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Research about Hawaii

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Hawaii.

At least 919 records · Page 51Linked to original sources
USGS1996

A preliminary survey of the broadband seismic wavefield at Puu Oo, the active vent of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

The seismic wavefield near an active volcanic vent consists of superimposed signals in a wide range of frequency bands from sources inside and outside the volcano. To characterize the broadband wavefield near Puu Oo, we deployed a profile of three three-component broadband sensors in a 200 m long line about 1.5 km WSW of the active vent. During this period, Puu Oo maintained a constant, but very low level of activity. The digital data logger recorded the wavefield continuously in the frequency band between 0.01 and 40 Hz between June 25 and July 9, 1994. At the same time, local wind conditions along with air temperature and pressure were monitored by a portable digital weather station. On the basis of characteristic elements, such as waveform, spatial coherence between stations, particle motion and power spectra, the wavefield can be divided into three bands. The dominant signals in the frequency band between 0.01 and 0.1 Hz are not coherent among the stations. Their ground velocities correlate with the wind speed. The signals in the 0.1 to 0.5 Hz band are coherent across the profile and most probably represent a superposition of volcanic tremor and microseisms from the Pacific Ocean. Much of the energy above 0.5 Hz can be attributed to activity at the vent. Power spectra from recordings of the transverse components show complex peaks between 0.5 and 3 Hz which vary in amplitude due to site effects and distance. On the other hand, power spectra calculated from the radial components show a clearly periodic pattern of peaks at 1 Hz intervals for some time segments. A further remarkable feature of the power spectra is that they are highly stationary.

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USGS1996

Causes of owl mortality in Hawaii, 1992 to 1994

Eighty-one barn owls ( Tyto alba ) and five Hawaiian owls or pueo ( Asio flammeus sandwichensis ) from Kauai, Oahu, Lanai, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii (USA) were evaluated for cause of death, November 1992 through August 1994. The most common cause of death in barn owls was trauma (50%) followed by infectious disease (28%) and emaciation (22%). Most traumas apparently resulted from vehicular collisions. Trichomoniasis was the predominant infectious disease and appeared to be a significant cause of death in barn owls in Hawaii. Pasteurellosis and aspergillosis were encountered less commonly. No predisposing cause of emaciation was detected. Stomach contents from 28 barn owls contained mainly insects (64%) of the family Tetigoniidae and Gryllidae, and rodents (18%); the remainder had mixtures of rodents and insects or grass. Three pueo died from trauma and one each died from emaciation and pasteurellosis. We found no evidence of organochlorine, organophosphorus, or carbamate pesticides as causes of death in pueo or barn owls.

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USGS1996

Hawaii scientific drilling protect: Summary of preliminary results

Petrological, geochemical, geomagnetic, and volcanological characterization of the recovered core from a 1056-m-deep well into the flank of the Mauna Kea volcano in Hilo, Hawaii, and downhole logging and fluid sampling have provided a unique view of the evolution and internal structure of a major oceanic volcano unavailable from surface exposures. Core recovery was ~90%, yielding a time series of fresh, subaerial lavas extending back to ~400 ka. Results of this 1993 project provide a basis for a more ambitious project to core drill a well 4.5 km deep in a nearby location with the goal of recovering an extended, high-density stratigraphic sequence of lavas.

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USGS1995

Hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of waters from fumaroles at Kilauea summit, Hawaii

Condensate samples were collected in 1992 from a high-temperature (300° C) fumarole on the floor of the Halemaumau Pit Crater at Kilauea. The emergence about two years earlier of such a hot fumarole was unprecedented at such a central location at Kilauea. The condensates have hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions which indicate that the waters emitted by the fumarole are composed largely of meteoric water, that any magmatic water component must be minor, and that the precipitation that was the original source to the fumarole fell on a recharge area on the slopes of Mauna Loa Volcano to the west. However, the fumarole has no tritium, indicating that it taps a source of water that has been isolated from atmospheric water for at least 40 years. It is noteworthy, considering the unstable tectonic environment and abundant local rainfall of the Kilauea and Mauna Loa regions, that waters which are sources to the hot fumarole remain uncontaminated from atmospheric sources over such long times and long transport distances. As for the common, boiling point fumaroles of the Kilauea summit region, their 18 O, D and tritium concentrations indicate that they are dominated by recycling of present day meteoric water. Though the waters of both hot and boiling point fumaroles have dominantly meteoric sources, they seem to be from separate hydrological regimes. Large concentrations of halogens and sulfur species in the condensates, together with the location at the center of the Kilauea summit region and the high temperature, initially suggested that much of the total mass of the emissions of the hot fumarole, including the H 2 O, might have come directly from a magma body. The results of the present study indicate that it is unreliable to infer a magmatic origin of volcanic waters based solely on halogen or sulfur contents, or other aspects of chemical composition of total condensates.

