Asta Miklius
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Magma reservoir failure and the onset of caldera collapse at Kīlauea volcano in 2018
Caldera-forming eruptions are among Earths most hazardous natural phenomena, yet the architecture of subcaldera magma reservoirs and the conditions that trigger collapse are poorly understood. Observations from the formation of a 0.8cubic kilometer basaltic caldera at Klauea Volcano in 2018 included the draining of an active lava lake, which...
Anderson, Kyle R.; Johanson, Ingrid; Patrick, Matthew R.; Gu, Mengyang; Segall, Paul; Poland, Michael P.; Montgomery-Brown, Emily; Miklius, Asta Mechanics of inflationary deformation during Caldera collapse: Evidence from the 2018 Kīlauea Eruption
During the 2018 Kilauea eruption the caldera ffloor dropped 500 meters in 62 nearly periodic events of up to 8 meters. Caldera collapse maintains pressure in the magma reservoir necessary to sustain high-rate eruptions. The 2018 collapses were accompanied by inflationary tilts and displacements, similar to observations at other basaltic calderas....
Paul Segall; Anderson, Kyle R.; Johanson, Ingrid; Miklius, Asta The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kilauea Volcano
In 2018, Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.8 km. A 4 May earthquake (M6.9) produced ~5 m of fault slip. Lava...
Neal, Christina A.; Brantley, Steven; Antolik, Loren; Babb, Janet; Burgess, Matthew K.; Cappos, Michael; Chang, Jefferson; Conway, Sarah; Desmither, Liliana; Dotray, Peter; Elias, Tamar; Fukunaga, Pauline; Fuke, Steven; Johanson, Ingrid; Kamibayashi, Kevan; Kauahikaua, James P.; Lee, R. Lopaka; Pekalib, S.; Miklius, Asta; Shiro, Brian; Swanson, Don; Nadeau, Patricia; Zoeller, Michael H.; Okubo, P.; Parcheta, Carolyn; Patrick, Matthew R.; Tollett, William; Trusdell, Frank A.; Younger, Edward (Frank); Montgomery-brown, Emily; Anderson, Kyle R.; Poland, Michael P.; Ball, Jessica L.; Bard, Joseph A.; Coombs, Michelle L.; Dietterich, Hannah R.; Kern, Christoph; Thelen, Weston; Cervelli, Peter; Orr, Tim R.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Gansecki, Cheryl; Hazlett, Richard; Lundgren, Paul; Diefenbach, Angela K.; Lerner, Allan; Waite, Greg; Kelly, Peter J.; Clor, Laura E.; Werner, Cynthia; Burgess, Matthew; Mulliken, Katherine; Fisher, Gary
The 2014 annual report for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Introduction This report summarizes team activities and findings of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory during the year 2014 in geology, geodesy, seismicity, and gas geochemistry. The eruption of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō continued into its 32nd year with flows active to the northeast of the vent. One of them, the June 27th lava flow, named for the...
Kauahikaua, Jim; Kauahikaua, James P.; Orr, Tim R.; Patrick, Matt; Thelen, Weston A.; Burgess, Matthew K.; Miklius, Asta; Poland, Michael P.; Anderson, Kyle R.; Antolik, Loren; Elias, Tamar; Sutton, Jeff; Kern, Christoph; Werner, Cindy The 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: Disaster avoided and lessons learned
Lava flow crises are nothing new on the Island of Hawai‘i, where their destructive force has been demonstrated repeatedly over the past several hundred years. The 2014–2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, however, was unique in terms of its societal impact and volcanological characteristics. Despite low effusion rates, a long-lived lava flow...
Poland, Michael P.; Orr, Tim R.; Kauahikaua, James P.; Brantley, Steven R.; Babb, Janet L.; Patrick, Matthew R.; Neal, Christina A.; Anderson, Kyle R.; Antolik, Loren; Burgess, Matthew K.; Elias, Tamar; Fuke, Steven; Fukunaga, Pauline; Johanson, Ingrid; Kagimoto, Marian; Kamibayashi, Kevan P.; Lee, Lopaka; Miklius, Asta; Million, William; Moniz, Cyril J.; Okubo, Paul G.; Sutton, Andrew; Takahashi, T. Jane; Thelen, Weston A.; Tollett, Willam; Trusdell, Frank A. Measurement of slow-moving along-track displacement from an efficient multiple-aperture SAR interferometry (MAI) stacking
Multiple-aperture SAR interferometry (MAI) has demonstrated outstanding measurement accuracy of along-track displacement when compared to pixel-offset-tracking methods; however, measuring slow-moving (cm/year) surface displacement remains a challenge. Stacking of multi-temporal observations is a potential approach to reducing noise and increasing...
Jo, Min-Jeong; Jung, Hyung-Sup; Won, Joong-Sun; Poland, Michael P.; Miklius, Asta; Lu, Zhong Delicate balance of magmatic-tectonic interaction at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i, revealed from slow slip events: Chapter 13
Eleven slow slip events (SSEs) have occurred on the southern flank of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai’i, since 1997 through 2014. We analyze this series of SSEs in the context of Kilauea’s magma system to assess whether or not there are interactions between these tectonic events and eruptive/intrusive activity. Over time, SSEs have increased in...
