual flushing of episode 54 related magma during magmatic recharge of the edifice.

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USGS2003

New K-Ar ages and the geologic evidence against rejuvenated-stage volcanism at Haleakalā, East Maui, a postshield-stage volcano of the Hawaiian island chain

The postshield and previously inferred rejuvenated-stage history of Haleakalā volcano is reevaluated on the basis of 52 new K-Ar ages, 42 from the postshield Kula Volcanics and 10 from the overlying Hāna Volcanics. Postshield extrusion was robust from 0.93 to 0.76 Ma. A period of low extrusion rate or volcanic quiescence occurred between 0.76 and 0.65 Ma, well within Kula time. A chemical change to increasingly alkalic lava occurred at this time as the volcano changed from broadly hawaiitic to basanitic in its eruptive products and robust extrusion resumed. A slightly longer period of low extrusion rate or quiescence occurred after ca. 0.4 Ma, but only trifling change in geochemical character is observed. Geochemically, the Hāna Volcanics unit, chiefly basanitic, overlaps greatly with the upper part of the Kula Volcanics; there is a weak tendency to slightly more alkaline character among the Hāna Volcanics. The age of the Kula/Hāna boundary is ca. 0.15–0.12 Ma; thus, volcanic quiescence of only ∼0.03 m.y. separates the two formations, much shorter than the previously known limit of 0.25–0.30 m.y. The brevity of this hiatus, coupled with coincident vent loci and broadly similar geochemical characteristics for the Hāna and the upper part of the Kula Volcanics, indicates that the Hāna Volcanics unit comprises deposits of postshield-stage volcanism that has waned substantially since ca. 0.4–0.3 Ma. Haleakalā has not yet begun a classically defined rejuvenated stage. Our findings support recent numerical modeling of plume-lithosphere interactions that predict that Haleakalā is near the end of its postshield growth.

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USGS2003

The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō-Kūpaianaha eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: The first 20 years

The Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha eruption started on January 3, 1983. The ensuing 20-year period of nearly continuous eruption is the longest at Kilauea Volcano since the famous lava-lake activity of the 19th century. No rift-zone eruption in more than 600 years even comes close to matching the duration and volume of activity of these past two decades. Fortunately, such a landmark event came during a period of remarkable technological advancements in volcano monitoring. When the eruption began, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS) were but glimmers on the horizon, broadband seismology was in its infancy, and the correlation spectrometer (COSPEC), used to measure SO2 flux, was still very young. Now, all of these techniques are employed on a daily basis to track the ongoing eruption and construct models about its behavior. The 12 chapters in this volume, written by present or past Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff members and close collaborators, celebrate the growth of understanding that has resulted from research during the past 20 years of Kilauea's eruption. The chapters range widely in emphasis, subject matter, and scope, but all present new concepts or important modifications of previous ideas - in some cases, ideas long held and cherished.

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USGS2003

Availability and distribution of base flow in lower Honokohau Stream, Island of Maui

Honokohau Stream is one of the few perennial streams in the Lahaina District of West Maui. Current Honokohau water-use practices often lead to conflicts among water users, which are most evident during periods of base flow. To better manage the resource, data are needed that describe the availability and distribution of base flow in lower Honokohau Stream and how base flow is affected by streamflow diversion and return-flow practices. Flow-duration discharges for percentiles ranging from 50 to 95 percent were estimated at 13 locations on lower Honokohau Stream using data from a variety of sources. These sources included (1) available U.S. Geological Survey discharge data, (2) published summaries of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. diversion and water development-tunnel data, (3) seepage run and low-flow partial-record discharge measurements made for this study, and (4) current (2003) water diversion and return-flow practices. These flow-duration estimates provide a detailed characterization of the distribution and availability of base flow in lower Honokohau Stream. Estimates of base-flow statistics indicate the significant effect of Honokohau Ditch diversions on flow in the stream. Eighty-six percent of the total flow upstream from the ditch is diverted from the stream. Immediately downstream from the diversion dam there is no flow in the stream 91.2 percent of the time, except for minor leakage through the dam. Flow releases at the Taro Gate, from Honokohau Ditch back into the stream, are inconsistent and were found to be less than the target release of 1.55 cubic feet per second on 9 of the 10 days on which measurements were made. Previous estimates of base-flow availability downstream from the Taro Gate release range from 2.32 to 4.6 cubic feet per second (1.5 to 3.0 million gallons per day). At the two principal sites where water is currently being diverted for agricultural use in the valley (MacDonald's and Chun's Dams), base flows of 2.32 cubic feet per second (1.5 million gallons per day) are available more than 95 percent of the time at MacDonald's Dam and 80 percent of the time at Chun's Dam. Base flows of 4.6 cubic feet per second (3.0 million gallons per day) are available 65 and 56 percent of the time, respectively. A base-flow water-accounting model was developed to estimate how flow-duration discharges for 13 sites on Honokohau Stream would change in response to a variety of flow release and diversion practices. A sample application of the model indicates that there is a 1 to 1 relation between changes in flow release rates at the Taro Gate and base flow upstream from MacDonald's Dam. At Chun's Dam the relation between Taro Gate releases and base flow varies with flow-duration percentiles. At the 95th and 60th percentiles, differences in base flow at Chun's Dam would equal about 50 and 90 percent of the change at the Taro Gate.