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USGS1995

Episode 49 of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kūpaianaha eruption of Kilauea volcano-breakdown of a steady-state eruptive era

The Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha eruption (1983-present) is the longest lived rift eruption of either Kilauea or neighboring Mauna Loa in recorded history. The initial fissure opening in January 1983 was followed by three years of episodic fire fountaining at the Pu'u 'O'o vent on Kilauea's east rift zone ∼19km from the summit (episodes 4–47). These spectacular events gave way in July 1986 to five and a half years of near-continuous, low-level effusion from the Kupaianaha vent, ∼ 3km to the cast (episode 48). A 49th episode began in November 1991 with the opening of a new fissure between Pu'u 'O'o and Kupaianaha. This three week long outburst heralded an era of more erratic eruptive behavior characterized by the shut down of Kupaianaha in February 1992 and subsequent intermittent eruption from vents on the west flank of Pu'u 'O'o (episodes 50 and 51). The events occurring over this period are due to progressive shrinkage of the rift-zone reservoir beneath the eruption site, and had limited impact on eruption temperatures and lava composition.

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USGS1995

Petrology of Submarine Lavas from Kilauea's Puna Ridge, Hawaii

We have studied 30 quenched tholeiitic lava flows recovered by 20 dredge hauls and one submersible dive along Puna Ridge, the submarine part of the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii Glass grains from numerous additional flows were recovered in turbidite sands cored in the Hawaiian Trough. These quenched lavas document variable primary magma compositions; olivine and multiphase crystallization and fractionation; degassing; wall-rock stoping and assimilation; mixing in the crustal reservoir and the rift zone; entrainment of olivine xenocrysts from a hot, ductile, olivine cumulate body; and disruption of gabbro wallrocks in the rift zone. Glass grains in turbidite sands contain up to 15⋅0wt% MgO, in contrast to < 7⋅0wt% MgO for the sampled glass rinds on lavas. The most forsteritic olivine phenocryst (F0 90·7 ) is in equilibrium with primary Kilauea liquid containing an average 16⋅5 wt% MgO, but ranging from 13⋅4 to 18⋅4%. Lavas and glass grains have more restricted P 2 O 5 /K 2 O and TiO 2 /K 2 O than glass inclusions in olivine, because more diverse liquids trapped as glass inclusions are mixed and homogenized before eruption. Variable trace element compositions in glass grains and whole rocks indicate that the primary liquids form by partial melting of mantle sources retaining clinopyroxene and garnet. Orthopyroxene xenocrysts formed at moderate pressures provide evidence for a sub-crustal staging zone. Chromite and olivine crystallize in the crustal magma reservoir as the liquid cools from an average 1346°C to ∼1170°C. Low viscosities of the primary liquids (0·4 Pas) facilitate olivine settling, and the crystallized olivine forms an olivine cumulate body at the base of the reservoir. Olivine is deformed as the hot ductile dunite body flows down and away from the summit. This flow drives instability of the Hilina landslide on Kilauea. Dikes intrude the dunite, and magma flowing through the dikes disaggregates and entrains olivine xenocrysts in Puna Ridge magmas. Primary liquids pond at or near the base of Kilauea's crustal reservoir because they are denser than more fractionated liquids that occupy the upper parts of the reservoir. The sulfur and water contents of glass rinds indicate that fractionated liquids near the top of the reservoir degas at low pressure, a process that increases their density and causes them to sink to levels where they mix with resident undegassed, near-primary liquid. The fractionated liquids near the top of the magma reservoir acquire excess Cl, owing to assimilation of hydrothermally altered roofrocks. Magma flowing into the rift zone encounters and mixes with low-temperature, multiphase-fractionated melt. The mixed magmas typically contain rare orthopyroxene, plagioclase as sodic as andesine, olivine as fayalitic as F0 75 and Fe-rich augite derived from the fractionated magma. Magma flowing through dikes also dislodged fragments of gabbroic wallrocks that occur as xenoliths. The interrelations in the Kilauean submarine lavas between host glass and glass inclusion compositions, volatile contents and mineral chemistry reveal an extraordinarily complex sequence of petrogenetic processes and events that are difficult or impossible to determine in subaerial Kilauea lavas because of crystallization, reequilibration and degassing during or after their eruption.

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USGS1995

Rapid deformation of the south flank of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

The south flank of Kilauea volcano has experienced two large [magnitude ( M ) 7.2 and M 6.1] earthquakes in the past two decades. Global Positioning System measurements conducted between 1990 and 1993 reveal seaward displacements of Kilauea's central south flank at rates of up to about 10 centimeters per year. In contrast, the northern side of the volcano and the distal ends of the south flank did not displace significantly. The observations can be explained by slip on a low-angle fault beneath the south flank combined with dilation deep within Kilauea's rift system, both at rates of at least 15 centimeters per year.

