Geology topics

Research about Kilauea volcano

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kilauea volcano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Spatial and temporal geochemical variations of lava flows and tephra deposits from the December 2020 to September 2024 eruptions of Kīlauea volcano

Kīlauea volcano underwent dramatic morphological changes in 2018. That year recorded the end of the 35-year-long eruption of Puʻuʻōʻō (1983–2018) and 10-year-long (2008–2018) Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake and emplacement of the ~4-month-long lower East Rift Zone lava flows that coincided with ~500 m of summit caldera collapse. Starting on December 20, 2020, eruptions resumed at Kīlauea’s summit. There were five summit eruptions between December 2020 and September 2023, which ranged in duration from more than a year to as short as a week. Following these summit eruptions, seismicity and deformation increased in the upper Southwest Rift Zone in 2024, culminating in a ~8.5-h-long eruption in this region on June 3, 2024. Increased seismicity and deformation then shifted to the upper and middle East Rift Zone and after several months culminated in an eruption just west of, and within, Nāpau Crater in the middle East Rift Zone from September 15 to 20, 2024. Despite vast morphological changes at Kīlauea’s summit, the geochemical compositions (i.e., whole rock and glass) that erupted from December 2020 to September 2023 are all remarkably similar to each other. Whole-rock compositions appear distinct from the preceding 2008–2018 Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake and phase 3 (i.e., summit or uprift-derived mafic lavas) of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flows, although glass compositions appear to have more overlap with 2018 lower East Rift Zone glasses. The June 3, 2024, upper Southwest Rift Zone spatter and lava flows exhibit a dramatic enrichment in whole-rock MgO that is not recorded in glass, which reflects accumulation of olivine (e.g., antecrysts or xenocrysts) during dike emplacement, and is consistent with the abundance of olivine in the lava flows (5–10%). June 2024 Southwest Rift Zone whole-rock and glass compositions overlap with those erupted at the summit from December 2020 to September 2023, whereas some whole-rock trace (i.e., Sc, Sr, and Zr) and major elements (i.e., CaO) are suggestive of mixing with a magmatic component that had fractionated plagioclase and pyroxene and/or a new parental magma influencing the summit reservoir system. The September 15–20, 2024, eruption at Nāpau Crater in the middle East Rift Zone involved the most differentiated magma since eruptive activity resumed in December 2020, with its magma fractionating olivine + plagioclase + pyroxene. The September 15–20, 2024, composition resembles Puʻuʻōʻō lava flows that erupted in, or near, Nāpau Crater in 1983 (episode 1), 1997 (episode 54), and 2011 (episode 59), with episode 59 having a compositional cluster that is most similar to that of the September 2024 lava flows. The data presented and provided herein open new research perspectives for long-term analyses of geochemical variations following caldera collapse at Kīlauea volcano and facilitate comparisons with other basaltic caldera systems worldwide.

Hawaii↗

USGS2025

Monitoring lava lake fluctuations and crater refilling with continuous laser rangefinders

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has developed a new method to continuously monitor lava lake elevations. Since 2018, HVO has stationed a laser rangefinder on Kīlauea’s caldera rim. The instrument automatically measures lava lake elevation each second, with centimeter accuracy. A stream of elevation data flows to HVO’s database and public website, contributing a valuable channel to HVO’s volcano monitoring network. The data display is intuitive for users, providing essential information with a new level of clarity. HVO has used this method to track Kīlauea’s changing lava lake elevations over a series of eruptions, and the time series data show several volcanic processes: crater refilling, gas pistoning, lava lake surface behavior, and endogenous crater floor uplift. This technique is versatile, nimble, and easy to use. Continuous laser rangefinders may also prove useful for tracking lava lakes elsewhere, and for monitoring other hazards such as growing lava domes and debris flows.

Hawaii↗

USGS2024

Density structure of Kilauea volcano: Implications for magma storage and transport