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USGS2003

Methods for capturing and banding Kalij Pheasants

We developed methods to capture and band Kalij Pheasants ( Lophura leucomelanos ) in their introduced range at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where they are not hunted and are relatively tame. Kalij were wary of foreign structures, such as traps, but readily took cracked corn bait and entered baited traps, provided they were introduced to them gradually. The majority of Kalij on the study site (53 of 64 birds) were captured using three trap designs: open-door trap, large box trap with hinged door, and drop trap. While the open-door trap was more mobile and easily set up in cramped forest spaces, only groups of as many as five birds could be captured at a time. The large, more cumber-some box traps captured groups of up to eight birds, whereas drop traps successfully captured only one bird at a time. Females were more difficult to capture than males. Band size was 7A for males and 6 for females.

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USGS2002

Episodic thermal perturbations associated with groundwater flow: An example from Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Temperature measurements in deep drill holes on volcano summits or upper flanks allow a quantitative analysis of groundwater induced heat transport within the edifice. We present a new temperature-depth profile from a deep well on the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, and analyze it in conjunction with a temperature profile measured 26 years earlier. We propose two groundwater flow models to interpret the complex temperature profiles. The first is a modified confined lateral flow model (CLFM) with a continuous flux of hydrothermal fluid. In the second, transient flow model (TFM), slow conductive cooling follows a brief, advective heating event. We carry out numerical simulations to examine the timescales associated with each of the models. Results for both models are sensitive to the initial conditions, and with realistic initial conditions it takes between 750 and 1000 simulation years for either model to match the measured temperature profiles. With somewhat hotter initial conditions, results are consistent with onset of a hydrothermal plume ∼550 years ago, coincident with initiation of caldera subsidence. We show that the TFM is consistent with other data from hydrothermal systems and laboratory experiments and perhaps is more appropriate for this highly dynamic environment. The TFM implies that volcano-hydrothermal systems may be dominated by episodic events and that thermal perturbations may persist for several thousand years after hydrothermal flow has ceased.

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USGS2002

Sun photometer and lidar measurements of the plume from the Hawaii Kilauea Volcano Pu'u O'o vent: Aerosol flux and SO2 lifetime

Aerosol optical depths and lidar measurements were obtained under the plume of Hawaii Kilauea Volcano on August 17, 2001, ∼9 km downwind from the erupting Pu'u O'o vent. Measured aerosol optical depths (at 500 nm) were between 0.2–0.4. Aerosol size distributions inverted from the spectral sun photometer measurements suggest the volcanic aerosol is present in the accumulation mode (0.1–0.5 micron diameter), which is consistent with past in situ optical counter measurements. The aerosol dry mass flux rate was calculated to be 53 Mg d −1 . The estimated SO 2 emission rate during the aerosol measurements was ∼1450 Mg d −1 . Assuming the sulfur emissions at Pu'u O'o vent are mainly SO 2 (not aerosol), this corresponds to a SO 2 half-life of 6.0 hours in the atmosphere.

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USGS2002

The 12 September 1999 Upper East Rift Zone dike intrusion at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Deformation associated with an earthquake swarm on 12 September 1999 in the Upper East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano was recorded by continuous GPS receivers and by borehole tiltmeters. Analyses of campaign GPS, leveling data, and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data from the ERS-2 satellite also reveal significant deformation from the swarm. We interpret the swarm as resulting from a dike intrusion and model the deformation field using a constant pressure dike source. Nonlinear inversion was used to find the model that best fits the data. The optimal dike is located beneath and slightly to the west of Mauna Ulu, dips steeply toward the south, and strikes nearly east-west. It is approximately 3 by 2 km across and was driven by a pressure of ∼15 MPa. The total volume of the dike was 3.3 × 10 6 m 3 . Tilt data indicate a west to east propagation direction. Lack of premonitory inflation of Kilauea's summit suggests a passive intrusion; that is, the immediate cause of the intrusion was probably tensile failure in the shallow crust of the Upper East Rift Zone brought about by persistent deep rifting and by continued seaward sliding of Kilauea's south flank.

