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USGS2026

Geophysical insights into Kīlauea’s eruptive reawakening after its 2018 eruption and caldera collapse

A little more than two years after the destructive 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse ended, renewed volcanic activity began at Kīlauea volcano, Hawaiʻi. During 2020–2025, activity at the volcano included six eruptions in the summit caldera, one in the Southwest Rift Zone, and one in the middle East Rift Zone, as well as multiple non-eruptive intrusions in all three locations. We categorize the volcano’s activity post-2018 into four phases based on eruption locations and style, as well as patterns of magma storage and migration inferred from geophysical data. In some cases, these observations illuminated parts of the volcano’s magmatic system for the first time since the advent of modern geophysical monitoring—particularly deformation datasets that include tilt, continuous GNSS, and InSAR. Analyses of these geodetic data and complementary seismic, geological, and geochemical observations provide an opportunity to explore summit and rift zone connectivity, rift-zone magma storage conditions, the variable geophysical manifestations of eruption onsets, magma-fault interactions, and other long-standing questions associated with eruptions and intrusions at Kīlauea.

Hawaii↗

USGS2000

Formation of submarine flat-topped volcanic cones in Hawai'i

High-resolution bathymetric mapping has shown that submarine flat-topped volcanic cones, morphologically similar to ones on the deep sea floor and near mid-ocean ridges, are common on or near submarine rift zones of Kilauea, Kohala (or Mauna Kea), Mahukona, and Haleakala volcanoes. Four flat-topped cones on Kohala were explored and sampled with the Pisces V submersible in October 1998. Samples show that flat-topped cones on rift zones are constructed of tholeiitic basalt erupted during the shield stage. Similarly shaped flat-topped cones on the northwest submarine flank of Ni'ihau are apparently formed of alkalic basalt erupted during the rejuvenated stage. Submarine postshield-stage eruptions on Hilo Ridge, Mahukona, Hana Ridge, and offshore Ni'ihau form pointed cones of alkalic basalt and hawaiite. The shield stage flat-topped cones have steep (∼25°) sides, remarkably flat horizontal tops, basal diameters of 1–3 km, and heights <300 m. The flat tops commonly have either a low mound or a deep crater in the center. The rejuvenated-stage flat-topped cones have the same shape with steep sides and flat horizontal tops, but are much larger with basal diameters up to 5.5 km and heights commonly greater than 200 m. The flat tops have a central low mound, shallow crater, or levees that surrounded lava ponds as large as 1 km across. Most of the rejuvenated-stage flat-topped cones formed on slopes <10° and formed adjacent semicircular steps down the flank of Ni'ihau, rather than circular structures. All the flat-topped cones appear to be monogenetic and formed during steady effusive eruptions lasting years to decades. These, and other submarine volcanic cones of similar size and shape, apparently form as continuously overflowing submarine lava ponds. A lava pond surrounded by a levee forms above a sea-floor vent. As lava continues to flow into the pond, the lava flow surface rises and overflows the lowest point on the levee, forming elongate pillow lava flows that simultaneously build the rim outward and upward, but also dam and fill in the low point on the rim. The process repeats at the new lowest point, forming a circular structure with a flat horizontal top and steep pillowed margins. There is a delicate balance between lava (heat) supply to the pond and cooling and thickening of the floating crust. Factors that facilitate construction of such landforms include effusive eruption of lava with low volatile contents, moderate to high confining pressure at moderate to great ocean depth, long-lived steady eruption (years to decades), moderate effusion rates (probably ca. 0.1 km 3 /year), and low, but not necessarily flat, slopes. With higher effusion rates, sheet flows flood the slope. With lower effusion rates, pillow mounds form. Hawaiian shield-stage eruptions begin as fissure eruptions. If the eruption is too brief, it will not consolidate activity at a point, and fissure-fed flows will form a pond with irregular levees. The pond will solidify between eruptive pulses if the eruption is not steady. Lava that is too volatile rich or that is erupted in too shallow water will produce fragmental and highly vesicular lava that will accumulate to form steep pointed cones, as occurs during the post-shield stage. The steady effusion of lava on land constructs lava shields, which are probably the subaerial analogs to submarine flat-topped cones but formed under different cooling conditions.

