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~,,;., iBur icd perched lava pond DISCUSSION Betv,een 1962 and 1974 lava erupted many times from...

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DEPART1\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 155°15' ( . // - --- \-• ( - . Keau ho u Po i nt ''-·' 19°2o'~-- 155"15 ' --- -·-r- - ------- -- ' -- ------- --- • ------- ·--· .. ·----------i-------- Base frcm ll.S, Geologica l Survey, Hakaopuhi Ct:ater and Volcano, 1963 EXPLANATION SYMBOLS FOR ERUPTED MATERIALS--Pref ix number indicates year of eruptio n. A letter before the prefix num- ber indicates month of eruption, for short-duration eruptions only (A69PS means August 1969 s ur face-fed pahoehoe lava) T Tcphra PS surface-fed pahochoc lava A Aa lava PT Tube-fed pahoehoe lava B Hyaloclastite beach deposit { ) Buried lava f l ow---Numbcr indicates year of eruption. Flow l_ype net i ndicated SYMBOLS FOR MORPHOLOGIC t "EATUN.ES Contact--Dashed where dotted where buried gradational or approximate; Fi ssure, with date of opening--Cross-r1atc}1cd where lava was emitted Buritcd fissure, with date of opening--Cross- hu tch0.d where lava was emitted Lava channel, showing flow direction ----',>, Lava tube, showing flow direction @ Crater ,1.T.,. Buried crater ,., () Perched lava pond '>'.i." Bur icd perched lava pond .,, D ISCUSSION Betv,een 1962 and 1974 lava erupted many times from various r,la ces on Kilauea's upper east rift zone. The eruptive episodes varied considerab ly in behavior, duration, and produc ts and are the subjects of ongoing studies. Included among them was the first well- observed long- duration flank eruption (1969- 197 4) in historic ti me, an erupt ion that see..m~, partiCL1larly significant in understanding t he h ist ory of Ki l auea. PuLpose of the map. This map is .intended to serve <'.l.'' a guide to the area of recent eruptions, as a base milp for current work, and as a poss i ble model for further mapping of the pr eh i storic l"l.va flows of Ki Lrnea and volcanic reqions elr;ewhere. The topo- graphic base for this prelimi n ary uncolored version of the map is obsolete. The pr<;csent map may meet the unmedia te needs of Hawai i County c itizrms and plann i ng offic::ials, sc ie nt ists , and oth er s having interests in the area nnt:i l a re vised base becomes available. Location anJ er uptive history. Kila11ea is an active sh ie ld volcano on the Island of Hawaii at the southeastern end of th e Hawaiian archipelago (Macdonald a nd Abbott, 197 0). Kilauea has erupted f requently during the 150 years of i ts historic per i od and for many centuries t~arl i er. According to Hawaiian oral trac3 iti on':i, erupt ions from Kilauea "had taken place during every king's reign, whose nilllle was prese r v(~d in tradit io n, or soi 19 , from Akea, first king of t .he i sland, down to the present monarch" {Ellis, 182 7, p. 194). 1,,1 1 known erupt.ions of Kilauea have occnrred from its smmnit ca l dera, its southwest ri ft zone, and i ts east rif t zone. Apva Poirt p A C I F I C PREPARED \VITH THE COOPERATION OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 10' I I A 0 C ' ' l / ) ( \ / / ' ~ , ,;., i ' t. '··' __,,/· I / ) I i I I ' I I ! J [ MISCELLANEOUS FIELD STUDIES MAP MF- 811 KILAUEA VOLCANO, HA \V All INDEX MAP Howoii, showing -fo-, location of "o ·~~~ -~•K~ilouea 1 56° Maur ,a Keo 155° \', - - _ _,.,""-f!uala;ai Area of mop ' " ,0 N 1 Cape KumJka~i 50 KILOMETERS Ki l auea Volcano sl 1owin3 East Rift Zone lava flow s, 1 955-197 4 Table.