HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1169.002 2016-2018Eileen O'Hara
Council Member
Council District 4
Chair: Environmental
Management Committee
Phone: (808) 965-2712
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email. eileen.ohara@hawaiicounty.gov
Vice Chair: Planning Committee and
Agriculture, Water & Energy
Sustainability Committee
Attached please find materials for dissemination to all Council Members for the presentation in
the Public Safety Mass Transit Committee meeting on November 19, 2018.
Thank you for your timely consideration of this communication.
EO:bl
Att.
Hawai `i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.
eomm; No
Ref. To;MTC.
Fef• Date NOV 1 4' 2018
County of Hawaii
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402 Hilo, Hawaii 96720
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Q:
CCD
DATE:
November 13, 2018
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TO:
Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair
M
Hawaii County Council
FROM:
Eileen O'Hara, Council Member
Hawaii County Council
SUBJECT:
Materials for Communication No. 1169; Presentation in PSMTC
On November 19, 2018.
Attached please find materials for dissemination to all Council Members for the presentation in
the Public Safety Mass Transit Committee meeting on November 19, 2018.
Thank you for your timely consideration of this communication.
EO:bl
Att.
Hawai `i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.
eomm; No
Ref. To;MTC.
Fef• Date NOV 1 4' 2018
Request to Establish
Emergency Volcanic Eruption
Response Plann40
ing
for Hawaii Island
UNIFIED 4 PUNA COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP
P.O. Box 2011, Pahoa, HI 96778
PahoaTodayggmail.com 808-936-9546
Hawaii County Code Provides for Yearly
Civil Defense Emergency Response Planning
CHAPTER 7 CIVIL DEFENSE
Article 1. Civil Defense Organization. Section 7-1. Purpose.
Because of the possibility of disasters or emergencies of great destructiveness
resulting from enemy attack, sabotage or other hostile action, or from fire, flood,
tsunami, volcanic eruption, earthquake, or other natural causes, and, in order to
insure that preparations of this County will be adequate to deal with such disasters
or emergencies, to make adequate provision against shortages of food supplies and
essential commodities, to maintain the strength, resources and economic life of the
community and provide for prompt and effective action, to promote the national
defense and civil defense in cooperation with the State and Federal governments,
and to protect the public health, safety and welfare, this article is found and declared
to be necessary.
2
Hawaii County Code, Section 7-3.
Deputy director; duties.
The deputy director is responsible for the organization, administration; and operation of
the civil defense agency in the County. It is the duty of the deputy director to coordinate
the activities of all organizations for civil defense within the County, public or private,
and to maintain liaison with and cooperate to the fullest extent with the State director to
insure that the plans and programs of the County for the relief and general welfare of
the people in the event of a disaster or emergency are fully Integrated with the plans and
programs of the State and Federal governments. The plans and prolzrams shall be
prepared by the deputy director and transmitted to the council for approval and
shall be reviewed by the deputy director and resubmitted to the council for
approval before March 31 of each _year. (HCC Sec. 7 attached as Exh. "A")
3
UNIFIED 4 PUNA COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP
is a working group comprised of residents and businesses of the 96778 Zip Code
• KILAUEA VOLCANO has been erupting for several hundred thousand years and in modern times
Hawaii County has absolute knowledge of nearly continuous eruptions out of the Lower East Rift Zone
since 1955.
• According to the USGS, HVO and the University of Hawaii, a study of the past 2500 years finds that
Kilauea Volcano is predominately explosive volcano 60% of the time, with effusive flows the remaining
40%. (Attached as Exhibit "B")
• The Island of Hawaii is different than the rest of the state, as it is composed of mostly active volcanoes.
• Since 1955, HAWAII COUNTY planners allowed approximately .80,000 buildable lots, some on freshly
cooling lava within speculative subdivisions in the Puna District, some directly on the Lower East Rift
Zone itself: There is no plan to replace lava covered lots, and some residents are left with nothing but to
return to their lava lot.