A Bayesian linear regression to determine the bias in the Nafe–Drake relationship between compressional velocity and density provides an improved model for the density structure of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaiʻi. In previous work, we combined the results of seismic tomography with the Nafe–Drake relationship between compressional velocity and density to explain the large values of gravity disturbances overlying the summits and rift zones of the island's volcanoes. These results were used to determine mechanisms for gravitational instability of the island flanks. Here, we use laboratory measurements of the relationship of velocity and density for a wide range of Hawaiʻi island rocks as a prior in a Bayesian regression, with seismic tomography, to refine the 3-D density structure for Kīlauea volcano. This refined structure shows dense bodies (3220 kg m −3 ) between 5 and 8 km below sea level that underly regions of magma storage, found from geodetic and geophysical studies, beneath the summit and East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano. Above these bodies, density isosurfaces surround and cradle sources of pressure change determined from geodetic models, both at the summit and along the East Rift Zone. Continued subsidence of the summit following the 2018 eruption is aligned with a bowl-shaped density structure, formed primarily by density isosurfaces between 2800 and 2900 kg m −3 at 4–6 km depth. These surfaces underly the ∼3 km depth at which dyke injection initiates, are largely aseismic, and from their density values are inferred to contain high concentrations of olivine. Taken together, these density structures are consistent with an olivine-rich mush with variable porosity that increases in density with depth and provides a mechanism to form olivine cumulates both at the summit and along the rift zones. This structural framework for Kīlauea volcano is consistent with melt and mush transport occurring over a large range of depths to accommodate the growth and spreading of the volcano.

Hawaii↗

USGS2021

New insights on faulting and intrusion processes during the June 2007, East Rift Zone eruption of Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i

The East Rift Zone (ERZ) of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, represents one of the most volcanically active regions in the world. The 2007 Father's Day (FD) dike intrusion, eruption, and accompanying slow-slip event (SSE) has been previously modeled using geodetic data to constrain the geometry of the intrusion and the timing and magnitude of the SSE. Here, we perform inversions of three interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) datasets and a new intensity offset tracking dataset to assess the effect of integrating intensity cross-correlation offsets into inversion problems and explore additional potential models for the intrusion geometry of the FD event based on this additional data. The overall lowest misfit single Okada model for all datasets opens 2.3 m, strikes 73 degrees while dipping sub-vertically at 83 degrees, and extends approximately 2.9 km to the ENE and 2.4 km downdip. The differences are minor between complex en-echelon distributed Okada and decollement model of (Montgomery-Brown et al., 2010) or 3D-MBEM breaching models including multiple surface breaches and free-slipping decollement movement. Finally, we examine the static Coulomb stress changes for the proposed decollement fault created by our preferred model and a representative model of deep rift opening and find that deep rift zones dilation, not shallow ERZ intrusions, are likely modulating slip on the decollement.

Hawaii↗

USGS2021

Repeating caldera collapse events constrain fault friction at the kilometer scale

Fault friction is central to understanding earthquakes, yet laboratory rock mechanics experiments are restricted to, at most, meter scale. Questions thus remain as to the applicability of measured frictional properties to faulting in situ. In particular, the slip-weakening distance d c "> d c dc strongly influences precursory slip during earthquake nucleation, but scales with fault roughness and is challenging to extrapolate to nature. The 2018 eruption of K̄ılauea volcano, Hawaii, caused 62 repeatable collapse events in which the summit caldera dropped several meters, accompanied by M W "> M W MW 4.7 to 5.4 very long period (VLP) earthquakes. Collapses were exceptionally well recorded by global positioning system (GPS) and tilt instruments and represent unique natural kilometer-scale friction experiments. We model a piston collapsing into a magma reservoir. Pressure at the piston base and shear stress on its margin, governed by rate and state friction, balance its weight. Downward motion of the piston compresses the underlying magma, driving flow to the eruption. Monte Carlo estimation of unknowns validates laboratory friction parameters at the kilometer scale, including the magnitude of steady-state velocity weakening. The absence of accelerating precollapse deformation constrains d c "> d c dc to be ≤ 10 "> ≤ 10 ≤10 mm, potentially much less. These results support the use of laboratory friction laws and parameters for modeling earthquakes. We identify initial conditions and material and magma-system parameters that lead to episodic caldera collapse, revealing that small differences in eruptive vent elevation can lead to major differences in eruption volume and duration. Most historical basaltic caldera collapses were, at least partly, episodic, implying that the conditions for stick–slip derived here are commonly met in nature.

Hawaii↗

USGS2021

Material failure and caldera collapse: Insights from the 2018 Kilauea eruption

The Failure Forecast Method (FFM) was introduced as an empirical model for forecasting catastrophic material failures related to natural hazards, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions, with mixed success. During the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, the draining of the summit magma reservoir into the Lower East Rift Zone resulted in the formation of a new caldera at the summit. I tested the applicability of the FFM to caldera collapse by analyzing the cyclical earthquake swarms and ground deformation that occurred between 62 sudden major caldera collapse events. The progression of both the cumulative moment release of the cyclical earthquakes and the GNSS displacement show a major change in mid-June. In late May through early June, the progression of the parameters is consistent with strain localization or creep progression related to the development or activation of the ring fault system. From late June until the end of the eruption, parameter progression is roughly steady with initial accelerating increases in cumulative moment and displacement that shift to approximately linear progression. Analysis of repeating earthquake families in the cyclical swarms showed that the behavior of the repeaters was consistent with that of the cyclical swarms as a whole and suggested that each family undergoes its own progression of activation to termination. While the FFM analysis identified the system change in mid-June, it did not demonstrate an ability to forecast collapse events or the end of the eruption.

