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USGS1965

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory record book 1963, 1964, and 1965

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) record books are annual journals in which field observations of eruptive activity at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, were compiled by HVO staff for most years from 1912 through early 1966. In addition to descriptive observations, the record books also contain hundreds of annotated photographs and sketches, as well as temperature and transit measurements. When photographs are included, the camera settings and film types used are noted. The field notes, sketches, and photographs used to compile the record books provide an unparalleled record of eruptive activity and were the basis for published newspaper reports and periodic bulletins, such as the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory bulletins and The volcano letter . HVO staff also painstakingly prepared a second copy of each early record book, virtually identical to the original, complete with photographs and sketches. The original version of the record book was kept at HVO, while the duplicate went to the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, which was created by a group of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, businessmen to promote HVO’s work. The Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, which dissolved decades ago, held the duplicate books in Honolulu, where they were more readily accessible to the public. After 1923, HVO stopped duplicating the books—at least, no duplicate records for subsequent years have been found. During the decade of the 1940s, preparation of the record books stopped altogether. In 1952, compilation of the record books resumed and continued, with long gaps, until early 1966. Entries in these later volumes are sparse, and these books are little more than photo albums of the episodic eruptions of Kīlauea. The original record books were held at HVO and, later, at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. In 1972, the original record books for the years 1912 through 1939 were transferred to the Bishop Museum, in Honolulu, for safekeeping. These record books are now stored in archival boxes at that institution (accession number 172.265). The duplicate set of record books held by the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association were bound into volumes at an unknown date and turned over to the U.S. Geological Survey. This set of record books, spanning 1912 through 1923, is now housed in the rare book room of the U.S. Geological Survey Library in Reston, Virginia (catalog number 220(950) H3d). The record books for 1952 through early 1966 remain in storage at HVO. After 1955, typed annotations were no longer placed in the record books, and only photographs, most with captions, were included. Although the volumes titled “Record Book” end with the 1955 volume, the photograph albums that followed are similar, and the record book designation is retained for simplicity. Note that the photographs in these albums were not all originally arranged in chronological order.

Hawaii↗
USGS1965

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory record book 1965

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) record books are annual journals in which field observations of eruptive activity at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, were compiled by HVO staff for most years from 1912 through early 1966. In addition to descriptive observations, the record books also contain hundreds of annotated photographs and sketches, as well as temperature and transit measurements. When photographs are included, the camera settings and film types used are noted. The field notes, sketches, and photographs used to compile the record books provide an unparalleled record of eruptive activity and were the basis for published newspaper reports and periodic bulletins, such as the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory bulletins and The volcano letter . HVO staff also painstakingly prepared a second copy of each early record book, virtually identical to the original, complete with photographs and sketches. The original version of the record book was kept at HVO, while the duplicate went to the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, which was created by a group of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, businessmen to promote HVO’s work. The Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, which dissolved decades ago, held the duplicate books in Honolulu, where they were more readily accessible to the public. After 1923, HVO stopped duplicating the books—at least, no duplicate records for subsequent years have been found. During the decade of the 1940s, preparation of the record books stopped altogether. In 1952, compilation of the record books resumed and continued, with long gaps, until early 1966. Entries in these later volumes are sparse, and these books are little more than photo albums of the episodic eruptions of Kīlauea. The original record books were held at HVO and, later, at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. In 1972, the original record books for the years 1912 through 1939 were transferred to the Bishop Museum, in Honolulu, for safekeeping. These record books are now stored in archival boxes at that institution (accession number 172.265). The duplicate set of record books held by the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association were bound into volumes at an unknown date and turned over to the U.S. Geological Survey. This set of record books, spanning 1912 through 1923, is now housed in the rare book room of the U.S. Geological Survey Library in Reston, Virginia (catalog number 220(950) H3d). The record books for 1952 through early 1966 remain in storage at HVO. After 1955, typed annotations were no longer placed in the record books, and only photographs, most with captions, were included. Although the volumes titled “Record Book” end with the 1955 volume, the photograph albums that followed are similar, and the record book designation is retained for simplicity. Note that the photographs in these albums were not all originally arranged in chronological order.