• In 2014 Hurricane Iselle damaged lower Puna and the emergency preparations and response were
lacking. The June 27 lava flow threatened Pahoa and the residents and businesses and some schools
were not part of the emergency response and evacuation plans. Concerned citizens tried to bring review
of Civil Defense for glaring mistakes and ways to improve the situation for the residents and businesses_
— but none of the Puna county council members would introduce the request for their constituents,
provided to the council as Exhibit "C"
4
HAWAII COUNTY CODE PROVIDES FOR
PLANNING AND YEARLY REVIEW OF CIVIL
DEFENSE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN
• Is the yearly Civil Defense Emergency Response plan being done? When was the last time an
Emergency7 Response Plan was approved by the County Council?
• The Island of Hawaii is different than the rest of the state, as itis composed of mostly active
volcanoes.
• What is the Hawaii County's volcanic explosive and effusive eruption plan and where is the
community awareness component?
• What provisions are made for homeowners to access their property? In 2018, homeowners and
tenants were denied access while looters and humane society organizations were allowed free
range to private property.
• What will the National Guard be assigned to do? On the mainland National Guard assists with
evacuations and disaster clean-up and rebuildin . In 2014 they did not have chainsaws and
hindered residents trying to open roads. In 201 and 2018 they did not help with looting or
evacuations and were used instead as a martial law deterrent for homeowners businesses and
tenants trying to access their land.
• How will the evacuations be organized so Pahoa residents and school children do not loose their
one and only source of recreation (park and pool) for many months each time an eruption occurs?
HCC, Sec-. 7-1 provides that the preparations for the County will be
adequate "... to maintain the strength, resources and economic life of
the community.'.. and to protect the public health, safety and welfare..."
• The 2018 eruption started May 4, 2018, and as of November 11, 2018
there has been no provision for lava viewing. The businesses in Pahoa
Village had already lost business from the several thousand persons
who lost their homes to lava and left the area.
• There are several highways, 132 and 137 which lead directly to the
lava, yet there was no parking areas made for people to legally park
and view lava, and businesses in Pahoa are now closing or have
closed, and the County is not doing it's part to "maintain the strength,
resources and economic life of the community" and is not concerned
with our public health, safety or welfare other than to ticket residents
and visitors $500 fines.
6
HCC, Sec. 7-2 provides for yearly Civil Defense coordination for
"...the relief and general welfare of the people... are fully integrated
with plans. and programs of the State and Federal governments..."
• What will the National Guard be assigned to do? On the mainland
National Guard assists with evacuations and disaster clean-up and
rebuilding.
• In 2014 the Natio- nal Guard did not have tools or chainsaws and
hindered residents trying to open roads.
• In 2014 and 2018 they did not help'with looting or evacuations and
were used instead as a martial law deterrent for homeowners
businesses and tenants trying to access their land.
HCC, Sec. 7-4 provides utilization of existing
government services as may be requested...
• How will the extended ongoing lava evacuations be organized so
Pahoa residents and school children do not loose their one and only
source of recreation in town (park and pool) for many months each
time an eruption occurs?
• Evacuees were basically locked in the shelter, no guests were allowed,
the evacuees couldn't leave their possessions because theft was
rampant, and there were also 2 deaths at the camp. Security was
basically ineffective.
g
HCC, Sec. 7-5 provides "...to protect the
public peace, health and safety, and preserve
the lives and property of the people..." by
Sec.7-6 "Authorized person "
• What provisions are made for homeowners to access their property?
In 2018, homeowners and tenants with authorized placards were
denied access while looters and humane society organizations were
allowed free'range to private property.
• What is the relocation plan for residents whose property in Rift
Zones and Lava Zones becomes covered with lava? Residents are still
waiting for replacement land from Royal Gardens and -Kalapana flows,
and again now in 2018.
9
R
HCC, Sec 7-9,7-10 and 7-11 provide. for loitering and penalties "...provided that
this section shall not prevent any authorized person from lawfully preserving,
protecting, or salvaging any property, real or personal, or to prevent any other
authorized person from performing any other lawful duty."