Hawaii↗

USGS2000

Comment on 'Volume of magma accumulation or withdrawal estimated from surface uplift or subsidence, with application to the 1960 collapse of Kilauea volcano' by P.T. Delaney and D.F. McTigue

In volcanoes that store a significant quantity of magma within a subsurface summit reservoir, such as Kilauea, bulk compression of stored magma is an important mode of deformation. Accumulation of magma is also accompanied by crustal deformation, usually manifested at the surface as uplift. These two modes of deformation - bulk compression of resident magma and deformation of the volcanic edifice - act in concert to accommodate the volume of newly added magma. During deflation, the processes reverse and reservoir magma undergoes bulk decompression, the chamber contracts, and the ground surface subsides. Because magma compression plays a role in creating subsurface volume of accommodate magma, magma budget estimates that are derived from surface uplift observations without consideration of magma compression will underestimate actual magma volume changes.

Hawai'i↗

USGS1996

Differentiation and magma mixing on Kilauea's east rift zone: A further look at the eruptions of 1955 and 1960. Part II. The 1960 lavas

New and detailed petrographic observations, mineral compositional data, and whole-rock vs glass compositional trends document magma mixing in lavas erupted from Kilauea's lower east rift zone in 1960. Evidence includes the occurrence of heterogeneous phenocryst assemblages, including resorbed and reversely zoned minerals in the lavas inferred to be hybrids. Calculations suggest that this mixing, which is shown to have taken place within magma reservoirs recharged at the end of the 1955 eruption, involved introduction of four different magmas. These magmas originated beneath Kilauea's summit and moved into the rift reservoirs beginning 10 days after the eruption began. We used microprobe analyses of glass to calculate temperatures of liquids erupted in 1955 and 1960. We then used the calculated proportions of stored and recharge components to estimate the temperature of the recharge components, and found those temperatures to be consistent with the temperature of the same magmas as they appeared at Kilauea's summit. Our studies reinforce conclusions reached in previous studies of Kilauea's magmatic plumbing. We infer that magma enters shallow storage beneath Kilauea's summit and also moves laterally into the fluid core of the East rift zone. During this process, if magmas of distinctive chemistry are present, they retain their chemical identity and the amount of cooling is comparable for magma transported either upward or laterally to eruption sites. Intrusions within a few kilometers of the surface cool and crystallize to produce fractionated magma. Magma mixing occurs both within bodies of previously fractionated magma and when new magma intersects a preexisting reservoir. Magma is otherwise prevented from mixing, either by wall-rock septa or by differing thermal and density characteristics of the successive magma batches.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1996

A quantitative look at the demise of a basaltic vent: The death of Kupaianaha, Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i

The Kupaianaha vent, the source of the 48th episode of the 1983-to-present Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha eruption, erupted nearly continuously from July 1986 until February 1992. This investigation documents the geophysical and geologic monitoring of the final 10 months of activity at the Kupaianaha vent. Detailed very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic profiles across the single lava tube transporting lava from the vent were used to determine the cross-sectional area of the molten lava within the tube. Combined with measurements of lava velocity, these data provide an estimate of the lava output of Kupaianaha. In addition, lava temperatures (calculated from analysis of quenched glass) and bulk-rock chemistry were obtained for samples taken from the tube at the same site. The combined data set shows the lava flux from Kupaianaha vent declining linearly from 250000 m3/day in April 1991 to 54000 m3/day by November 1991. During that time surface breakouts of lava from weak points along the tube occurred progressively closer to the vent, consistent with declining efficiency in lava transport. There were no significant changes in lava temperature or in bulk MgO content during this period. Another eruptive episode (the 49th) began uprift of Kupaianaha on 8 November 1991 and erupted lava concurrently with Kupaianaha for 18 days. Lava flux from Kupaianaha decreased in response to this new episode, but the response was delayed by approximately 1 day. After 14 November 1991, lava velocities were no longer measurable in the tube because the lava stream beneath the skylight had crusted over; however, the VLF-derived electrical conductances documented the decreasing flux of molten lava through the tube. Kupaianaha remained active, but output continued to decrease until early February 1992 when the last active surface flows were seen. In November 1991 we used the linearly decreasing effusion rate to accurately predict the date for the death of the Kupaianaha vent. The linear nature of the decline in lava tube conductance and the delayed and slow response of the Waha'ula tube conductances to the 49th eruptive episode led us to speculate that (a) the Kupaianaha vent shut down because of a decrease in driving pressure and not because of a freeze-up of the vent, and (b) that Pu'u 'O'o, episode 49, and Kupaianaha were fed nearly vertically from a source deep within the rift zone.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1996