Hawaii↗
USGS2003

A compilation of whole-rock and glass major-element geochemistry of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i, near-vent eruptive products: January 1983 through September 2001

This report presents major-element geochemical data from 652 glasses (~6,520 analyses) and 795 whole-rock aliquots from 1,002 fresh samples of olivine-tholeiitic lava collected throughout the near-continuous eruption of Kïlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, from January 1983 through September 2001. The data presented herein provide a unique temporal compilation of lava geochemistry that best reflects variations of pre-eruptive magma compositions during prolonged rift-zone eruption. This document serves as a repository for geochemical data referred to in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1676 (Heliker, Swanson, and Takahashi, eds., 2003) which includes multidisciplinary research papers pertaining to the first twenty years of Puu Oo-Kupaianaha eruption activity. Details of eruption characteristics and nomenclature are provided in the introductory chapter of that volume (Heliker and Mattox, 2003). Geochemical relations among all or portions of this data set are depicted and interpreted by Thornber (2003), Thornber and others (2003) and Thornber (2001). Trace element compositions and Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic analyses of representative samples of this select eruption suite will be provided in a separate and complimentary open file report. From 1983 to October 2001, approximately 2,500 eruption samples were collected and archived by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Geochemical data for 1,002 of these samples are included here. Previous reports present bulk-lava major- element chemistry for eruption samples collected from 1983 to 1986 and from 1990 to 1994 (Neal and others, 1988 and Mangan and others, 1995, respectively). Major element glass chemistry and thermometry data for samples collected from 1983 to 1994 is reported by Helz and Hearn (1998) and whole-rock and glass chemistry for samples collected from September 1994 to October 2001 is provided by Thornber and others (2002). This report is a compilation of previously published data along with unpublished whole-rock data for the 1986–1990 eruptive interval (episode 48, see Heliker and Mattox, 2003). The geochemical data in this report is mostly limited to well-quenched samples collected at or near their respective vents. The samples include tephra and spatter, in addition to lava dipped from lava lakes, lava tubes, and surface lava flows. The details of sample collection techniques as described by Thornber and others (2002) are generally applicable for this entire sampling interval. Specifically excluded from this database are samples of distal surface flows, many of which were collected for topical studies of emplacement dynamics (for example, Cashman and others, 1999). Samples of sluggish or crystal-laden tube flows collected during eruptive pauses were also excluded, because they bear visual, petrographic and geochemical evidence for crystal accumulation during surface-flow stagnation. In addition, the pre-1992 whole-rock major element data reported here has been corrected to compensate for minor analytical discrepancies between pre- and post-1991 XRF analyses. These discrepancies resulted from a change in instrumentation at the USGS Denver analytical laboratories. This select suite of time-constrained geochemical data is suitable for constructing petrologic models of pre-eruptive magmatic processes associated with prolong rift zone eruption of Hawaiian shield volcanoes.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2014