In progress
10
Cycles of explosive and effusive eruptions at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
Donald A. Swanson', Timothy R. Rose', Adonara E. Mucek3, Michael O. Garcia3, Richard S. Fiske', and Larry G. Mastin4
'U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii 96718, USA
'Department of Mineral Sciences, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013, USA
3Department of Geology and Geophysics, SOEST (School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology), University of Hawaii,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
4U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington 98683, USA
ABSTRACT
The subaerial eruptive activity at Kilauea Volcano (Hawai`i) for
the past 2500 yr can be divided into 3 dominantly effusive and 2 domi-
nantly explosive periods, each lasting several centuries. The prevail-
ing style of eruption for 60% of this time was explosive, manifested
by repeated phreatic and phreatomagmatic activity in a deep summit
caldera. During dominantly explosive periods, the magma supply rate
to the shallow storage volume beneath the summit dropped to only a
few percent of that during mainly effusive periods. The frequency and
duration of explosive activity are contrary to the popular impression
that Kilauea is almost unceasingly effusive. Explosive activity appar-
ently correlates with the presence of a caldera intersecting the water
table. The decrease in magma supply rate may result in caldera col-
lapse, because erupted or intruded magma is not replaced. Glasses
with unusually high MgO, TiO2, and K 2 0 compositions occur only in
explosive tephra (and one related lava flow) and are consistent with
disruption of the shallow reservoir complex during caldera formation.
Kilauea is a complex, modulated system in which melting rate, supply
rate, conduit stability (in both mantle and crust), reservoir geometry,
water table, and many other factors interact with one another. The
hazards associated with explosive activity at Kilauea's summit would
have major impact on local society if a future dominantly explosive
period were to last several centuries. The association of lowered
magma supply, caldera formation, and explosive activity might char-
acterize other basaltic volcanoes, but has not been recognized.
INTRODUCTION
Kilauea (Hawai`i) is an iconic effusive volcano, known for its lava
flows and high fountains. Approximately 17% (250 km2) of the volca-
no's subaerial flanks has been resurfaced by lava flows in the past 200 yr
(Fig. 1), and the ongoing Pu `u '&6 eruption on the east rift zone, nearly
continuous since 1983, covered >125 km2 with >4 km' of lava by 2014.
Our analysis of Kilauea's past 2500 yr shows, however, that explo-
sive eruptions were dominant for periods lasting several centuries, not just
brief diversions at an otherwise effusive volcano. We find that Kilauea has
been in a dominantly explosive mode -60% of the past 2500 yr. The ef-
fusive style of the past 200 yr is, from that perspective, misleading.
For this paper we distinguish lava fountains, which at Kilauea in-
variably feed lava flows and contain only juvenile components, from ex-
plosive eruptions, which do not feed lava flows and have at least some
lithic components. In this usage, most of Kilauea's explosive eruptions are
phreatomagmatic or phreatic, though some may be products of overpres-
surized magmatic gas.
Kilauea had many explosive eruptions older than those discussed
here (Easton, 1987), but details are lacking. We deal with only the past
2500 yr, for which many ages and stratigraphic controls are available,
and examine only periods lasting centuries, not short-term events of sev-
eral years or less.
TWO DOMINANTLY EXPLOSIVE PERIODS
Recent studies indicate two long periods of time during which ex-
plosive activity dominated the summit region and adjacent south slope
of Kilauea (Fig. 2A). More than 140 calendar -calibrated 14C ages (Ta -
Sites of dated flows
155'25 w
1
0 1500-1800 CE
PACIFIC
• 1000-1500 CE
0 P
OCEAN
a 200 BCE -1000 CE
�-
0 >200 BCE
N P
P
19.5 N
d
r
' ,P\ a
S�oP
PQ
Kilometers
� �
r
S
KN
Ages of map units
19.2 N ®
post -1800 CE
15th century
1000-1500 CE
PACIFIC OCEAN
0 pre -1000(?) CE
Modified from Wolfe and
155.25 W
Morris (1996)
Figure 1. Locations of all 14C -dated lava flow samples on Kilauea
Volcano (Hawai'i), color coded by time periods discussed in text.
Data are available in Table DR1 (see footnote 1). Two sample loca-
tions north of Kilauea Caldera (KC) with ages older than 200 BCE are
shown beyond the limit of Kilauea, because the dated flows are in
the subsurface overlain by tephra. Map colors indicate general ages
of lava flows compiled from map units of Wolfe and Morris (1996),
assuming that their unit p4o is entirely younger than 1000 CE. All
flows younger than 1800 CE were recorded during or shortly after
the eruption. The 151h century `Aila`au flow field is shown separately
to emphasize its large size; samples along its margin date the flow
field (Clague et al., 1999). Other flow fields: PO—Pu'u `O`o flow field
(1983 -present), which has enlarged somewhat from depiction of
Wolfe and Morris (1996) used here; MU—Mauna Ulu flow field (1969-
74); KN—Kipuka Nene flow field (200-300 BCE).
tiles DR2 and DR3 in the GSA Data Repository'; Stuiver and Reimer,
1993; Reimer et al., 2004) define the length of each explosive period, as
interpreted in Fiske et al. (2009) and Swanson et al. (2012a).