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USGS1995

Giant blocks in the South Kona landslide, Hawaii

A large field of blocky sea-floor hills, up to 10 km long and 500 m high, are gigantic slide blocks derived from the west flank of Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii. These megablocks are embedded in the toe of the South Kona landslide, which extends ∼80 km seaward from the present coastline to depths of nearly 5 km. A 10–15-km-wide belt of numerous, smaller, 1–3-km-long slide blocks separates the area of giant blocks from two submarine benches at depths of 2600 and 3700 m depth that terminate seaward 20 to 30 km from the shoreline. Similar giant blocks are found on several other major submarine Hawaiian landslides, including those north of Oahu and Molokai, but the South Kona blocks are the first to be examined in detail using high-resolution bathymetry, dredging, and submersible diving. Dredging of two of the giant blocks brought up pillowed tholeiitic lava. Observations from the U.S. Navy submersible Sea Cliff on the asymmetrically steep eastern flank of one block 10 km long and 300 m high revealed a succession of fractured massive basalt, laminar lava flows, hyaloclastite, and pillow lavas. Chemical analyses of dredged lava identified 19 units that overlap compositionally with lavas from the south rift-zone ridge of Mauna Loa. Sulfur content indicates that most of the lavas were erupted in subaerial and shallow submarine (<200 m depth) sites, but some were erupted in deeper submarine sites. These results indicate that the megablocks were carried by a late Pleistocene giant landslide 40–80 km west from the ancestral shoreline of Mauna Loa volcano before growth of the midslope benches by later slump movement.

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USGS1995

Geophysical log data from Basalt Aquifers near Waipahu on the Island of Oahu and Pahoa on the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii

Two relatively new geophysical logging techniques, the digitally enhanced borehole acoustic televiewer and the heat-pulse flowmeter, were tested from 1987 to 1991 at two sites in Hawaii: Waipahu on the island of Oahu, and Pahoa on the island of Hawaii. Although these data were obtained in an effort to test and improve these two logging techniques, the measurements are of interest to hydrologists studying the aquifers in Hawaii. This report presents a review of the measurements conducted during this effort and summarizes the data obtained in a form designed to make that data available to hydrologists studying the movement of ground water in Hawaiian aquifers. Caliper logs obtained at the Waipahu site indicate the distribution of openings in interbed clinker zones between relatively dense and impermeable basalt flows. The flowmeter data indicate the pattern of flow induced along seven observation boreholes that provide conduits between interbed zones in the vicinity of the Mahoe Pumping Station at the Waipahu site. The televiewer image logs obtained in some of the Waipahu Mahoe boreholes do not show any significant vertical or steeply dipping fractures that might allow communication across the dense interior of basalt flows. Acoustic televiewer logs obtained at the Pahoa site show that a number of steeply dipping fractures and dikes cut across basalt flows. Although flow under ambient hydraulic-head conditions in the Waipahu Mahoe Observation boreholes is attributed to hydraulic gradients associated with pumping from a nearby pumping station, flow in the Waipio Deep Observation borehole on Oahu and flow in the Scientific Observation borehole on Hawaii are attributed to the effects of natural recharge and downward decreasing hydraulic heads associated with that recharge.

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USGS1995

Deformational features resulting from slope movement in the Manoa Valley, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii

Deformation of man-made structures in and adjacent to the public right-of-way in the Manoa Valley was mapped to locate existing and incipient slow-moving landsliding. The results are shown on two kinds of maps. One map consists of four sheets that show field observations. The other, an interpretive map, shows locations where there is evidence of landslide movement. No slow-moving landslides were found that are similar in size and degree of development to the existing Alani-Paty or Hulu-Woolsey landslides. Nine areas, however, were found where deformation might be related to such movement, including five sites of small landslides in fill and four sites where deformation is consistent with the early stages of development of a larger landslide. Locations of all nine areas that show evidence of recent or incipient movement are plotted on the interpretive map. For these areas, possible courses of mitigation range from no action to monitoring and remediation. Four areas that have the greatest potential for enlargement and movement are in Woodlawn and within several hundred feet of the existing Alani-Paty and Hulu-Woolsey landslides.

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USGS1995

Water resources data, Hawaii and other Pacific areas, water year 1994. Volume 1. Hawaii

Water-resources data for the 1994 water year for Hawaii and other Pacifc Areas consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams and springs; and water levels and quality of water wells. This report volume 1 contains discharge records for 89 gaging stations; water quality at 13 gaging stations; 20 partial-record flow stations, and 167 wells; and water levels for 77 observation wells. Also included are 107 crest-stage partial record stations, 4 miscellaneous partial-record stations, 6 low-flow partial-record stations, and 46 rainfall stations. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating Federal, State, and other agencies in Hawaii.

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USGS1995

Total and non-seasalt sulfate and chloride measured in bulk precipitation samples from the Kilauea Volcano area, Hawaii

Six-month cumulative precipitation samples provide estimates of bulk deposition of sulfate and chloride for the southeast part of the Island of Hawaii during four time periods: August 1991 to February 1992, February 1992 to September 1992, March 1993 to September 1993, and September 1993 to February 1994. Total estimated bulk deposition rates for sulfate ranged from 0.12 to 24 grams per square meter per 180 days, and non-seasalt sulfate deposition ranged from 0.06 to 24 grams per square meter per 180 days. Patterns of non-seasalt sulfate deposition were generally related to prevailing wind directions and the proximity of the collection site to large sources of sulfur gases, namely Kilauea Volcano's summit and East Rift Zone eruption. Total chloride deposition from bulk precipitation samples ranged from 0.01 to 17 grams per square meter per 180 days. Chloride appeared to be predominantly from oceanic sources, as non- seasalt chloride deposition was near zero for most sites.

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