The initial cooling of pahoehoe flow lobes

In this paper we describe a new thermal model for the initial cooling of pahoehoe lava flows. The accurate modeling of this initial cooling is important for understanding the formation of the distinctive surface textures on pahoehoe lava flows as well as being the first step in modeling such key pahoehoe emplacement processes as lava flow inflation and lava tube formation. This model is constructed from the physical phenomena observed to control the initial cooling of pahoehoe flows and is not an empirical fit to field data. We find that the only significant processes are (a) heat loss by thermal radiation, (b) heat loss by atmospheric convection, (c) heat transport within the flow by conduction with temperature and porosity-dependent thermal properties, and (d) the release of latent heat during crystallization. The numerical model is better able to reproduce field measurements made in Hawai'i between 1989 and 1993 than other published thermal models. By adjusting one parameter at a time, the effect of each of the input parameters on the cooling rate was determined. We show that: (a) the surfaces of porous flows cool more quickly than the surfaces of dense flows, (b) the surface cooling is very sensitive to the efficiency of atmospheric convective cooling, and (c) changes in the glass forming tendency of the lava may have observable petrographic and thermal signatures. These model results provide a quantitative explanation for the recently observed relationship between the surface cooling rate of pahoehoe lobes and the porosity of those lobes (Jones 1992, 1993). The predicted sensitivity of cooling to atmospheric convection suggests a simple field experiment for verification, and the model provides a tool to begin studies of the dynamic crystallization of real lavas. Future versions of the model can also be made applicable to extraterrestrial, submarine, silicic, and pyroclastic flows.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1996

Magnetic properties and emplacement of the Bishop tuff, California

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and characteristic remanence were measured for 45 sites in the 0.76 Ma Bishop tuff, eastern California. Thirty-three sites were sampled in three stratigraphic sections, two in Owens gorge south of Long Valley caldera, and the third in the Adobe lobe north of Long Valley. The remaining 12 sites are widely distributed, but of limited stratigraphic extent. Weakly indurated, highly porous to dense, welded ash-flow tuffs were sampled. Saturation magnetization vs temperature experiments indicate two principal iron oxide phases: low Ti magnetites with 525–570 °C Curie temperatures, and maghemite with 610°–640 °C Curie temperatures. AF demagnetization spectra of isothermal remanent magnetizations are indicative of magnetite/maghemite predominantly in the multidomain to pseudo-single domain size ranges. Remeasurement of AMS after application of saturating direct fields indicates that randomly oriented single-domain grains are also present. The degree of anisotropy is only a few percent, typical of tuffs. The AMS ellipsoids are oblate with K min axes normal to subhorizontal foliation and K max axes regionally aligned with published source vents. For 12 of 16 locality means, K max axes plunge sourceward, confirming previous observations regarding flow sense. Topographic control on flow emplacement is indicated by the distribution of tuff deposits and by flow directions inferred from K max axes. Deposition east of the Benton range occurred by flow around the south end of the range and through two gaps (Benton notch and Chidago gap). Flow down Mammoth pass of the Sierra Nevada is also evident. At least some of the Adobe lobe in the northeast flowed around the west end of Glass mountain. Eastward flow directions in the upper Owens gorge and southeast directions in the lower Owens gorge are parallel to the present canyon, suggesting that the present drainage has been established along the pre-Bishop paleodrainage. Characteristic remanence directions from 45 sites (267 samples) yield an overall mean of D=348°, I=53° for the Bishop tuff. A correlation is found in two of the three profiles between density and remanence inclination. A mean remanence direction based on 13 localities together with data from uncompacted xenoliths and data from the ash-fall tuff at Lake Tecopa is: D=353°, I=54°, k=172, α 95 =2.9°, N=15.