Seismic instrumentation plan for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The seismic network operated by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is the main source of authoritative data for reporting earthquakes in the State of Hawaii, including those that occur on the State’s six active volcanoes (Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, Mauna Kea, Haleakalā, Lō‘ihi). Of these volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are considered “very high threat” in a report on the rationale for a National Volcanic Early Warning System (NVEWS) (Ewert and others, 2005). This seismic instrumentation plan assesses the current state of HVO’s seismic network with respect to the State’s active volcanoes and calculates the number of stations that are needed to upgrade the current network to provide a seismic early warning capability for forecasting volcanic activity. Further, the report provides proposed priorities for upgrading the seismic network and a cost assessment for both the installation costs and maintenance costs of the improved network that are required to fully realize the potential of the early warning system. HVO has operated seismometers on the Island of Hawai‘i since 1912. Currently, the seismic network includes more than 70 stations from four different organizations. Generally, the Island of Hawai‘i has most of the seismic stations in the network (and most of the activity), with the density of seismic stations increasing from the northern part of the island to the south-southeast. The strength of the current network, based on theoretical detection and location capabilities, is at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano and Kīlauea’s upper East Rift Zone and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō—where few, if any, upgrades need to be made to the seismic network. The network in the region between Kīlauea and Mauna Loa is slightly weaker, as is the summit of Mauna Loa. In general, the rift zones of each volcano are more poorly monitored seismically than the summits and thus require a greater number of stations to achieve a volcanic early warning capability for monitoring seismicity. Priorities for new seismic installations on the volcanoes depend on several factors, including current activity, historical activity, population exposure, and current network quality. On Kīlauea, new installations on the middle East Rift Zone, lower East Rift Zone, and lower Southwest Rift Zone appear to be the highest priorities. On Mauna Loa, improvements to the summit seismic network should be prioritized based on the analysis of the data, followed by the installation of a sparse network on both rift zones. Once installed, the next priority would be to create denser seismic networks on the rift zones, particularly where eruptions could quickly threaten populated areas (middle Northeast Rift Zone, lower Southwest Rift Zone). On Hualālai, analysis of the data indicates that the Northwest Rift Zone is the most important priority, particularly where it runs through the population center of Kalaoa. Hualālai’s South Rift Zone appears to be the lowest priority for additional seismic instrumentation of any rift zone on Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, or Hualālai because of its low historical activity and lack of population exposure. Mauna Kea and Haleakalā have less active historical eruptive activity and thus have more modest proposed upgrades to seismic instrumentation. The installation of new seismic stations is only the first part of building a volcanic early warning capability for seismicity in the State of Hawaii. Additional personnel will likely be required to study the volcanic processes at work under each volcano, analyze the current seismic activity at a level sufficient for early warning, build new tools for monitoring, maintain seismic computing resources, and maintain the new seismic stations.

Hawaii↗
USGS2008

Remote-controlled pan, tilt, zoom cameras at Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes, Hawai'i

Lists of important volcano-monitoring disciplines usually include seismology, geodesy, and gas geochemistry. Visual monitoring - the essence of volcanology - is usually not mentioned. Yet, observations of the outward appearance of a volcano provide data that is equally as important as that provided by the other disciplines. The eye was almost certainly the first volcano monitoring-tool used by early man. Early volcanology was mostly descriptive and was based on careful visual observations of volcanoes. There is still no substitute for the eye of an experienced volcanologist. Today, scientific instruments replace or augment our senses as monitoring tools because instruments are faster and more sensitive, work tirelessly day and night, keep better records, operate in hazardous environments, do not generate lawsuits when damaged or destroyed, and in most cases are cheaper. Furthermore, instruments are capable of detecting phenomena that are outside the reach of our senses. The human eye is now augmented by the camera. Sequences of timed images provide a record of visual phenomena that occur on and above the surface of volcanoes. Photographic monitoring is a fundamental monitoring tool; image sequences can often provide the basis for interpreting other data streams. Monitoring data are most useful when they are generated and are available for analysis in real-time or near real-time. This report describes the current (as of 2006) system for real-time photograph acquisition and transmission from remote sites on Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes to the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). It also describes how the photographs are archived and analyzed. In addition to providing system documentation for HVO, we hope that the report will prove useful as a practical guide to the construction of a high-bandwidth network for the telemetry of real-time data from remote locations.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2014

The June-July 2007 collapse and refilling of Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi