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USGS2002

Submarine landslides and volcanic features on Kohala and Mauna Kea volcanoes and the Hana Ridge, Hawaii

The deep submarine eastern flanks of Mauna Kea, Kohala, and Haleakala volcanoes were mapped for the first time with a multibeam bathymetric and sidescan sonar system during joint Japan-US cruises aboard the JAMSTEC vessel R/V Yokosuka in 1999. The Pololu slump off northeast Kohala is overlain by a carbonate platform in the shallow region and the deeper areas are incised by downslope oriented channels. It is cut by several faults and slump scars and appears to override an older slide located farther east, here named the Laupahoehoe slump. The structures characteristic of the Laupahoehoe slump are NW-SE oriented scarp-and-bench topographic features analogous to the Hilina slump on the mobile SE flank of Kilauea. Enclosed basins lie at 3000-5000 m, fronted by ridges on their seaward sides. The basins may result from local rotational slumps or from uplift above discontinuous thrust faults. The Laupahoehoe slump appears to be overlapped by shield margins of both Kohala and Mauna Kea and thus may have been derived from an elongate Kohala edifice. A large debris apron continues from the base of the two-slide complex, abutting the distal Hana Ridge (Haleakala east rift zone). The tip of the Hana Ridge displays a curious steepsided arcuate rift tip that resembles the classic amphitheater scarp of a landslide. Numerous flat-topped volcanic domes are distributed along the broad crest of the lower rift zone. Similar cones, though fewer in number, are also present on the Hilo Ridge, which may be the continuation of a Kohala rift zone.

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USGS2002

Deep-sea volcaniclastic sedimentation around the southern flank of Hawaii

Most slopes of the Hilina slump are steep, but local small benches, mantled by volcaniclastic sand and fine sediments, were sampled in 1998-1999 with ROV KAIKO and DSRV SHINKAI 6500. Most surficial glass sands on the Hilina slump have compositions of subaerially erupted Kilauea lava, which fragmented and quenched as they entered the sea. Samples from the base of the Puna Ridge contain both subaerially and submarine-erupted fragments of Kilauea composition. Some glass sands from the base of Loihi contain both subaerial Kilauea and submarine Loihi compositions in the same bed. Two piston cores, collected 120 km (P6) and 250 km (P5) southeast of Hawaii, are composed of fine sediments interbedded with volcaniclastic turbidite layers. Although some volcaniclastic fragments in the fine sediments intervals are disturbed by bioturbation, nearly continuous volcanostratigraphic sequences are preserved. P6 and the upper 2.3 m of P5 are normally magnetized: the lower part of P5 is reversed and is therefore older than 0.78 Ma. At depths of 4 m below sea floor (mbsf) in P6 and 1 mbsf in P5, the dominant glass compositions change down core from Kilauea to Mauna Loa type. In the P6, an interval of abundant submarine-erupted alkalic glasses lies between 3.3 and 1.75 mbsf and may record the ancestral alkalic phase of Kilauea volcano. Magnetic susceptibility trends and glass compositions suggest that the entire P6 core correlates with only the uppermost 1.2 m of the P5, and that the average sedimentation rate at the P6 is about 5 times greater than that at P5.

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USGS2002

Emplacement and inflation structures of submarine and subaerial pahoehoe lavas from Hawaii