California↗

USGS1996

Degassing during magma ascent in the Mule Creek vent (USA)

The structures and textures of the rhyolite in the Mule Creek vent (New Mexico, USA) indicate mechanisms by which volatiles escape from silicic magma during eruption. The vent outcrop is a 300-m-high canyon wall comprising a section through the top of a feeder conduit, vent and the base of an extrusive lava dome. Field relations show that eruption began with an explosive phase and ended with lava extrusion. Analyses of glass inclusions in quartz phenocrysts from the lava indicate that the magma had a pre-eruptive dissolved water content of 2.5-3.0 wt% and, during eruption, the magma would have been water-saturated over the vertical extent of the present outcrop. However, the vesicularity of the rhyolite is substantially lower than that predicted from closed-system models of vesiculation under equilibrium conditions. At a given elevation in the vent, the volume fraction of primary vesicles in the rhyolite increases from zero close to the vent margin to values of 20-40 vol.% in the central part. In the centre the vesicularity increases upward from approximately 20 vol.% at 300 m below the canyon rim to approximately 40 vol.% at 200 m, above which it shows little increase. To account for the discrepancy between observed vesicularity and measured water content, we conclude that gas escaped during ascent, probably beginning at depths greater than exposed, by flow through the vesicular magma. Gas escape was most efficient near the vent margin, and we postulate that this is due both to the slow ascent of magma there, giving the most time for gas to escape, and to shear, favouring bubble coalescence. Such shear-related permeability in erupting magma is supported by the preserved distribution of textures and vesicularity in the rhyolite: Vesicles are flattened and overlapping near the dense margins and become progressively more isolated and less deformed toward the porous centre. Local zones have textures which suggest the coalescence of bubbles to form permeable, collapsing foams, implying the former existence of channels for gas migration. Local channelling of gas into the country rocks is suggested by the presence of sub-horizontal syn-eruptive rhyolitic tuffisite veins which depart from the vent margin and invade the adjacent country rock. In the central part of the vent, similar local channelling of gas is indicated by steep syn-eruption tuffisite veins which cut the rhyolite itself. We conclude that the suppression of explosive eruption resulted from gas separation from the ascending magma and vent structure by shear-related porous flow and channelling of gas through tuffisite veins. These mechanisms of gas loss may be responsible for the commonly observed transition from explosive to effusive behaviour during the eruption of silicic magma.

Arizona, New Mexico↗

USGS1997

Recent eruptions of Mount Adams, Washington Cascades, USA

The postglacial eruption rate for the Mount Adams volcanic field is ∼0.1 km 3 /k.y., four to seven times smaller than the average rate for the past 520 k.y. Ten vents have been active since the last main deglaciation ∼15 ka. Seven high flank vents (at 2100-2600 m) and the central summit vent of the 3742-m stratocone produced varied andesites, and two peripheral vents (at 2100 and 1200 m) produced mildly alkalic basalt. Eruptive ages of most of these units are bracketed with respect to regional tephra layers from Mount Mazama and Mount St. Helens. The basaltic lavas and scoria cones north and south of Mount Adams and a 13-km-long andesitic lava flow on its east flank are of early postglacial age. The three most extensive andesitic lava-flow complexes were emplaced in the mid-Holocene (7-4 ka). Ages of three smaller Holocene andesite units are less well constrained. A phreatomagmatic ejecta cone and associated andesite lavas that together cap the summit may be of latest Pleistocene age. but a thin layer of mid-Holocene tephra appears to have erupted there as well. An alpine-meadow section on the southeast flank contains 24 locally derived Holocene andesitic ash layers intercalated with several silicic tephras from Mazama and St. Helens. Microprobe analyses of phenocrysts from the ash layers and postglacial lavas suggest a few correlations and refine some age constraints. Approximately 6 ka, a 0.07-km 3 debris avalanche from the southwest face of Mount Adams gen-erated a clay-rich debris flow that devastated >30 km 2 south of the volcano. A gravitationally metastable 2-to 3-km 3 reservoir of hydrothermally altered fragmental andesite remains on the ice-capped summit and, towering 3 km above the surrounding lowlands, represents a greater hazard than an eruptive recurrence in the style of the last 15 k.y.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1997

Geochronologic and paleomagnetic evidence defining the relationship between the Miocene Hiko and Racer Canyon tuffs, eccentric outflow lobes from the Caliente caldera complex, southeastern Great Basin, USA

