Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Hydrothermal hexahydrite spherules erupted during the 2008-2010 summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i'

January 1, 2011

Small (1-3 mm), hollow spherules of hexahydrite have been collected falling out of the magmatic gas plume downwind of Kīlauea’s summit vent. The spherules were observed on eight separate occasions during 2009-2010 when a lake of actively spattering lava was present ~150-200 m below the rim of the vent. The shells of the spherules have a fine bubbly foam structure less than 0.1 mm thick, composed almost entirely of hexahydrite [MgSO4·6H2O] Small microspherules of lava (

Publication Year 2011
Title Hydrothermal hexahydrite spherules erupted during the 2008-2010 summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i'
DOI 10.1007/s00445-011-0484-x
Authors Ken Hon, Tim R. Orr
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Bulletin of Volcanology
Index ID 70032612
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Was this page helpful?