--Photographs usl'll in compiLation* Date Flown 5/28/72/ 10/1.9/72 2/5/73 7/2 1 /73 12/13/73 6/1/74 6/3/74 7 /28/74 Flight Linc No. 57 19 5736 5737 5739 5740 5809 5810 5811 5812 5813 5814 5815 5857 5858 5859 5926 6111 6113 6246 6247 6270 6356 Frame Nos. 1-8 1-9 1-7 6-9 1-10 1-12 1- 13 1 -12 1 -12 1-5 1-8 1-13 1- 13 1-12 1-8 1-7 1-8 1- 7 1-13 1-16 1-10 1-9 Approximate Scale 1:19,00 0 l:l.l,000 1:18,000 1: 1 8,000 1: 22,000 1:16,000 1:21,000 1:20,000 1:16,000 1: 19 ,000 1:21,000 1:12,000 1: 21,000 1:9,000 1:25,000 1:12,000 1:26,000 1:12,000 1:16,000 1:22,000 1:11,000 l:19,000 Flight line loca ti on and direction S to N, from Apua Point to Puu Huh : hulu E to W, S to N, s " " ' from fi::om from to N to S, from Napau to Hiiaka-Ainailou Kaena Po in t to Ma kaoμ;,:,hi Kalag ana Tra il to Napau Makaopuhi to Apua Poir.t S to N, from Apua Point to Makaopu11 i -Alae s to N, from Kahue Point to Makaop1.:.hi- Napau S to N, f rom Kaena Point to Na pau S to N, from Apua Point-Keauhou to Hiiaka-Mauna Ulu S to N, from Polioke awe Pal i to Pauahi W to E, from Devils Thro at to Puu ¥.ahaua l ea E tow, from Puu Kamoarnoa to Pauahi-A ina hou ltl to E:, from Hiiaka to Iilewa-He .i heiahulu E to W, from Heiheiahulu to Ai na hou- Pol iokcawe N to s, from Mauna Ulu- M akaopuhi to Kealckomo-Apua Point W to from Devi.ls Throat to MakaoJ?uh i S to N, from Apua Point t.o Puu Huluh1ilu- Makaopuhi W to E, from Devi ls Throat to Ma kaopuhi N to s, from Hiiaka-A lae to Kealakomo S to N, from Apua Point to Puu HuJ.uhulu W to E, from Pauahi to Napau NW to SE, from Bird Park to Poliok e awe Pali *In addition to thec;e recent photographs by Rob ert M. Towill Corpora ti on (Honolulu) c;everal older photograph series were al so consulted. Mo st useful among these wGr s< the 19 5 4 HAI series (l:50,000) b y t he. U.S. Navy and the 1964 - 5 EKL se ri es (1:20,000) Ly the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. /Fl i ght lines of this date have incompl ete stereoscopy ACKNOWLEDGl•iENTS I thank the staff of the Hawa i ian Volcano Observ- atory for their many and 1ong-cont.inued contributions to this map. I am especial ly grateful to D. A. Swan - son for compiling informat i on on buried eruptive fis- sures and distributions of lava flows prior to 19 72 and to D. W. Peterson for compiling the principal lava tube systems. This work was partly supported by a grant from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. REFERENCES Ell ie:, , W., 1827, Journal of William El l is, Na rr ative of a tour of Hawai i, or Owhyhce; w·ith rem a rks on the histor y, traditions, manners, customs and language of tht' i nhabitants of the Sandwich Isl ands: Honolu lu Advertiser Pub lis hing Company, Ltd., 342 p. Fis ke, R. s., and Koyanagi, R. Y,, 1968, T he December 1965 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai i: U.S. GcoL Su rv ey Prof. Paper 607, 21 p. Hc,waiian Volcano Observatory Staf f, 1 974, Fi eld guide to summit area and upper east rift zone, Kilaued Volcano, Hawaii: Guidebook to the Hawa ii an Plan- e to logy Conference, Hi lo , Hawai i, October 1974, p. 199-21.5. Holcomb, R. 'T'., 1 973, Lava-subsidence te rr aces of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii [abs. J: Pr ogram, 9th Congress, Inter n at. Union for Quatt: rnary Re- search, Christchurch, New Zea .l and, Dec. 2-10, 1973, p. 152-153. Holcomb, R. T., Peterson, D. W., and Tilling, R. J_ 1974, Recent l andforms at Ki la1wa Volcano, a selected photograp h ic compi lation: Guidebook to the Haw.aiian Plane.to.logy Conference, Hilo, Hawaii, October 1974, p. 49-86. J ackson, D. B., Swanson, D. A., Koyanagi, R. Y., and wright, - T. T"", 1975, The August and Octo- ber, 1 968 east rift eruptions of Kilauea Vol- cano, Hawai i: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof . Paper 890, 33 pa [1976]. Macdonald, G. A., and Abbott, A. T., 1970, Volcanoes in· the Sea--the geology of Hawaii: Honolulu, university of Ha,,·aii Press, 441 p. Macdonald, G. A., and