Episode 57 of Kīlauea’s long-lived east rift zone eruption was characterized by lava effusion and spattering within the crater at Puʻu ʻŌʻō that lasted from July 1 to July 20, 2007. This eruptive episode represented a resumption of activity following a 12-day eruptive hiatus on Kīlauea associated with the episode 56 intrusion and eruption near Kāne Nui o Hamo cone, uprift from Puʻu ʻŌʻō, on June 17–19, 2007. The withdrawal of magma from beneath Puʻu ʻŌʻō led to the collapse of Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s crater floor, forming a concave depression ~85 m deep. After the hiatus, episode 57 lava began to erupt from two vents within Puʻu ʻŌʻō, quickly constructing a lava lake and filling the crater to within 5 m of the precollapse lava level (25 m of the pre-collapse crater floor). Starting July 8, effusion waned as the crater floor began to rise. As uplift progressed, new vents opened along a circumferential fracture that accommodated the displacement. The bulk volume of filling within the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater and flank pits during episode 57, including both surficial lava accumulation and endogenous growth, is estimated at 1.3×106 m 3 . This volume equates to a time-averaged dense rock equivalent accumulation rate of 0.6 m3 s -1 , which is an order of magnitude less than the supply rate to the volcano at that time, suggesting that most of the magma entering the volcano was being stored. Eruptive activity in Puʻu ʻŌʻō ended late on July 20, and the floor of the crater began to subside rapidly. Shortly afterward, early on July 21, a new fissure eruption started on the northeast flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, marking the onset of episode 58. The June–July 2007 collapse and refilling of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater, culminating in a new breakout outside of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, illustrates the response of a long-lived eruptive center in Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone to an uprift intrusion. Variations of this pattern occurred several times at Puʻu ʻŌʻō before 2007 and have occurred again since. Recognition of this pattern has improved the monitoring capability of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and will aid in future eruption response efforts.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2025

Local, regional, and distal recordings of seismic unrest at Tau Island volcano, American Samoa

A seismic swarm near Taʻū Island, a volcanic island in eastern American Samoa, occurred from July to October 2022. The earliest unrest was noted as felt shaking reports in late July, and instrumentation varied in the beginning of the sequence as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory responded by installing temporary and then permanent seismometers to monitor the activity. This network variability made it difficult to characterize the earliest seismicity and contextualize the entire sequence to discriminate between an underlying tectonic or volcanic source. Here, we present results analyzing hydroacoustic detections from an International Monitoring System hydrophone array near Wake Island, 4500 km northwest of Taʻū Island volcano. Using least-squares beamforming analysis, we create a catalog of T-wave detections from the direction of Taʻū Island to track the earthquakes, some of which were located by the USGS National EarthquakeInformation Center. Both the rate and hydroacoustic pressures, which we interpret as a proxy for earthquake size, gradually increased from late July to August, peaking on August 19 (rate) and August 24 (size), before decreasing to background in late September. Minutes-long bursts of tremor were also contemporaneously recorded as local network data became avail-able on August 20. Tremor activity continued throughout the rest of August, peaking on August 25, before ending in earlySeptember. These tremor bursts were band-limited to ~ 1–5 Hz and recorded as S waves at a regional station on the island of Upolu in Samoa, 250 km to the west of Taʻū Island. Our results do not constrain the tremor locations, but comparisons of earthquake and tremor reduced displacements recorded locally and regionally suggest a deeper tremor source. We interpret the increase in earthquake size and rate, together with the occurrence, characteristics, and relative depth of the tremor to be the result of magmatic activity beneath Taʻū Island volcano.

American Samoa, Taʻū Island↗
USGS2008

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Seismic Data, January to December 2007

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during the year. The seismic summary is offered without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M=1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in this report are stated in Old Hawaiian Datum. The HVO summaries have been published in various forms since 1956. Summaries prior to 1974 were issued quarterly, but cost, convenience of preparation and distribution, and the large quantities of data necessitated an annual publication, beginning with Summary 74 for the year 1974. Beginning in 2004, summaries are simply identified by the year, rather than by summary number. Summaries originally issued as administrative reports were republished in 2007 as Open-File Reports. All the summaries since 1956 are listed at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/ (last accessed September 30, 2008). In January 1986, HVO adopted CUSP (California Institute of Technology USGS Seismic Processing). Summary 86 includes a description of the seismic instrumentation, calibration, and processing used in recent years. The present summary includes background information about the seismic network to provide the end user an understanding of the processing parameters and how the data were gathered. A report by Klein and Koyanagi (1980) tabulates instrumentation, calibration, and recording history of each seismic station in the network. It is designed as a reference for users of seismograms and phase data and includes and augments the information in the station table in this summary.

Open-File Report↗