The Uwekahuna Ash contains deposits of explosive eruptions be-
tween ca. 200 BCE and 1000 CE (Fiske et al., 2009). Only three lava
flows have been found interbedded with the Uwekahuna Ash. Two are
south of Kilauea Caldera; a third is interleaved with tephra low on the
caldera wall and may correlate paleomagnetically with one of the other
flows (Fiske et al., 2009). The Keanakako`i Tephra Member was produced
between ca. 1500 and 1800 CE (Swanson et al., 2012a). Only one lava
flow was erupted at Kilauea's summit during that time, from the outermost
ring fault bounding the south caldera. Thus, for 2 periods of time lasting
1200 yr and 300 yr, Kilauea's summit, normally the site of frequent lava
flows (Holcomb, 1987; Neal and Lockwood, 2003), had little effusive ac -
'GSA Data Repository item 2014233, Tables DRI-DR3 and Figure DRI,
showing all 14C ages of lava flows and tephra and their calendar -calibrated ages,
and Tables DR4 and DR5, presenting chemical data, is available online at www
.geosociety.org/pubs/ft2014.htm, or on request from editing@geosociety.org or
Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
CGEOLOGY, July 2014; v. 42; no. 7; p. 631-634; Data Repository item 2014233 1 doi: 10. 1 130/G35701.1 I Published online 22 May 2014
@ 2014 Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, or editing@geosociety.org. 631
Figure 2. A: Histogram
N cul 00
A 97
showing number (No.)
g,. C--
of tephra ages, prepared
`° a 50
35
from Tables DR2 and DR3
z° o
(see footnote 1). B: Histo-
u) 0
o
B': 28
gram showing number of
12
different dated lava flows
8
per century in each erup-
tive period. Numbers nidi-
a 4_
Cate how man different
Y
z 0C
9�
.........:..:...
flows were dated per pe-
riod. From 1800 CE, only
10
flows outside the caldera
are counted, because in-
: 8
tracaldera flows are not
6
recognizable for earlier
periods. Analytical data
> 4
and original figure from
2
which histogram was pre-
UA
KT
-
pared are in Table DRI
0
-500
0 500 1000
1500
2000
and Figure DR1; entire
Calendar year (BCE negative)
calendar ranges were
used except where constrained
by stratigraphy. C: Histogram of esti-
mated volume (not corrected for pore space) erupted subaerially dur-
ing each eruptive period. Gray
is dominantly effusive period. Black is
dominantly explosive period. UA—Uwekahuna Ash; KT—Keanakako`i
Tephra Member.
tivity. Instead, almost all summit eruptions were explosive: sporadic, vio-
lent, and brief. In contrast, most eruptions during the intervening periods
were frequent, effusive, and sometimes lasted for decades. This suggests
a cyclicity in summit activity, shifting from mostly effusive to mostly ex-
plosive and back again.
DISTRIBUTION OF LAVA FLOW AGES
Did the rest of the volcano, beyond the extent of marker ash beds for
the two dominantly explosive periods. behave similarly? To address this
question, we compiled and calendar -calibrated all 93 known 14C ages of
Kilauea lava flows younger than ca. 500 BCE (only a few ages are older
than that; Table DR1). Figure 213 and Figure DR1 show the distribution of
the calendar -calibrated flow ages with time for the past 2500 yr, with the
two periods of major tephra production indicated. Lava flow ages cluster
in periods between explosive eruptions. This is best shown for the past
1000 yr. Numerous ages plot in the 1000-1500 CE time interval, when
the present summit shield was under construction (Holcomb, 1987; Neal
and Lockwood, 2003); few are within the 1500-1800 CE period, when
the Keanakako`i tephra was deposited, and numerous lava flows have
been observed to form since 1800 (1823 CE is the actual age of the oldest
known post-Keanakako`i flow). The number of flow ages is small before
1000 CE. but there appears to be an increase in the period 200-500 BCE
(Fig. 2A), from 0.8 flows/100 yr to 3.3 flows/100 _yr, bracketing the 200
BCE -1000 CE age of the Uwekahuna Ash.