Outflow sheets of the Hiko tuff and the Racer Canyon tuff, which together extend over approximately 16 000 km 2 around the Caliente caldera complex in southeastern Nevada, have long been considered to be products of simultaneous or near-simultaneous eruptions from inset calderas in the west and east ends, respectively, of the caldera complex. New high-precision 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology and paleomagnetic data demonstrate that emplacement of the uppermost part of the Racer Canyon tuff at 18.33±0.03 Ma was nearly synchronous with emplacement of the single outflow cooling unit of the much larger overlying Hiko tuff at 18.32±0.04 Ma. Based on comparison with the geomagnetic polarity time scale derived from the sea-floor spreading record, we conclude that emplacement of the first of several outflow cooling units of the Racer Canyon tuff commenced approximately 0.5 m.y. earlier. Only one paleomagnetic polarity is found in the Hiko tuff, but at least two paleomagnetic reversals have been found in the Racer Canyon tuff. The two formations overlap in only one place, at and near Panaca Summit northeast of the center of the Caliente caldera complex; here the Hiko tuff is stratigraphically above the Racer Canyon tuff. This study demonstrates the power of combining 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and paleomagnetic data in conjunction with phenocryst compositional modes to resolve problematic stratigraphic correlations in complex ash-flow sequences where use of one method alone might not eliminate ambiguities.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1997

Crustal structure, evolution, and volcanic unrest of the Alban Hills, Central Italy

The Alban Hills, a Quaternary volcanic center lying west of the central Apennines, 15-25 km southeast of Rome, last erupted 19ka and has produced approximately 290 km3 of eruptive deposits since the inception of volcanism at 580 ka. Earthquakes of moderate intensity have been generated there at least since the Roman age. Modern observations show that intermittent periods of swarm activity originate primarily beneath the youngest features, the phreatomagmatic craters on the west side of the volcano. Results from seismic tomography allow identification of a low-velocity region, perhaps still hot or partially molten, more than 6 km beneath the youngest craters and a high-velocity region, probably a solidified magma body, beneath the older central volcanic construct. Thirty centimeters of uplift measured by releveling supports the contention that high levels of seismicity during the 1980s and 1990s resulted from accumulation of magma beneath these craters. The volume of magma accumulation and the amount of maximum uplift was probably at least 40 ?? 106 m3 and 40 cm, respectively. Comparison of newer levelings with those completed in 1891 and 1927 suggests earlier episodes of uplift. The magma chamber beneath the western Alban Hills is probably responsible for much of the past 200 ka of eruptive activity, is still receiving intermittent batches of magma, and is, therefore, continuing to generate modest levels of volcanic unrest. Bending of overburden is the most likely cause of the persistent earthquakes, which generally have hypocenters above the 6-km-deep top of the magma reservoir. In this view, the most recent uplift and seismicity are probably characteristic and not precursors of more intense activity.

Alban Hills↗

USGS1997

Subsidence of ash-flow calderas: Relation to caldera size and magma-chamber geometry

Diverse subsidence geometries and collapse processes for ash-flow calderas are inferred to reflect varying sizes, roof geometries, and depths of the source magma chambers, in combination with prior volcanic and regional tectonic influences. Based largely on a review of features at eroded pre-Quaternary calderas, a continuum of geometries and subsidence styles is inferred to exist, in both island-arc and continental settings, between small funnel calderas and larger plate (piston) subsidences bounded by arcuate faults. Within most ring-fault calderas, the subsided block is variably disrupted, due to differential movement during ash-flow eruptions and postcollapse magmatism, but highly chaotic piecemeal subsidence appears to be uncommon for large-diameter calderas. Small-scale downsag structures and accompanying extensional fractures develop along margins of most calderas during early stages of subsidence, but downsag is dominant only at calderas that have not subsided deeply. Calderas that are loci for multicyclic ash-flow eruption and subsidence cycles have the most complex internal structures. Large calderas have flared inner topographic walls due to landsliding of unstable slopes, and the resulting slide debris can constitute large proportions of caldera fill. Because the slide debris is concentrated near caldera walls, models from geophysical data can suggest a funnel geometry, even for large plate-subsidence calderas bounded by ring faults. Simple geometric models indicate that many large calderas have subsided 3-5 km, greater than the depth of most naturally exposed sections of intracaldera deposits. Many ring-fault platesubsidence calderas and intrusive ring complexes have been recognized in the western U.S., Japan, and elsewhere, but no well-documented examples of exposed eroded calderas have large-scale funnel geometry or chaotically disrupted caldera floors. Reported ignimbrite "shields" in the central Andes, where large-volume ash-flows are inferred to have erupted without caldera collapse, seem alternatively interpretable as more conventional calderas that were filled to overflow by younger lavas and tuffs. Some exposed subcaldera intrusions provide insights concerning subsidence processes, but such intrusions may continue to evolve in volume, roof geometry, depth, and composition after formation of associated calderas.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1998