Hawaii↗

USGS2020

The historic events at Kilauea Volcano in 2018: Summit collapse, rift zone eruption, and Mw 6.9 earthquake: Preface to the special issue

Kīlauea Volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, has had a prominent role in the science of volcanology, and a long history of generating new insights into how volcanoes operate (Tilling et al. 2014; Garcia 2015). Native Hawaiians shared ideas on the behavior of the volcano with early Western visitors to Kīlauea, addressing the basic geometry of magma supply and transport (Ellis 1825; Bishop 1827). The recognition that magma originated at the summit and was transferred at shallow levels to the flanks implied that these ideas were rooted in centuries of observation preceding Western contact. The lava lake activity at Kīlauea’s summit in the 1800s and early 1900s fascinated early geologists, such as James Dana (1890), who published one of the first inquiries into the fundamental processes of Hawaiian volcanoes. The sustained activity led to the 1912 founding of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, one of the world’s first volcano observatories, by Thomas Jaggar (Tilling et al. 2014). Kīlauea’s activity in the 20th century contributed to the development of many modern volcano monitoring techniques (Tilling et al. 2014), which helped refine conceptual models of how volcanoes behave (Eaton and Murata, 1960).

Hawaii↗

USGS2019

Decrease in seismic velocity observed prior to the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano with ambient seismic noise interferometry

The 2018 Kilauea eruption was a complex event that included deformation and eruption at the summit and along the middle and lower East Rift Zones. We use ambient seismic noise interferometry to measure time-lapse changes in seismic velocity of the volcanic edifice prior to the 2018 Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone eruption. Our results show that seismic velocities increase in relation to gradual inflation between 1 March and 20 April. In the ten days prior to the May 3rd eruption, a rapid seismic velocity decrease occurs even though the summit is still undergoing inflation. We show that inter-eruptive inflation/deflation is correlated with surface deformation, while the velocity decrease prior to East Rift Zone eruption is likely due to accumulating damage induced by the pressure exerted by the magma reservoir on the surrounding edifice. The accumulating damage and subsequent decrease in bulk edifice strength likely facilitates the transport of magma from the summit reservoir to the Middle East Rift Zone.

Hawaii↗

USGS2019

A new perspective on the 19th century golden pumice deposit of Kilauea volcano

The golden pumice deposit (unit K1) represents one of the latest episodes of Hawaiian fountaining in the Keanakāko‘i Tephra and is the product of the first high fountaining eruption at Kīlauea summit in ~300 yr, since the caldera formed in ca. 1500 CE. We present a new physical characterization of the deposit based on over 200 field sites, all affected by severe erosion, alteration, and silicic encrusting. We detail the deposit geometry, stratigraphic and structural relationships, and componentry to constrain its volume and reconstruct the eruptive sequence. The deposit is then discussed and set against other young episodes of high fountaining at Kīlauea. We interpret the golden pumice as the product of a days-long eruptive sequence with a source located inside a caldera much deeper than that of today. The eruption probably started along a NE-SW–oriented fissure and migrated toward a single vent in the southwestern part of the caldera, where at least two high Hawaiian-style fountains produced a tephra deposit of ~6 × 10 6 m 3 . Stratigraphic contacts reveal that erosion occurred not only between, but also during the fountaining episodes, suggesting heavy rainfall during deposition. Field observations during this study also led to the discovery of the first stratigraphic evidence that the eastern pumice postdates the golden pumice, which contributes to the new definition of the stratigraphy of the Keanakāko‘i Tephra presented in this volume.

Hawaii↗

USGS2016

Automated tracking of lava lake level using thermal images at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i

Tracking the level of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i, is an essential part of monitoring the ongoing eruption and forecasting potentially hazardous changes in activity. We describe a simple automated image processing routine that analyzes continuously-acquired thermal images of the lava lake and measures lava level. The method uses three image segmentation approaches, based on edge detection, short-term change analysis, and composite temperature thresholding, to identify and track the lake margin in the images. These relative measurements from the images are periodically calibrated with laser rangefinder measurements to produce real-time estimates of lake elevation. Continuous, automated tracking of the lava level has been an important tool used by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory since 2012 in real-time operational monitoring of the volcano and its hazard potential.

