Geology topics

Christopher G. Fox

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher G. Fox.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1994

Bathymetry of the southwest flank of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii

Much of the seafloor topography in the map area is on the southwest submarine flank of the currently active Mauna Loa Volcano. The benches and blocky hills shown on the map were shaped by giant landslides that resulted from instability of the rapidly growing volcano. These landslides were imagined during a 1986 to 1991 swath sonar program of the United States Hawaiian Exclusive Economic Zone, a cooperative venture by the U.S. Geological Survey and the British Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (Lipman and others, 1988; Moore and others, 1989). Dana Seamount (and probably also the neighboring Day Seamount) are apparently Cretaceous in age, based on paleomagnetic studies, and predate the growth of the Hawaiian Ridge volcanoes (Sager and Pringle, 1990).

Hawai'i↗

USGS1994

Bathymetry of the west-central slope of the island of Hawaii

This map shows the topography of a small part of the subaerial western part of the Island of Hawaii as well as modern multibeam bathymetry of the west submarine flank, which covers a total area of about 8,500 km 2 ( see index map). The map area includes part of the submerged flanks of the active Mauna Loa and Hualalai Volcanoes, which last erupted in 1984 and 1801 respectively. The steep and irregular submarine slope is shaped by several giant submarine landslides. They were first identified during surveys from the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel S.P. Lee in 1976 and 1978 (Normark and others, 1979) and later mapped in more detail during a swath-sonar survey (GLORIA) of the United States Hawaiian Exclusive Economic Zone in 1986 to 1991 (Lipman and others, 1988; Moore and others, 1989) as part of a cooperative venture of the U.S. Geological Survey and the British Institute of Oceanographic Sciences.

Hawai'i↗

USGS1993

Bathymetry of southern Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii

Manua Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, lies largely beneath the sea, and until recently only generalized bathymetry of this giant volcano was available. However, within the last two decades, the development of multibeam sonar and the improvement of satellite systems (Global Positioning System) have increased the availability of precise bathymetric mapping. This map combines topography of the subaerial southern part of the volcano with modern multibeam bathymetric data from the south submarine flank. The map includes the summit caldera of Mauna Loa Volcano and the entire length of the 100-km-long southwest rift zone that is marked by a much more pronounced ridge below sea level than above. The 60-km-long segment of the rift zone abruptly changes trend from southwest to south 30 km from the summit. It extends from this bend out to sea at the south cape of the island (Kalae) to 4 to 4.5 km depth where it impinges on the elongate west ridge of Apuupuu Seamount. The west submarine flank of the rift-zone ridge connects with the Kahuku fault on land and both are part of the ampitheater head of a major submarine landslide (Lipman and others, 1990; Moore and Clague, 1992). Two pre-Hawaiian volcanic seamounts in the map area, Apuupuu and Dana Seamounts, are apparently Cretaceous in age and are somewhat younger than the Cretaceous oceanic crust on which they are built.

Hawai'i↗