The enormous Chillos Valley Lahar: An ash-flow-generated debris flow from Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

The Chillos Valley Lahar (CVL), the largest Holocene debris flow in area and volume as yet recognized in the northern Andes, formed on Cotopaxi volcano's north and northeast slopes and descended river systems that took it 326 km north–northwest to the Pacific Ocean and 130+ km east into the Amazon basin. In the Chillos Valley, 40 km downstream from the volcano, depths of 80–160 m and valley cross sections up to 337 000 m 2 are observed, implying peak flow discharges of 2.6–6.0 million m 3 /s. The overall volume of the CVL is estimated to be ≈3.8 km 3 . The CVL was generated approximately 4500 years BP by a rhyolitic ash flow that followed a small sector collapse on the north and northeast sides of Cotopaxi, which melted part of the volcano's icecap and transformed rapidly into the debris flow. The ash flow and resulting CVL have identical components, except for foreign fragments picked up along the flow path. Juvenile materials, including vitric ash, crystals, and pumice, comprise 80–90% of the lahar's deposit, whereas rhyolitic, dacitic, and andesitic lithics make up the remainder. The sand-size fraction and the 2- to 10-mm fraction together dominate the deposit, constituting ≈63 and ≈15 wt.% of the matrix, respectively, whereas the silt-size fraction averages less than ≈10 wt.% and the clay-size fraction less than 0.5 wt.%. Along the 326-km runout, these particle-size fractions vary little, as does the sorting coefficient (average=2.6). There is no tendency toward grading or improved sorting. Limited bulking is recognized. The CVL was an enormous non-cohesive debris flow, notable for its ash-flow origin and immense volume and peak discharge which gave it characteristics and a behavior akin to large cohesive mudflows. Significantly, then, ash-flow-generated debris flows can also achieve large volumes and cover great areas; thus, they can conceivably affect large populated regions far from their source. Especially dangerous, therefore, are snow-clad volcanoes with recent silicic ash-flow histories such as those found in the Andes and Alaska.

Cotopaxi Volcano↗

USGS1998

The character of long-term eruptions: Inferences from episodes 50-53 of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kūpaianaha eruption of Kīlauea volcano

The Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kūpaianaha eruption on the east rift zone of Kīlauea began in January 1983. The first 9 years of the eruption were divided between the Pu'u 'Ō'ō (1983–1986) and Kūpaianaha (1986–1992) vents, each characterized by regular, predictable patterns of activity that endured for years. In 1990 a series of pauses in the activity disturbed the equilibrium of the eruption, and in 1991, the output from Kūpaianaha steadily declined and a short-lived fissure eruption broke out between Kūpaianaha and Pu'u 'Ō'ō. In February 1992 the Kūpaianaha vent died, and, 10 days later, eruptive episode 50 began as a fissure opened on the uprift flank of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō cone. For the next year, the eruption was marked by instability as more vents opened on the flank of the cone and the activity was repeatedly interrupted by brief pauses in magma supply to the vents. Episodes 50–53 constructed a lava shield 60 m high and 1.3 km in diameter against the steep slope of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō cone. By 1993 the shield was pockmarked by collapse pits as vents and lava tubes downcut as much as 29 m through the thick deposit of scoria and spatter that veneered the cone. As the vents progressively lowered, the level of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō pond also dropped, demonstrating the hydraulic connection between the two. The downcutting helped to undermine the prominent Pu'u 'Ō'ō cone, which has diminished in size both by collapse, as a large pit crater formed over the conduit, and by burial of its flanks. Intervals of eruptive instability, such as that of 1991–1993, accelerate lateral expansion of the subaerial flow field both by producing widely spaced vents and by promoting surface flow activity as lava tubes collapse and become blocked during pauses.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1998

Volcanism offshore of Vesuvius Volcano in Naples Bay

High-resolution seismic reflection data are used to identify structural features in Naples Bay near Vesuvius Volcano. Several buried seismic units with reflection-free interiors are probably volcanic deposits erupted during and since the formation of the breached crater of Monte Somma Volcano, which preceded the growth of Vesuvius. The presumed undersea volcanic deposits are limited in extent; thus, stratigraphie relationships cannot be established among them. Other features revealed by our data include (a) the warping of lowstand marine deposits by undersea cryptodomes located approximately 10 km from the summit of Vesuvius, (b) a succession of normal step faults that record seaward collapse of the volcano, and (c) a small undersea slump in the uppermost marine deposits of Naples Bay, which may be the result of nue??e ardentes that entered the sea during a major eruption of Vesuvius in 1631. Detection of these undersea features illustrates some capabilities of making detailed seismic reflection profiles across undersea volcanoes.