Features of subaerial pahoehoe tumuli from Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes in Hawaii and subaqueous flow lobes from Loihi Seamount off Hawaii and north of Oahu Island document the controlling factors of flow-lobe formation. Studied subaerial flow-lobe tumuli consist of uplifted pahoehoe crust, formed from coalesced flow lobes. The south rift zone of Loihi has abundant conical lava mounds and terraces with flat tops. Steep flanks (>4°) of these mounds are covered with elongate pillows, but the flat tops are overlain by lobate sheets and inflated pahoehoe flows. The pahoehoe lobes have an elongate dome-like shape 2 x 0.5 m to 20 x 20 m and up to 5 m in height. Hollow pahoehoe lobes, which are rare among subaerial pahoehoe flows on coastal plains in Hawaii Island, are common on Loihi. Similar hollow lobes and a subaqueous tumulus were found on a 2200-m deep terrace offshore of Oahu Island. In contrast to corrugated pillow lobes, these subaqueous flows have smooth surfaces covered with fine streaks of thin glass flakes. We suggest that subaqueous flow lobes grow like a slowly advancing subaerial pahoehoe flow. The plastic crust stretches, thins, and ruptures at the flow front, where new lava is exposed, and subsequently is quenched by water to form thin flaky glass. The Graetz number, giving a dimensionless temperature distribution within lava, varies flow by flow but remains almost constant for subaqueous flow lobes. This means that the lateral extension of a flow lobe is cooling limited, which results in a linear correlation between the rate of lava supply and the volume of lobes. Flow lobes stop advancing due to heat loss to the environment, as brittle crust thickens and hinders the lobes from deforming freely.

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USGS2002

Ancestral submarine growth of Kïlauea Volcano and instability of its south flank

Joint Japan-USA cruises in 1998-99 explored and sampled the previously unstudied deep offshore region south of Kilauea. Bathymetric features, dive observations, and recovered samples indicate that the 3-km-deep mid-slope bench, bounded seaward by a 2-km-high lower scarp, is underlain by massive turbidite sandstone and interbedded debris-flow breccia. Debris-flow clasts are submarineerupted (high-S) alkalic basalt, distinctive fine- to coarse-grained alkalic gabbro and nephelinite (some containing phlogopite), and subordinate transitional basalt. N o recovered clasts are similar to recent Kilauea tholeiite. Primary volcanic deposits (pillow basalt, hyaloclastite breccia) are absent. The sandstone and breccia matrix, a large fraction of the volcaniclastic apron, are mainly subaerially erupted (low-S) tholeiitic glass sand generated by shoreline processes on pre-Kilauea volcanoes. Fractures, shears, slickensided clasts, and open folds indicate widespread deformation low in the lower scarp; upward-decreasing proportions of alkalic materials define a gross stratigraphy. Alkalic high-S compositions of many basalt clasts and some sandstone glass indicate derivation from the submarine "Lo'ihi" stage of ancestral Kilauea, prior to growth of its tholeiitic shield. Slopes (3300-2800 m depth) above the mid-slope bench contain submarine-erupted (S >750 ppm) pillow lava of transitional basalt, defining the initial flank of subalkaline Kilauea. The geometry and diverse constituents of the bench and lower scarp require initial landsliding during alkalic volcanism at 200-300 ka, prior to shield growth at Kilauea and inception of Hilina faults. The active Hilina slump structures on Kilauea's south flank are in an early growth stage, thus possibly posing greater potential for future large-scale landsliding and tsunamis

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USGS2002

Submarine alkalic through tholeiitic shield-stage development of Kïlauea volcano, Hawai’i

The submarine Hilina region exposes a succession of magma compositions spanning the juvenile "Lō‘ihi" through tholeiitic shield stages of Kïlauea volcano. Early products, preserved as glass grains and clasts in volcaniclastic rocks of the 3000 m deep Hilina bench, include nephelinite, basanite, phonotephrite, hawaiite, alkali basalt, transitional basalt, and rare alkali-poor Mauna Loa-like tholeiite. Transitional basalt pillow lavas overlie the volcaniclastic section and record an early phase of subsequent subalkaline magmatism. Rare degassed tholeiitic pillow lava and talus above the volcaniclastic section are products of subaerial shield volcanism. Major and trace element variations of clasts and pillow lavas point to a factor of 2 - 2.5 increase in degree of melting from juvenile alkalic to modern tholeiitic Kïlauea. Progressive changes in element ratios that distinguish Hawaiian shield volcanoes, without commensurate changes in elements fractionated by partial melting, also signal increased contributions from Mauna Loa-type source regions as Kïlauea matured from its juvenile alkalic to its tholeiitic shield stage. Ancestral Kïlauea basanites and nephelinites were not primitive magmas but might have evolved from plume-derived alkali picritic parents by lithospheric- level crystallization differentiation, or solidification and remelting, involving pyroxene and garnet, similar to the subcrustal differentiation origin of hawaiites [Frey et al, 1990]. Low magmatic productivity early in Kïlauea’s history sustained a poorly integrated trans-lithospheric conduit system in which magmas stalled and differentiated, producing evolved hawaiites, nephelinites, and basanites. This contrasts with shield-stage Kïlauea where high magmatic productivity flushes the conduit system and delivers primitive magmas to shallow levels.

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