Matthew Patrick, Ph.D.
I am a geologist with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, conducting research and monitoring of active eruptions.
Professional Experience
US Geological Survey - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: Research Geologist, 2007-present
Michigan Tech University: Postdoctoral Researcher, 2006-2007
University of Hawaii Manoa: Postdoctoral Researcher, 2005-2006
Education and Certifications
University of Hawai‘i Mānoa Geology 8/02 – 8/05 Ph.D. 2005
University of Alaska Fairbanks Geology 8/99 – 5/02 M.S. 2002
Cornell University Geology 8/95 – 5/99 B.S. 1999
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 24
Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 eruption from the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, was one of the most significant and destructive events on the volcano in the past 200 years (Neal and others, 2019; Patrick and others, 2020; Anderson and others, 2023; Mulliken and others, 2024). Between May and September of that year, 24 fissures opened on the lower flank of the volcano...
Stochastic lava flow forecasting code used during the 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i Stochastic lava flow forecasting code used during the 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i
The 1983-2018 Puʻuʻōʻō eruption, on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, consisted of many different episodes and several phases of lava flows threatening residential areas (Heliker and Mattox 2003; Orr and others 2015). One of these crises occurred in 2014-2015, when lava erupting from Puʻuʻōʻō advanced north of the rift zone, towards the town of Pāhoa (Poland and others 2016...
Thermal camera images of lava lake and crater filling activity at Puʻuʻōʻō, East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, 2011-2019 Thermal camera images of lava lake and crater filling activity at Puʻuʻōʻō, East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, 2011-2019
The 35-year-long Puʻuʻōʻō eruption, on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, was the longest volcanic eruption on the Island of Hawaiʻi in the past 100 years (Wright and Klein 2014; Mulliken and others 2023). The eruption, whose vent area was focused at and around Puʻuʻōʻō cone, produced episodic fountaining in its initial few years followed by decades of effusive activity that created...
Timelapse camera and webcam images of the fissure 8 lava flow during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Timelapse camera and webcam images of the fissure 8 lava flow during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, was one of the most destructive effusive eruptions worldwide in the past century, destroying over 700 structures (Neal and others, 2019; Meredith and others, 2022). Between May and September 2018, a total of 24 fissures opened, producing a lava flow field with an area of 36 km2. By the end of May, the eruption...
Thermal maps of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Thermal maps of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano included both a large effusive eruption on the lower East Rift Zone and associated collapse and subsidence of the caldera floor at the summit (Anderson and others 2019; Neal and others 2019; Patrick and others 2020). Lava erupted from 24 fissures on the lower East Rift Zone over four months, with high effusion rates (>100 m3 s-1) often supplying lava...
Photogrammetry-derived digital elevation models and source images for an inactive perched lava lake formed at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (Kīlauea) in 2014 Photogrammetry-derived digital elevation models and source images for an inactive perched lava lake formed at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (Kīlauea) in 2014
Lava flow hazards are usually thought to end when the erupting vent becomes inactive, but this is not always the case. At Kīlauea in August 2014, a spiny ʻaʻā flow erupted from the levee of a crusted perched lava lake that had been inactive for a month, and the surface of the lava lake subsided as the flow advanced downslope over the following few days. Topography constructed from...
Filter Total Items: 72
Pre-existing ground cracks as lava flow pathways at Kīlauea in 2014 Pre-existing ground cracks as lava flow pathways at Kīlauea in 2014
In 2014, the Pāhoa lava flow at Kīlauea, on the Island of Hawaiʻi (USA), entered a string of pre-existing meter-width ground cracks in the volcano’s East Rift Zone. The ground cracks transported lava below the surface in a direction discordant to the slope of the landscape. The cracks, which were 100s of meters long and 10s to 100s of meters deep, also widened by up to several meters as...
Authors
Tim R. Orr, Edward Llewellin, Kyle Anderson, Matthew Patrick
Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Less than a year after the 2018 Kīlauea caldera collapse and eruption, water appeared in newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lake—unprecedented in the written record—grew to a depth of ∼50 m before lava from the December 2020 eruption boiled it away. Surface water heightened concerns of potential phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions but also offered a new means of possibly...