Three factors could weaken this pattern. The spatial distribution of
lava flow ages is uneven (Fig. 1). The lower east rift zone is underrepre-
sented. For example, flows from Heiheiahulu (Holcomb, 1987) and the
so-called 1790 flow (Moore and Trusde11,,1991), both ascribed to the 181,
century, are not dated.
Second, young flows cover old ones, so the temporal record becomes
obscured with age. Few ages, however, plot in the 1200 -yr -long period
of tephra production, in contrast to the many flow ages in the following.
much briefer, 500 -yr -long period.
Third, flows along the Puna Ridge, the 75 -km -long submarine ex-
tension of' the east rift zone, are not dated well enough for our analysis
(Smith et al., 2002). Palagonite rind thicknesses suggest ages for dredged
samples of 700-24,000 yr, mostly 2000-7000 yr (Clague et al., 1995).
This suggests relatively little eruptive activity during the past 2500 yr. The
large flows at the base of the ridge are not young, based on sediment cover
(Clague et al.. 1995). We discuss only the subaerial edifice in this paper,
but suspect that our conclusions apply to the Puna Ridge.
Acknowledging these caveats, we think that the clear pattern for the
suininit area holds for the entire subaerial edifice. We interpret the sub-
aerial volcano to have undergone alternating periods of mostly explosive
and mostly effusive eruptions for the past 2500 yr. Successive periods con-
stitute explosive -effusive cycles of varying duration.,
MAGMA SUPPLY DROPS DURING PERIODS OF MAINLY
EXPLOSIVE ACTIVITY
How do eruptive volumes and rates of magma supply compare be-
tween the explosive and effusive periods? The volume, of magma erupted
during periods of dominantly explosive activity is far less than that dur-
ing effusive periods (Fig. 2C), and the calculated magma supply rate is
correspondingly lower, only ]%-2% of the effusive rate (Table 1). Our
estimates of flow volumes (Table l ; Fig. 20 are compromised by variable
flow thickness and coverage by later flows. A simple comparison of tephra
and flow thickness at the summit area, however, illustrates the disparity
between effusive and explosive volumes.
TABLE 1. ESTIMATED VOLUME OF LAVA ERUPTED ON SUBAERIAL KILAUEA
DURING DOMINANTLY EFFUSIVE AND DOMINANTLY EXPLOSIVE PERIODS
Calendar age Volume Magma supply rate Dominant style
range (km3) (km3/yr*)
500-200 BCE >0.6 not calculated Effusive
200 BCE 1000 CE 0.3 2.5 x 10-4 Explosive
1000-1500 CE 11 2.2 x 10 Effusive
1500-1800 CE 0.15 5 x 101 Explosive
1800–present 5.5 2.6 x 10-2 Effusive
Note: Effusive volumes estimated using mapped areas of flows and areas
projected beneath younger flows, as shown on geologic maps (Wolfe and Morris,
1996; Neal and Lockwood, 2003), assuming an age consistent with 14C data
and unit label; thickness was estimated from field observations and topographic
gradient. Explosive volumes were estimated from area and average thickness of
juvenile tephra. Volumes were not adjusted for vesicularity (lava flows) or pore
space (tephra).
*Average supply rate to ground surface for entire period. Not calculated for earli-
est period, which began before 500 BCE and so is incomplete.
The 140 -m -high wall of Kilauea Caldera is made almost entirely of
flows erupted between 1000 and 1500 CE (Neal and Lockwood, 2003),
when the Observatory shield was built (Holcomb, 1987); its total thick-
ness is more, because the base of the shield is covered by caldera fill. In
contrast, the maximum exposed thickness of the Keanakako`i tephra is
only --11 m (McPhie et al., 1990; Swanson et al., 2012a). The flow thick-
ness is several meters thick 5 km southwest (downwind) of the summit,
and the tephra is only several centimeters.
A similar comparison can be made for the Uwekahuna Ash on
Kilauea's south flank. It is at most a few tens of centimeters thick, thin-
ning to only a few centimeters at the coastline (Fiske et al., 2009), but the
overlying and underlying flows are each at least several meters thick.