Carey, Rebecca; Cayol, Valérie; Poland, Michael P.; Weis, Dominique; Montgomery-Brown, Emily; Poland, Michael P.; Miklius, Asta Episodic deflation-inflation events at Kīlauea Volcano and implications for the shallow magma system: Chapter 11
Episodic variations in magma pressures and flow rates at Kīlauea Volcano, defined by a characteristic temporal evolution and termed deflation-inflation (DI) events, have been observed since at least the 1990s. DI events consist of transient, days-long deflations and subsequent reinflations of the summit region, accompanied since 2008 by...
Carey, Rebecca; Cayol, Valérie; Poland, Michael P.; Weis, Dominique; Anderson, Kyle R.; Poland, Michael P.; Johnson, Jessica H.; Miklius, Asta
Magma supply, storage, and transport at shield-stage Hawaiian volcanoes
The characteristics of magma supply, storage, and transport are among the most critical parameters governing volcanic activity, yet they remain largely unconstrained because all three processes are hidden beneath the surface. Hawaiian volcanoes, particularly Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, offer excellent prospects for studying subsurface magmatic...
Poland, Michael P.; Takahashi, T. Jane; Landowski, Claire M.; Poland, Michael P.; Miklius, Asta; Montgomery-Brown, Emily K. The 2010 slow slip event and secular motion at Kilauea, Hawai`i inferred from TerraSAR-X InSAR data
We present here an Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) algorithm to extract both transient and secular ground deformations on the order of millimeters in the presence of tropospheric noise on the order of centimeters, when the transient is of short duration and known time, and the background deformation is smooth in time. We applied this algorithm to...
Chen, Jingyi; Zebker, Howard A.; Segall, Paul; Miklius, Asta Evolution of dike opening during the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i
The 5–9 March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption along the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i, followed months of pronounced inflation at Kīlauea summit. We examine dike opening during and after the eruption using a comprehensive interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data set in combination with continuous GPS data. We solve for...
Lundgren, Paul; Poland, Michael P.; Miklius, Asta; Orr, Tim R.; Yun, Sang-Ho; Fielding, Eric; Liu, Zhen; Tanaka, Akiko; Szeliga, Walter; Hensley, Scott; Owen, Susan A mantle-driven surge in magma supply to Kīlauea Volcano during 2003-2007
The eruptive activity of a volcano is fundamentally controlled by the rate of magma supply. At Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, the rate of magma rising from a source within Earth’s mantle, through the Hawaiian hotspot, was thought to have been relatively steady in recent decades. Here we show that the magma supply to Kīlauea at least doubled during 2003...
Poland, Michael P.; Miklius, Asta; Sutton, A. Jeff; Thornber, Carl R.
Volcano Watch — Tephra deposit names: out with the old, in with the new!
The caldera was a dynamic place during the 300-plus years just before written history began at Kīlauea (in 1823), and the newly defined subdivisions of the Keanakāko‘i Tephra help us understand this energetic and dangerous time better than did the previous terminology.
Volcano Watch — Creative engineering helps HVO monitor Mauna Loa Volcano
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has a long tradition of innovation when it comes to the tools that we use to monitor the status and activity of volcanoes.
Volcano Watch — Tracking the latest moves of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa
On the Island of Hawai‘i, deformation is measured primarily with three techniques: tiltmeters, GPS (Global Positioning System), and InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar).
Volcano Watch — For Sutton, It's Been A Gas!
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff, alumni and friends recently gathered to honor the long and fruitful career of Jeff Sutton, our recently retired colleague.
Volcano Watch — How'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?
If you ever do spend Christmas on that South Pacific island, make sure Santa knows where to land his canoe of presents for you, as there are actually two islands called "Christmas Island".
Volcano Watch — Radar Specialist joins Hawaiʻian Volcano Observatory Staff
We welcome to our staff at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiʻian Volcano Observatory our newest volcano watcher, Dr. Michael Poland.
Volcano Watch — Kīlauea diary
Mauna Loa's recent indigestion has attracted a lot of attention, stealing the limelight from Kīlauea, which has been in nearly continuous eruption for almost 22 years. Let's see what Kīlauea has been up to for the past year or so.
Volcano Watch — Volcano unrest spurs increased monitoring in Alaska and HAWII
As we work to increase monitoring capabilities on our restless neighbor Mauna Loa Volcano, our colleagues at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) are working to achieve the same goal at Mount Spurr volcano with an added sense of urgency as they race against the approach of winter.
Volcano Watch — Lights! Camera! Disaster!: Mixing fact and fantasy in the movies
Colossal natural disasters have been fodder for Hollywood movies long enough that we can recognize the basic recipe. A pinch of fact, a fistful of myth and exaggeration, and a large dose of spectacular special effects add up to an entertaining, but often preposterous disaster movie.
Volcano Watch — Eruptions help cool interior of Earth—but there's a long way to go
People frequently ask, "What's with all these eruptions I hear about? Is volcanic activity increasing?" Indeed, a plot of reported eruptions over the last 200 years shows ever-increasing numbers, but it is very likely that this is due to increased interest and ease of worldwide communication rather than increased volcanic activity.
Volcano Watch — Viewing Hawai`i's lava safely - a reminder
The recent serious injury incurred by a visitor to the Mother's Day lava flow field prompted this article. Shortly after midnight on March 10, a tourist from France sustained first-, second- and third-degree burns when he fell onto the hot lava flow.
Volcano Watch — Massive Alaskan earthquake rocks the mainland
On November 3, one of the largest recorded earthquakes to strike the U.S. mainland rocked the interior of Alaska. The quake caused countless landslides, opened 1.8 meter (6-foot) cracks in highways, shook homes and damaged supports to the Trans-Alaska pipeline.