Publications

Young volcanic deposits in Kahoolawe Island, cutting up through the caldera-filling lava, colluvium and talus in the west wall of Kanapou Bay, had long been stratigraphically considered the rejuvenated-stage products. New K-Ar ages, combined with magnetic polarity data, show that young volcanism was at about 0.98-1.04 Ma and indicate no substantial quiescence between the filling of the...

Explosive eruptions at Mauna Loa summit ejected coarse-grained blocks (free of lava coatings) from Moku'aweoweo caldera. Most are gabbronorites and gabbros that have 0–26 vol.% olivine and 1–29 vol.% oikocrystic orthopyroxene. Some blocks are ferrogabbros and diorites with micrographic matrices, and diorite veins (≤2 cm) cross-cut some gabbronorites and gabbros. One block is an open...

Submarine lavas recovered from the Hilina bench region, offshore Kilauea, Hawaii Island provide information on ancient Kilauea volcano and the geochemical components of the Hawaiian hotspot. Alkalic lavas, including nephelinite, basanite, hawaiite, and alkali basalt, dominate the earliest stage of Kilauea magmatism. Transitional basalt pillow lavas are an intermediate phase, preceding...

The correlation spectrometer (COSPEC), the principal tool for remote measurements of volcanic SO2, is rapidly being replaced by low-cost, miniature, ultraviolet (UV) spectrometers. We compared two of these new systems with a COSPEC by measuring SO2 column amounts at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii. The two systems, one calibrated using in-situ SO2 cells, and the other using a calibrated...

High-resolution multibeam bathymetry and a digital elevation model of the Hawaiian Islands are used to calculate the volumes of individual shield volcanoes and island complexes (Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, the Maui Nui complex, and Hawaii), taking into account subsidence of the Pacific plate under the load of the Hawaiian Ridge. Our calculated volume for the Island of Hawaii and its submarine...

Thellier–Thellier experiments were carried out on 216 lava samples collected by the USGS on the Big Island. 35 individual flows from the Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Hualalai volcanoes are represented and independent radiocarbon dating of the flows yields absolute ages ranging from 290 to 20,240 yrs old. The palaeomagnetic analysis was carried out at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et...

The North Kona slump is an elliptical region, about 20 by 60 km (1000-km2 area), of multiple, geometrically intricate benches and scarps, mostly at water depths of 2000–4500 m, on the west flank of Hualalai Volcano. Two dives up steep scarps in the slump area were made in September 2001, using the ROV Kaiko of the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), as part of a...

Sediment traps were used to evaluate the frequency, cause, and relative intensity of sediment mobility/resuspension along the fringing coral reef off southern Molokai (February 2000–May 2002). Two storms with high rainfall, floods, and exceptionally high waves resulted in sediment collection rates > 1000 times higher than during non-storm periods, primarily because of sediment...

We report the results of a set of measurements of volcanic gases on two small ground level plumes in the vicinity of Pu`u `O`o cone on the middle East Rift Zone (ERZ) of Kilauea volcano, Hawai`i on 15 June 2001 using open-path Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The work was carried out as a reconnaissance survey to assess the monitoring and research value of FTIR...

The 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. It is complete in the sense that most data for events of M≥1.5 routinely gathered by the Observatory are included. The HVO summaries have been published in various forms since 1956. Summaries prior to 1974...

Data acquired by three continuously recording thermal infrared thermometers situated on the north rim of Pu'u'O' o Crater at Kilauea Volcano during 2002 revealed episodes of periodic thermal pulses originating from a degassing vent on the crater floor. These thermal pulses are interpreted as gas release (jetting events) associated with gas pistoning, a mechanism observed previously at...

We analyse a long-period (LP) event observed by a dense seismic network temporarily operated at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, in 1996. We systematically perform spectral analyses, waveform inversions and forward modeling of the LP event to quantify its source process. Spectral analyses identify two dominant spectral frequencies at 0.6 and 1.3 Hz with associated Q values in the range 10-20...