Publications
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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 W. Llewellin, Kyle R. Anderson, Matthew R. Patrick
Arsenic and other geogenic contaminants in global groundwater Arsenic and other geogenic contaminants in global groundwater
Geogenic groundwater contaminants (GGCs) affect drinking-water availability and safety, with up to 60% of groundwater sources in some regions contaminated by more than recommended concentrations. As a result, an estimated 300–500 million people are at risk of severe health impacts and premature mortality. In this Review, we discuss the sources, occurrences and cycling of arsenic...
Authors
Abhijit Mukherjee, Poulomee Coomar, Soumyajit Sarkar, Karen H. Johannesson, Alan Fryar, Madeline Schreiber, Kazi M. Ahmed, Mohd. A. Alam, Prosun Bhattacharya, Jochen Bundschuh, William Burgess, Madhumita Chakraborty, Rachel Coyte, Abida Farooqi, Huaming Guo, Julian Ijumulana, Gh Jeelani, Debapriya Mondal, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Joel Podgorski, David Polya, Bridget R. Scanlon, Mohd. Shamsudduha, Joseline Tapia, Avner Vengosh
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 A. Nadeau, Shaul Hurwitz, Sara Peek, Allan Lerner, Edward F. Younger, Matthew R. Patrick, David Damby, R. Blaine McCleskey, Peter J. Kelly
Olivine diffusion constrains months-scale magma transport within Kīlauea volcano’s summit reservoir system prior to the 2020 eruption Olivine diffusion constrains months-scale magma transport within Kīlauea volcano’s summit reservoir system prior to the 2020 eruption
The unprecedented 2018 summit collapse at Kīlauea and subsequent 2020–2021 eruption within the newly deepened Halema‘uma‘u Crater provide an unparalleled opportunity to understand how collapse events impact a volcano’s shallow reservoir system and magmatic processes. Glass and olivine from tephra ejected by lava fountains and several explosions on 20–21 December, within a few hours of...
Authors
Kendra J. Lynn, Patricia A. Nadeau, Dawn Catherine Sweeney Ruth, Jefferson Chang, Peter Dotray, Ingrid A. Johanson
The geochemistry of continental hydrothermal systems The geochemistry of continental hydrothermal systems
Hydrothermal systems on the continents are of great significance because they are primary sources of economically important metals and geothermal energy, they are tourist attractions, they support bathing and health resorts, and they host extreme life forms. Research on hot springs and their deposits provide clues to early life on Earth and possibly on Mars and have led to major...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, Andri Stefansson, Everett L. Shock, Barbara I. Kleine
USGS and social media user dialogue and sentiment during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii USGS and social media user dialogue and sentiment during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Responsive and empathic communication by scientists is critical for building trust and engagement with communities, which, in turn, promotes receptiveness toward authoritative hazard information during times of crisis. The 2018 eruption of Hawai‘i's Kīlauea Volcano was the first volcanic crisis event in which communication via the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) social media group, “USGS...
Authors
Robert T. Goldman, Sara K. McBride, Wendy K. Stovall, David Damby
Statistical perspective on the petrologic utility of polyphase groundmass compositions inferred via defocused beam electron probe microanalysis Statistical perspective on the petrologic utility of polyphase groundmass compositions inferred via defocused beam electron probe microanalysis
Polyphase groundmasses (micro-scale minerals with or without glass) are generated from silicate liquids during the cooling of natural lavas often alongside larger minerals formed long before eruption. Many researchers have posited that compositions gleaned from the analysis of groundmasses closely approximate the compositions of the melts they were derived from, and these have been used...
Authors
Daniel A. Coulthard, Yoshiyuki Iizuka, Georg F. Zellmer, Raimundo Brahm
Lava flow impacts on the built environment: Insights from a new global dataset Lava flow impacts on the built environment: Insights from a new global dataset
The recent destruction of thousands of homes by lava flows from La Palma volcano, Canary Islands, and Nyiragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo, serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that lava flows can have on communities living in volcanically active regions. Damage to buildings and infrastructure can have widespread and long-lasting effects on rehabilitation and...
Authors
Elinor S. Meredith, Susanna F. Jenkins, Josh L. Hayes, David Lallemant, Natalia I. Deligne, Natalie Teng Rui Xue
Travertine records climate-induced transformations of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system from the late Pleistocene to the present Travertine records climate-induced transformations of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system from the late Pleistocene to the present
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their deposits, provide a window into the evolution of the postglacial hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field. Today, most hydrothermal travertine forms to the north and south of the ca. 631 ka Yellowstone caldera where groundwater flow through subsurface sedimentary rocks leads to calcite...
Authors
Lauren N. Harrison, Shaul Hurwitz, James B. Paces, Cathy Whitlock, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi
Stress-driven recurrence and precursory moment-rate surge in caldera collapse earthquakes Stress-driven recurrence and precursory moment-rate surge in caldera collapse earthquakes
Predicting the recurrence times of earthquakes and understanding the physical processes that immediately precede them are two outstanding problems in seismology. Although geodetic measurements record elastic strain accumulation, most faults have recurrence intervals longer than available measurements. Foreshocks provide the principal observations of processes before mainshocks, but...
Authors
Paul Segall, Mark V. Matthews, David R. Shelly, Taiyi Wang, Kyle R. Anderson
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 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
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...
Authors
Allan Lerner, D. Matthew Sublett, Paul J. Wallace, Christina Cauley, Robert J. Bodnar
Twenty years of explosive-effusive activity at El Reventador volcano (Ecuador) recorded in its geomorphology Twenty years of explosive-effusive activity at El Reventador volcano (Ecuador) recorded in its geomorphology
Shifts in activity at long-active, open-vent volcanoes are difficult to forecast because precursory signals are enigmatic and can be lost in and amongst daily activity. Here, we propose that crater and vent morphologies, along with summit height, can help us bring some insights into future activity at one of Ecuador’s most active volcanoes El Reventador. On 3 November 2002, El Reventador...
Authors
Silvia Vallejo Vargas, Angela K. Diefenbach, Elizabeth Gaunt, Marco Almeida, Patricio Ramon, Fernanda Naranjo, Karim Kelfoun