Eaton, J. P., 1 964, Hawaiian volcanoes durin9 1955: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1171, 170 p. :,:oore, J, G ., and Krivoy , H. L., 1964, The 1962 flank er u ption of Ki lauea Volcano and structure of the cast rift zon e: Jour. Geophys. Research, v. 69, no. 10, p. 2033-2045. Moore, J. G., and Koya nagi, R. Y., 1969 , The October 1 963 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 514-C, 13 p. Moore, J. G., Phillips, R. L., Grigg, k. W., Peterson, D. w., and Swanson, D. A., 1973, Flow of lava in to the c;ea, 1969-1971, Kilauea Volcano, Hawa ii: Gcol. Soc. America Bull., v. 84, no . 2, p. 537-546. Peck, D, L., Wright, T., L., and Mcore, J. G., 1966, Crystallization of tholeiitic basalt in Alae lava lake, Hawaii in International on Volconology, New Zealand , 1965: Volcanologiq:ue, v. 29, p. 629-656. Symposium Bull. , Peterson, D. W,, Christiansen, R. L ., Duffield, W, A., Holcomb, R. T,, and Tilling, R. I., in press, Recent activity of Kilauea vo l cano, Hawa ii : Bull, Vo lca nologique . Peterson, o. w., anO Swanson, D. A., 1974, Observed formation of lava tubes d uri ng 1?70-1971 at Ki l auea Volcano, Hawaii: Studies in Sp<" l.eology ,, v. 2, pt. 6, p. 209-222. Richter, D. H., Ault, W. u., Eat.on, .J . P., and Moore, J. G. , 1964, The 1961 erupt.ion of Ki lauca Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Pape r 474-D, 14 p. Richter, D. H., Eaton, J. P,, Murata, K. J., Ault, w. u., and Krivoy, H. L., 1970, Chronological narrative of the 19 59-60 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geo 1. Survey Prof. Paper 537-E, 73 p. [ 1971]. Swanson, D. A., 1973, Pahoehoe flows from the 1969- 19"/l Mauna Ul u ernption, Ki l auea Volcano, Hawai i: (.eol. Soc. America Bull. ,. v. 84, r:o. 2, p. 615-626. S•.,;anson, D. A., Jackson, D. B. , Duff ield, W. A., and Peterson, D. W., 1971, Mauna Ul.u eruption, Kilauea Volcano: 12- 1 6, Ceotiinc<_;, v. 16 , no. 5, p. Swanson, D. A., Jackson, D. B., Koyanagi, R. Y., and Wright, T. L", 1976, The February 1969 east rift eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geo l. Survey Prof. Paper 891, 30 p .. Tilling, R. I ., Peter~on, D. W ., Christiansen, R. L., and Holcomb, R .. T., 1973, Dt:'vc l opment of new volcanic shields at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, 1969 to 1973 [abs.]: Progrc.m, 9t h Congress, Internat. Union for Quaternary Research, Christchurch, New Zealand, Dec . 2-10, 1973, p. 366-367. Ti l ling, R. I., Holcomb, R .. T .. , Lockwood, J. F., and Peterson, D. W., 19 75, Recent eruptions of Hawaiian volcanoes and t he evolut i on of basal- ti c landforms [abs.]: Program, Internat. Col- 1oqu i um of Planetary Geo l ogy, Rome, Italy , Sept. 22-30, 1975, p. 149-152. Wright, T. L., Ki noshita, W. T., and Peck, D, L., 1968, Ma rch 1 965 eruption of Kilauea volcano and tfle format i on of Makaopuhi lava lake: Jour. Geophys. Rscarch, v, 73, no. 10, p. 3181-3205 . -------,----- ---- - ---- ·t --- I .. 12'30" - ------ - -, - ----- --- - ------ ----- --- - - ----, .. __ I ---- 10' --,-- - - ---- -----c-- 0 ' ' 1000 After at least 150 years of i nfrequent eruptions and 33 years of dormancy, when most activity was con - fined to the sununit caldera, the subaerial part of Kilauea's east rift zone resumed f requent activi ty in February-May 1955 wit h a series of eruptions on the lowe r segment between Heiheiahulu lava shjeld and Cape Kumukahi (Macdonald and Eaton, 1964). These were followed by eruptions from the middle (Napau Crater to Heiheiahulu) and lower pa rts of t il e rift zone in Janua r y-February 1950 and Sept.ember 1961 (R ic hter and others, 1970; Richter and others, 1964) Further eruptions from t he upper (Kilauea ca ldera to Napau era te r) and middle parts of the ri:':'t :.:cue