Hawaii↗

USGS2015

Linking magma transport structures at Kīlauea volcano

Identifying magma pathways is important for understanding and interpreting volcanic signals. At Kīlauea volcano, seismicity illuminates subsurface plumbing, but the broad spectrum of seismic phenomena hampers event identification. Discrete, long-period events (LPs) dominate the shallow (5-10 km) plumbing, and deep (40+ km) tremor has been observed offshore. However, our inability to routinely identify these events limits their utility in tracking ascending magma. Using envelope cross-correlation, we systematically catalog non-earthquake seismicity between 2008-2014. We find the LPs and deep tremor are spatially distinct, separated by the 15-25 km deep, horizontal mantle fault zone (MFZ). Our search corroborates previous observations, but we find broader-band (0.5-20 Hz) tremor comprising collocated earthquakes and reinterpret the deep tremor as earthquake swarms in a volume surrounding and responding to magma intruding from the mantle plume beneath the MFZ. We propose the overlying MFZ promotes lateral magma transport, linking this deep intrusion with Kīlauea’s shallow magma plumbing.

Hawaii↗

USGS2014

Estimating the volcanic emission rate and atmospheric lifetime of SO 2 from space: a case study for Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i

We present an analysis of SO 2 column densities derived from GOME-2 satellite measurements for the Kīlauea volcano (Hawai`i) for 2007–2012. During a period of enhanced degassing activity in March–November 2008, monthly mean SO 2 emission rates and effective SO 2 lifetimes are determined simultaneously from the observed downwind plume evolution and meteorological wind fields, without further model input. Kīlauea is particularly suited for quantitative investigations from satellite observations owing to the absence of interfering sources, the clearly defined downwind plumes caused by steady trade winds, and generally low cloud fractions. For March–November 2008, the effective SO 2 lifetime is 1–2 days, and Kīlauea SO 2 emission rates are 9–21 kt day −1 , which is about 3 times higher than initially reported from ground-based monitoring systems.

Hawaii↗

USGS2014

Seismic evidence for a crustal magma reservoir beneath the upper east rift zone of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

An anomalous body with low Vp (compressional wave velocity), low Vs (shear wave velocity), and high Vp/Vs anomalies is observed at 8–11 km depth beneath the upper east rift zone of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii by simultaneous inversion of seismic velocity structure and earthquake locations. We interpret this body to be a crustal magma reservoir beneath the volcanic pile, similar to those widely recognized beneath mid-ocean ridge volcanoes. Combined seismic velocity and petrophysical models suggest the presence of 10% melt in a cumulate magma mush. This reservoir could have supplied the magma that intruded into the deep section of the east rift zone and caused its rapid expansion following the 1975 M7.2 Kalapana earthquake.

Hawaii↗

USGS2008

Hawaiian cultural influences on support for lava flow hazard mitigation measures during the January 1960 eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Kapoho, Hawai‘i

In 1960, Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii erupted, destroying most of the village of Kapoho and forcing evacuation of its approximately 300 residents. A large and unprecedented social science survey was undertaken during the eruption to develop an understanding of human behavior, beliefs, and coping strategies among the adult evacuees ( n = 160). Identical studies were also performed in three control towns located at varying distances from the eruption site ( n = 478). During these studies data were collected that characterized ethnic grouping and attitudes toward Hawaiian cultural issues such as belief in Pele and two lava flow mitigation measures—use of barriers and bombs to influence the flow of lava, but the data were never published. Using these forgotten data, we examined the relationship between Hawaiian cultural issues and attitudes toward the use of barriers and bombs as mitigation strategies to protect Kapoho. On average, 72% of respondents favored the construction of earthen barriers to hold back or divert lava and protect Kapoho, but far fewer agreed with the military's use of bombs (14%) to protect Kapoho. In contrast, about one-third of respondents conditionally agreed with the use of bombs. It is suggested that local participation in the bombing strategy may explain the increased conditional acceptance of bombs as a mitigation tool, although this can not be conclusively demonstrated. Belief in Pele and being of Hawaiian ethnicity did not reduce support for the use of barriers, but did reduce support for bombs in both bombing scenarios. The disparity in levels of acceptance of barriers versus bombing and of one bombing strategy versus another suggests that historically public attitudes toward lava flow hazard mitigation strategies were complex. A modern comparative study is needed before the next damaging eruption to inform debates and decisions about whether or not to interfere with the flow of lava. Recent changes in the current eruption of Kīlauea make this a timely topic.