The striking difference in erupted volume between periods domi-
nated by effusive and explosive activity must reflect a major disruption
to the supply system that lasts for centuries. The disruption could take
place anywhere between the point of melt accumulation in the mantle and
the shallow storage system beneath Kilauea's summit. Perhaps increased
magma supply to Mauna Loa volcano causes a drop in supply to Kilauea
(Gonnermann et al., 2012). Once magma enters the Kilauea plume, it
could be diverted away from the shallow reservoir, perhaps as intrusions
into the crust or lower shield (Lin et al., 2014). A subhorizontal mantle
pathway of magma transport at –30 km depth, interpreted by Wright and
Klein (2006; see also Wolfe et al., 2003). might be a zone within which
magma could stall or be diverted. Magma probably did not bypass the
summit reservoir system and immediately erupt on the Puna Ridge, be -
632 www.gsapubs.org I July 2014 1 GEOLOGY
cause lava compositions on the ridge are highly fractionated, reflecting
shallow storage (Clague et al., 1995). Whatever the cause, a major change
in the dynamics of Kilauea's magma supply system is needed�to explain
the effusive -explosive cyclic behavior.
RELATION OF CALDERA TO CYCLES
Both explosive periods occurred when a deep caldera indented
Kilauea's summit. The Powers caldera existed during the time of depo-
sition of the Uwekahuna Ash (Powers. 1948; Holcomb, 1987) and only
began filling ca. 1000 CE, as estimated from the age of the oldest flow
overlying the Uwekahuna Ash south of the caldera (Fiske et al., 2009).
The modern caldera formed ca. 1500 CE, when the Keanakako`i explo-
sive period started, and began to fill ca. 1800 CE (Swanson et al., 2012a).
The phreatomagmatic and phreatic nature of most of the explosive erup-
tions suggests that the two calderas were often deep, at or below the water
table (Mastin, 1997; Mastin et al., 2004). Today the water table is —615 m
below the highest point on the caldera rim, --490 m below the caldera
floor (Keller et al., 1979). We think it likely that parts of the floor were at
least that deep during the dominantly explosive periods. The water table is
unlikely to have been higher during the past few hundred years, to judge
from the presence of fresh basalt above, and altered basalt below, today's
water table (Hurwitz et al., 2002, 2003).
The cause of caldera formation at Kilauea is uncertain. If the caldera
collapsed because a large volume of magma was rapidly erupted or in-
truded into the east rift zone, as conventionally thought (Holcomb et al.,
1988), then why did the average magma supply rate drop by almost two
orders of magnitude and stay low for centuries? No relatively shallow,
top-down process in the edifice is likely to cause such a long-term change
in behavior.
Recognition of eruption cycles at Kilauea raises a new possibility.
Perhaps caldera formation results from reduction in magma supply to the
shallow storage reservoir, a term we use for a configuration of multiple
magma storage volumes (Fiske and Kinoshita, 1969; Dawson et al., 2004;
Baker and Amelung, 2012; Poland et al., 2014). If magma supply dropped
significantly, eruptions or intrusions might deplete the shallow reservoir,
eventually leading to collapse of the overlying edifice. This bottom-up
model seems best suited to explain the linked formation of the caldera and
the ensuing decline in magma supply.
Before each explosive period, an effusive eruption took place that
could have depleted the storage reservoir if magma supply were low. Ex-
trusion of the 4-6 kms `Aild'au flow field (Fig. 1) during an —60 yr period
(Clague et al., 1999) immediately preceded collapse of the modern calde-
ra. The Kipuka Nene flow field (Fig. 1; Holcomb, 1987) covers more than
130 kmz (extrapolating back to its summit source) on Kilauea's south flank
and immediately underlies the Uwekahuna Ash. Much of its volume could
have flowed into the ocean, given its coastline width of —7 km (Fig. 1). We
estimate that at least 0.5 kms remains on land, and the total volume erupted
could be several times larger.
An alternative bottom-up model is that an increase in mantle melt-
ing rate supplied the large flow fields preceding caldera formation. The
increase could have depleted a relatively large volume of its melt compo-
nents, so that little magma was available to enter the volcano for several
centuries.
Both alternatives are at odds with the ongoing eruption of Pu `u '0'6,
during which the supply rate has generally been —0.12 kms yr^rexcept for
a temporary increase in 2003-2007 (Poland et al., 2012).