occurred in 'December 1962, August 1963, March and December 1965, August and October 1968, ci.nd February 1969 (Moore and Krivoy, 1964; PeCk and others, l:J. 66; ,' ,1oore and Koyanagi, 1969; Wright and others, 1968; Fiske and Koyanagi, 1 968; ,Jackson and others, 1975; Swanson and others, 19 76). In the first phase of this rift zone sequence (1955- 196 1), eruptions oc- curred at po i nts widely distributed along the ri ft zone, interspersed with eruptions at the summit; as the ac ti vity cont i nued, h owever, it became concen- trated primarily along an upper segment of th e rift zone between Hiiaka and Napau pit craters. As the locus of eruptions contracted, the frequency of er uptions increased to in tervals of a few months in 1968 and 1969. Before May 1969, the east rift zone eruptions were short-lived, lasting from a few hours to a few weeks. But this pattern changed when an eruption began and cont i nued for 21, years from May 1969 until Octob er 19 71 (Swanson and others, 1971; Swanson, 1976, written commun.). During the initial stages of this eruption, high l ava fo u ntaining al tern ated Wi t h 1ow fountaining and qui.et vent overf1ows of extremely flu id gas-rich lava. After the f irst six months of erupti on th e J-1igh f ountain i ng ceased 1 giving 1 ,.Iay to continuous, relat iv ely qu ie t activity. After two short summit eruptions and a 3\,-month pause ]ate in 1971, eruptions resumed at th0. same site in February 1972 and c onti nued there wit. fl occasional short pauses and brief eruptions farther up the rift zone until mid-1974 (Peterson and others, in press) . Re !1ewed eruptions following the pauses generally began with periods of moderate fountaining that occasiona l ly alternated with periods of comparative quiet, remi- niscent of the early phase of activity, but never with the vigor of the first six months. Lava from thCe 1969- 1974 erup t ions built a new satellitic l ava shield 120 meters high nam ed Mauna Ul u between the former pit craters Aloi and Alac, covered Gl km 2 of the subaerial south f la nk of the volcano, and built 0.1 km? of new 1and along the sou thern coast of the island. Compilat i on methods and accuracy of the map. This map shows the fissn . n!S and erupt i ve products in t he area of conce!1trated and sustained activity du r- ing the period of fn !qLient eruptions beginning in 19.55. The map area includes the .Makaopuh i Crater 71:-:-minute quad r angle and the southern par t of the Volcano 7\-minute quadrangle. The compilation was made from aeria l photographs made by R. M. Tow i ll Corporation (see table) and from data and no te s collected by the staf f of the Hawaii an Volca no Observatory. Alt hou gh th e map area has been thor- oughly traversed· on foot and is in timate ly known by U 1e author, field checks were not ma de fol lowi ng comp ila t ion. SCALE 1·24000 0 1 Ml lE Geology mapped in 1975 2000 30C-O CONTOUR INTERVAL 20 FEET DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL woo ll)(JO CCET KUIMETER Lava flows erupted from 1962 to 1974 are shown on the map. However, the recent eruptive history is exceed i ngly complex, and because of the great numbe r of overlapping flows, all flows could not be shown. In the rifted vent area along the chain of pit cra- ters, flows buried bCefore 1970 have been omitted, and buried younger flows have been gene raliz ed. Elsewh erc ' buried flows are generally omitted if t hey were covered before aerial photographs recorded thei r positions. Similarly, lava channels and lava tubes of buried flows have b ee n omitted. Buried eruptive fissures have been sir:ipl if iec', anc1 their indicat.eC. position,;, are only approximate,. On this preliminary map the temporal subdivisions of the Mauna Ulu eruption are in