Hawaii↗

USGS2007

Microearthquake streaks and seismicity triggered by slow earthquakes on the mobile south flank of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i

We perform waveform cross correlation and high precision relocation of both background seismicity and seismicity triggered by periodic slow earthquakes at Kilauea Volcano's mobile south flank. We demonstrate that the triggered seismicity dominantly occurs on several preexisting fault zones at the Hilina region. Regardless of the velocity model employed, the relocated earthquake epicenters and triggered seismicity localize onto distinct fault zones that form streaks aligned with the slow earthquake surface displacements determined from GPS. Due to the unknown effects of velocity heterogeneity and nonideal station coverage, our relocation analyses cannot distinguish whether some of these fault zones occur within the volcanic crust at shallow depths or whether all occur on the decollement between the volcano and preexisting oceanic crust at depths of ∼8 km. Nonetheless, these Hilina fault zones consistently respond to stress perturbations from nearby slow earthquakes.

Hawaii↗

USGS2007

Pāhoehoe flow cooling, discharge, and coverage rates from thermal image chronometry

Theoretically- and empirically-derived cooling rates for active pāhoehoe lava flows show that surface cooling is controlled by conductive heat loss through a crust that is thickening with the square root of time. The model is based on a linear relationship that links log ( time ) with surface cooling. This predictable cooling behavior can be used assess the age of recently emplaced sheet flows from their surface temperatures. Using a single thermal image, or image mosaic, this allows quantification of the variation in areal coverage rates and lava discharge rates over 48 hour periods prior to image capture. For pāhoehoe sheet flow at Kīlauea (Hawai`i) this gives coverage rates of 1–5 m 2 /min at discharge rates of 0.01–0.05 m 3 /s, increasing to &sim;40 m 2 /min at 0.4–0.5 m 3 /s. Our thermal chronometry approach represents a quick and easy method of tracking flow advance over a three-day period using a single, thermal snap-shot.

Hawaii↗

USGS2006

Puhimau thermal area: a window into the upper east rift zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii?

We report the results of two soil CO 2 efflux surveys by the closed chamber circulation method at the Puhimau thermal area in the upper East Rift Zone (ERZ) of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. The surveys were undertaken in 1996 and 1998 to constrain how much CO 2 might be reaching the ERZ after degassing beneath the summit caldera and whether the Puhimau thermal area might be a significant contributor to the overall CO 2 budget of Kilauea. The area was revisited in 2001 to determine the effects of surface disturbance on efflux values by the collar emplacement technique utilized in the earlier surveys. Utilizing a cutoff value of 50 g m −2 d −1 for the surrounding forest background efflux, the CO 2 emission rates for the anomaly at Puhimau thermal area were 27 t d −1 in 1996 and 17 t d −1 in 1998. Water vapor was removed before analysis in all cases in order to obtain CO 2 values on a dry air basis and mitigate the effect of water vapor dilution on the measurements. It is clear that Puhimau thermal area is not a significant contributor to Kilauea's CO 2 output and that most of Kilauea's CO 2 (8500 t d −1 ) is degassed at the summit, leaving only magma with its remaining stored volatiles, such as SO 2 , for injection down the ERZ. Because of the low CO 2 emission rate and the presence of a shallow water table in the upper ERZ that effectively scrubs SO 2 and other acid gases, Puhimau thermal area currently does not appear to be generally well suited for observing temporal changes in degassing at Kilauea.

Hawaii↗

USGS2005

An efficient algorithm for double-difference tomography and location in heterogeneous media, with an application to the Kilauea volcano

Improving our understanding of crustal processes requires a better knowledge of the geometry and the position of geological bodies. In this study we have designed a method based upon double-difference relocation and tomography to image, as accurately as possible, a heterogeneous medium containing seismogenic objects. Our approach consisted not only of incorporating double difference in tomography but also partly in revisiting tomographic schemes for choosing accurate and stable numerical strategies, adapted to the use of cross-spectral time delays. We used a finite difference solution to the eikonal equation for travel time computation and a Tarantola-Valette approach for both the classical and double-difference three-dimensional tomographic inversion to find accurate earthquake locations and seismic velocity estimates. We estimated efficiently the square root of the inverse model's covariance matrix in the case of a Gaussian correlation function. It allows the use of correlation length and a priori model variance criteria to determine the optimal solution. Double-difference relocation of similar earthquakes is performed in the optimal velocity model, making absolute and relative locations less biased by the velocity model. Double-difference tomography is achieved by using high-accuracy time delay measurements. These algorithms have been applied to earthquake data recorded in the vicinity of Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes for imaging the volcanic structures. Stable and detailed velocity models are obtained: the regional tomography unambiguously highlights the structure of the island of Hawaii and the double-difference tomography shows a detailed image of the southern Kilauea caldera-upper east rift zone magmatic complex. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

Hawaii↗