Authors
Patricia Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward Younger, Matthew Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter Kelly
Eruption of stagnant lava from an inactive perched lava lake Eruption of stagnant lava from an inactive perched lava lake
Lava flow hazards are usually thought to end when the erupting vent becomes inactive, but this is not always the case. At Kīlauea in August 2014, a spiny ʻaʻā flow erupted from the levee of a crusted perched lava lake that had been inactive for a month, and the surface of the lava lake subsided as the flow advanced downslope over the following few days. Topography constructed from...
Authors
Tim R. Orr, Michael Zoeller, Edward Llewellin, Matthew Patrick
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science
The science of volcanology advances disproportionately during exceptionally large or well-observed eruptions. The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai‘i) was its most impactful in centuries, involving an outpouring of more than one cubic kilometer of basalt, a magnitude 7 flank earthquake, and the volcano’s largest summit collapse since at least the nineteenth century. Eruptive...
Authors
Kyle Anderson, Tom Shea, Kendra Lynn, Emily Montgomery-Brown, Donald A. Swanson, Matthew Patrick, Brian Shiro, Christina Neal
Dynamics of the December 2020 ash-poor plume formed by lava-water interaction at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii Dynamics of the December 2020 ash-poor plume formed by lava-water interaction at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
On 20 December 2020, after more than 2 years of quiescence at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, renewed volcanic activity in the summit crater caused boiling of the water lake over a period of ∼90 min. The resulting water-rich, electrified plume rose to 11–13 km above sea level, which is among the highest plumes on record for Kīlauea. Although conventional models would infer a high mass flux...
Authors
Ryan Cahalan, Larry Mastin, Alexa Van Eaton, Shaul Hurwitz, Adam B. Smith, Josef Dufek, Stephen Solovitz, Matthew Patrick, Jo Schmith, Carolyn Parcheta, Weston Thelen, Drew Downs
Lava fountain jet noise during the 2018 eruption of fissure 8 of Kīlauea volcano Lava fountain jet noise during the 2018 eruption of fissure 8 of Kīlauea volcano
Real-time monitoring is crucial to assess hazards and mitigate risks of sustained volcanic eruptions that last hours to months or more. Sustained eruptions have been shown to produce a low frequency (infrasonic) form of jet noise. We analyze the lava fountaining at fissure 8 during the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, and connect changes in fountain...
Authors
Julia Gestrich, David Fee, Robin Matoza, John Lyons, Hannah R. Dietterich, Valerie Cigala, Ulrich Kueppers, Matthew Patrick, Carolyn Parcheta
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 24
Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Lava fountain heights and associated timelapse images during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 eruption from the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, was one of the most significant and destructive events on the volcano in the past 200 years (Neal and others, 2019; Patrick and others, 2020; Anderson and others, 2023; Mulliken and others, 2024). Between May and September of that year, 24 fissures opened on the lower flank of the volcano...
Stochastic lava flow forecasting code used during the 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i Stochastic lava flow forecasting code used during the 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i
The 1983-2018 Puʻuʻōʻō eruption, on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, consisted of many different episodes and several phases of lava flows threatening residential areas (Heliker and Mattox 2003; Orr and others 2015). One of these crises occurred in 2014-2015, when lava erupting from Puʻuʻōʻō advanced north of the rift zone, towards the town of Pāhoa (Poland and others 2016...
Thermal camera images of lava lake and crater filling activity at Puʻuʻōʻō, East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, 2011-2019 Thermal camera images of lava lake and crater filling activity at Puʻuʻōʻō, East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, 2011-2019
The 35-year-long Puʻuʻōʻō eruption, on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano, was the longest volcanic eruption on the Island of Hawaiʻi in the past 100 years (Wright and Klein 2014; Mulliken and others 2023). The eruption, whose vent area was focused at and around Puʻuʻōʻō cone, produced episodic fountaining in its initial few years followed by decades of effusive activity that created...
Timelapse camera and webcam images of the fissure 8 lava flow during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Timelapse camera and webcam images of the fissure 8 lava flow during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, was one of the most destructive effusive eruptions worldwide in the past century, destroying over 700 structures (Neal and others, 2019; Meredith and others, 2022). Between May and September 2018, a total of 24 fissures opened, producing a lava flow field with an area of 36 km2. By the end of May, the eruption...