MgO-RICH AND FRACTIONATED VITRIC TEPHRA
Small volumes of MgO-rich juvenile ash occur in both the
Uwekahuna Ash and Keanakako`i tephra. Microprobe glass analyses
show that vitric ash with Mg0 to 11 wt% occurs at several levels in the
Keanakako `i tephra (Mastin et al., 2004; Table DR4), and one thin vitric
ash in the Uwekahuna Ash (Fiske et al., 2009) contains Mg0 values of
GEOLOGY I July 2014 1 www.gsapubs.org
12.5 wt% (Table DR5A; Helz et al., 2014). Such high MgO contents in
erupted melt are unprecedented among summit lava flows at Kilauea; the
highest published amount in glass is 10.2 wt% (Heli et al., 2014). The
normal summit glass compositions (6-9 wt% MgO; Garcia et al., 2003)
indicate storage in the shallow reservoir and crystallization of mainly oliv-
ine before eruption (Powers, 1955; Wright, 1971).
We think it significant that the highest MgO rnelts were erupted dur-
ing explosive, not effusive, periods. We interpret these high MgO values to
record brief or no storage in a disrupted shallow reservoir not fully recov-
ered following caldera collapse. Helz et al. (2014) reached a similar inter-
pretation for the Kulanaokuaiki tephra and for the much older Pahala Ash.
The most highly fractionated compositions known at Kilauea's sum-
mit also occur in vitric tephra. For example, in the Keanakako`i tephra,
thin vitric ash just above laver 6 (McPhie et al., 1990; Swanson et al.,
2012a) has only 4.0 wt% MgO and as much as 4.5 wt% TiO2 and 1.0
wt% K,O (Table DR4). We interpret such unusual compositions to reflect
isolated storage and advanced fractionation of small pockets of magma
undisturbed by fresh, mantle -derived magma during low magma supply.
A marker bed in the Kulanaokuaiki tephra (unit 2 of Fiske et al..
2009) contains glass with unusually high values of TiO, (>3 wt%) and V 0
(>0.7 wt%) for its moderately low MgO value (6.7 wt%; Table DR5B). A
temporally associated lava flow, one of two interbedded with the Kulana-
okuaiki tephra south of the caldera, has a similar composition (Wolfe and
Morris, 1996). This composition does not plot along the typical Kilauea
fractionation trend during effusive periods, although similar compositions
occur in lava flows earlier in Kilauea's history (Chen et al., 1996; Lipman
et al., 2006).
HAZARD IMPLICATIONS
Previous studies indicate that hazards of explosive eruptions at
K7auea are substantial, including pyroclastic density currents as well as
tephra falls and ballistic showers (Decker- and Christiansen, 1984; McPhie
et al., 1990; Dzurisin et al., 1995; Fiske et al., 2009, Swanson et al., 2012x,
2012b). Our work shows that the hazardous periods last much longer than
previously thought. When the next dominantly explosive period begins,
society may have to deal with centuries of repeated explosive activity at
Kilauea's summit.
CONCLUSIONS
Recognition of the explosive -effusive cycle raises far-reaching ques-
tions about the dynamics of Kilauea volcano. Rather than erupting lava
flows almost continuously, Kilauea is instead a more complex, modulated
system in which melting rate, supply rate, conduit stability (in both mantle
and crust), reservoir geometry, water table, and many other factors inter-
act. The explosive -effusive cycle is the net result of this interaction. Future
studies approaching Kilauea from a broad perspective are necessary to
significantly advance our understanding of one of Earth's most studied
volcanoes. Whether unrecognized explosive -effusive cycles occur on oth-
er basaltic volcanoes is a topic for future research.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Dave Clague, Dan Dzurisin, Shaul Hurwitz, and Pete Lipman for
insightful manuscript reviews. Tom Wright's comments on a preliminary version
were provocative. Dave Sherrod supplied three unpublished 11C ages. Discussions
with Frank Trusdell were valuable. Robin Holcomb proposed eruptive cycles that
differ from ours but stimulated our thinking. Garcia and Mucek were supported by
National Science Foundation grant EAR -1118741. This paper is School of Ocean
and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) contribution 9115.
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Manuscript received 21 March 2014
Revised manuscript received 10 May 2014
Manuscript accepted 13 May 2014
Printed in USA
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