Vesuvius Volcano↗

USGS1998

Abrupt shift in δ18O values at Medicine Lake volcano (California, USA)

Oxygen-isotope analyses of lavas from Medicine Lake volcano (MLV), in the southern Cascade Range, indicate a significant change in δ 18 O in Holocene time. In the Pleistocene, basaltic lavas with <52% SiO 2 averaged +5.9‰, intermediate lavas averaged +5.7‰, and silicic lavas (≥63.0% SiO 2 ) averaged +5.6‰. No analyzed Pleistocene rhyolites or dacites have values greater than +6.3‰. In post-glacial time, basalts were similar at +5.7‰ to those erupted in the Pleistocene, but intermediate lavas average +6.8‰ and silicic lavas +7.4‰ with some values as high as +8.5‰. The results indicate a change in the magmatic system supplying the volcano. During the Pleistocene, silicic lavas resulted either from melting of low- 18 O crust or from fractionation combined with assimilation of very-low- 18 O crustal material such as hydrothermally altered rocks similar to those found in drill holes under the center of the volcano. By contrast, Holocene silicic lavas were produced by assimilation and/or wholesale melting of high- 18 O crustal material such as that represented by inclusions of granite in lavas on the upper flanks of MLV. This sudden shift in assimilant indicates a fundamental change in the magmatic system. Magmas are apparently ponding in the crust at a very different level than in Pleistocene time.

California↗

USGS1998

Tephra-fall deposits from the 1992 eruption of Crater Peak, Alaska: implications of clast textures for eruptive processes

The 1992 eruption of Crater Peak, Mount Spurr, Alaska, involved three subplinian tephra-producing events of similar volume and duration. The tephra consists of two dense juvenile clast types that are identified by color, one tan and one gray, of similar chemistry, mineral assemblage, and glass composition. In two of the eruptive events, the clast types are strongly stratified with tan clasts dominating the basal two thirds of the deposits and gray clasts the upper one third. Tan clasts have average densities between 1.5 and 1.7 g/cc and vesicularities (phenocryst free) of approximately 42%. Gray clasts have average densities between 2.1 and 2.3 g/cc, and vesicularities of approximately 20%; both contain abundant microlites. Average maximum plagioclase microlite lengths (13-15 ??m) in gray clasts in the upper layer are similar regardless of eruptive event (and therefore the repose time between them) and are larger than average maximum plagioclase microlite lengths (9-11 ???m) in the tan clasts in the lower layer. This suggests that microlite growth is a response to eruptive processes and not to magma reservoir heterogeneity or dynamics. Furthermore, we suggest that the low vesicularities of the clasts are due to syneruptive magmatic degassing resulting in microlitic growth prior to fragmentation and not to quenching of clasts by external groundwater.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗

USGS1998

Seismic image of the Mount Spurr magmatic system

The three-dimenisonal P-wave velocity structure of Moutn Spurr is determined to depths of 10km by tomographic inversion of 3754 first-arriving P-wave times from local earthquakes recorded by a permanent network of 11 seismographs. Results show a prominent low-velocity zone extending from the surface to 3-4km below sea level beneath the southeastern flank of Crater Peak, spatially coincident with a geothermal system. P-wave velocities in this low-velocity zone are approximately 20% slower than those in the shallow crystalline basement rocks. Beneath Crater Peak an approximately 3km-wide zone of relative low velocities correlates with a near-vertical band of seismicity, suggestive of a magmatic conduit. No large low-velocity zone indicative of a magma chamber occurs within the upper 10km of the crust. These observations are consistent with petrologic and geochemical studies suggesting that Crater Peak magmas originate in the lower crust or upper mantle and have s short residence time in the shallow crust. Earthquakes relocaetd using the three-dimensional velocity structure correlate well with surface geology and other geophysical observations; thus, they provide additional constraints on the kinematics of the Mount Spurr magmatic system.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