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Insights into magma storage depths and eruption controls at Kīlauea Volcano during explosive and effusive periods of the past 500 years based on melt and fluid inclusions

February 2, 2024

Kīlauea Volcano experiences centuries-long cycles of explosive and effusive eruptive behavior, but the relation, if any, between these eruptive styles and changing conditions in the magma plumbing system remains poorly known. We analyze olivine-hosted melt and fluid inclusions to determine magma storage depths during the explosive-era Keanakākoʻi Tephra eruptions (∼1500–1840 CE) and compare these results to modern effusive-era Kīlauea eruptions (1959 Kīlauea Iki, 1960 Kapoho, 2018 lower East Rift Zone). We find that shallow (1–3 km) magma storage has persisted for centuries at Kīlauea, spanning both explosive and effusive periods. In contrast, mid-crustal zones of magma storage shallowed over time, from 5 to 8 km during the Keanakākoʻi sequence to 3–5 km during the modern effusive period. Melt and fluid inclusions in high-forsterite olivine (Fo86–89) trapped at shallow depths indicate that high-temperature magmas (1200 to ∼1300 °C) commonly reach depths of ≤3 km. CO2-rich fluid inclusions are present in olivine from all investigated Kīlauea eruptions but are larger and much more abundant in Keanakākoʻi units, which we interpret as indicating that a greater volume fraction of exsolved CO2-rich fluid was present in pre-eruptive Keanakākoʻi melts. Increased amounts of CO2-rich fluids in the Keanakākoʻi-era magmas would have increased magma buoyancy and driven rapid magma ascent, thereby increasing eruption energy and enhancing near-surface magma-water interactions compared to the current effusive period.


Publication Year 2024
Title Insights into magma storage depths and eruption controls at Kīlauea Volcano during explosive and effusive periods of the past 500 years based on melt and fluid inclusions
DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2024.118579
Authors Allan Lerner, D. Matthew Sublett Jr., Paul J. Wallace, Christina Cauley, Robert J. Bodnar
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Index ID 70251363
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Volcano Science Center
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