Thermal maps of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi Thermal maps of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano included both a large effusive eruption on the lower East Rift Zone and associated collapse and subsidence of the caldera floor at the summit (Anderson and others 2019; Neal and others 2019; Patrick and others 2020). Lava erupted from 24 fissures on the lower East Rift Zone over four months, with high effusion rates (>100 m3 s-1) often supplying lava...
Photogrammetry-derived digital elevation models and source images for an inactive perched lava lake formed at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (Kīlauea) in 2014 Photogrammetry-derived digital elevation models and source images for an inactive perched lava lake formed at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (Kīlauea) in 2014
Lava flow hazards are usually thought to end when the erupting vent becomes inactive, but this is not always the case. At Kīlauea in August 2014, a spiny ʻaʻā flow erupted from the levee of a crusted perched lava lake that had been inactive for a month, and the surface of the lava lake subsided as the flow advanced downslope over the following few days. Topography constructed from...
Filter Total Items: 72
Pre-existing ground cracks as lava flow pathways at Kīlauea in 2014 Pre-existing ground cracks as lava flow pathways at Kīlauea in 2014
In 2014, the Pāhoa lava flow at Kīlauea, on the Island of Hawaiʻi (USA), entered a string of pre-existing meter-width ground cracks in the volcano’s East Rift Zone. The ground cracks transported lava below the surface in a direction discordant to the slope of the landscape. The cracks, which were 100s of meters long and 10s to 100s of meters deep, also widened by up to several meters as...
Authors
Tim R. Orr, Edward Llewellin, Kyle Anderson, Matthew Patrick
Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii Chemistry, growth, and fate of the unique, short-lived (2019–2020) water lake at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Less than a year after the 2018 Kīlauea caldera collapse and eruption, water appeared in newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The lake—unprecedented in the written record—grew to a depth of ∼50 m before lava from the December 2020 eruption boiled it away. Surface water heightened concerns of potential phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions but also offered a new means of possibly...
Authors
Patricia Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward Younger, Matthew Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter Kelly
Eruption of stagnant lava from an inactive perched lava lake Eruption of stagnant lava from an inactive perched lava lake
Lava flow hazards are usually thought to end when the erupting vent becomes inactive, but this is not always the case. At Kīlauea in August 2014, a spiny ʻaʻā flow erupted from the levee of a crusted perched lava lake that had been inactive for a month, and the surface of the lava lake subsided as the flow advanced downslope over the following few days. Topography constructed from...
Authors
Tim R. Orr, Michael Zoeller, Edward Llewellin, Matthew Patrick
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science
The science of volcanology advances disproportionately during exceptionally large or well-observed eruptions. The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai‘i) was its most impactful in centuries, involving an outpouring of more than one cubic kilometer of basalt, a magnitude 7 flank earthquake, and the volcano’s largest summit collapse since at least the nineteenth century. Eruptive...
Authors
Kyle Anderson, Tom Shea, Kendra Lynn, Emily Montgomery-Brown, Donald A. Swanson, Matthew Patrick, Brian Shiro, Christina Neal
Dynamics of the December 2020 ash-poor plume formed by lava-water interaction at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii Dynamics of the December 2020 ash-poor plume formed by lava-water interaction at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
On 20 December 2020, after more than 2 years of quiescence at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, renewed volcanic activity in the summit crater caused boiling of the water lake over a period of ∼90 min. The resulting water-rich, electrified plume rose to 11–13 km above sea level, which is among the highest plumes on record for Kīlauea. Although conventional models would infer a high mass flux...
Authors
Ryan Cahalan, Larry Mastin, Alexa Van Eaton, Shaul Hurwitz, Adam B. Smith, Josef Dufek, Stephen Solovitz, Matthew Patrick, Jo Schmith, Carolyn Parcheta, Weston Thelen, Drew Downs
Lava fountain jet noise during the 2018 eruption of fissure 8 of Kīlauea volcano Lava fountain jet noise during the 2018 eruption of fissure 8 of Kīlauea volcano
Real-time monitoring is crucial to assess hazards and mitigate risks of sustained volcanic eruptions that last hours to months or more. Sustained eruptions have been shown to produce a low frequency (infrasonic) form of jet noise. We analyze the lava fountaining at fissure 8 during the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, and connect changes in fountain...
Authors
Julia Gestrich, David Fee, Robin Matoza, John Lyons, Hannah R. Dietterich, Valerie Cigala, Ulrich Kueppers, Matthew Patrick, Carolyn Parcheta