years. This scheme was ch osen in orde r to dep i ct the rela t ive rates of eruption during succes si ve equal increments of t ime. Howe ver, these subdivisions are somewhat artificial with respect to the a ctual events of the eruption. For example, the sheet of 1973 l ava south of Mauna Ulu actua l ly began spreading late in 1972, and th e 1972 lava near Alae can be subdivided into distinct units. A different tempo r al classification could yield a more meaningful picture of the eruption. The accuracy of th is mup i~, limited by temporal and spatial gaps in t he photogru.phic coverage. Fo r example, aerial photographs were not made between 19 59 and 1972. This has caused WJ.certainties in th e ages of some flo·,:s and incomple te delineations of others. Parts of two flm ... ·s, the 1972 pahoehoe at Kaena Po i nt and the 1974 aa below Holei Pali, still uncovered and mapped, ha ve not been photographed compl.cte1y since they ceased spreading. Conse- quently the mapped exte nts of these fl ows are incom- plete, and their approximate tennini are indicated by da,:;hE:'d lines. The base map does not p roperly dep ict pre se nt topography because t he contour lines show the to- pogra phy in 1963, before it was covered by new lava, 'l'he er up t ions have produced drastic changes: Aloi and l\.lae pit craters have been completely fil l ed, whilE:' Hiiaka, Pauahi, and M akaopuhi pit craters have been par tia1ly fi ll ed. Large l ava shields have been buil t at Mauna Ulu and the site of Alae Crater , and smaller spatter ramparts have been :bu ilt around other vent::;. Talus-and-lava cones (Holcomb and othe rs, 1974) have accumulated agaiust palis {cliffs), and lava deltas (Moore and others, 1973) have added new land to the sout h coast. Ground surfcl.cC has been modified and genera lly built up by several meter,; in areas of new flows. The obsolescence of the topograph ic bac,e ha~ caused i naccuracies lo the compi l at i on of t his pre - liminary geologic map. A Kail Rad ia l Planimetric Plotter was used to transfer flm·1 boundarie~ and other features from the photographs to the t opogra- phic base. The plotler's position on the base map and its sca le could not be accurately established because control point s shown on th e base map have been obliterated by new lava flow s. Moreover, the accuracy of some indicated positions is reduced because of the plotter's in h erently poor reso lu tion of high-relief features, suc h as steep -walled craters and precipitous palis. Though an effort was made to plo t positions to within an accuracy of 20 meters, some points may be a hundred meters off, especially near the center of the map where i dentif iable con- trol points are widely spaced. Da ;:-; 'J flow· type s. map is to illustrate The principal purpose cf th is changes in character of lava flows erupted on Kalauea's east rift zone during this i nterva l. Flows were classified according to th e sc l1eme of Swanson (1973), wh o recogi-iizcd t hree major types of pahoehoe lava produced by the Mauna Ulu erup t ion: ( 1) shelly, (2) foun t ain fed, and (3) tube fed. Although these typ es grade into one another, the distinctions betwfcen them are useful for inte r pre- ting eruptive and lava flow historie s. Because they arc difficult to distinguish on aerial photographs, the she1ly and f o,1ntain-fed va rieties are grouped to- gether on this map as surface-fed pahoehoe, disti n- guished from two other broad cc1tegor j c;s designated tube-fed pahoc h oe and -aa. Swanson's observations have shown that surface-fed flows were relatively short lived or re s ulted from widely fluctuati ng rates of lava supply, whereas tube-fed fl ows reflect fairly constant suppl ie s for at least a few days (Peterson and Swanson, 1974). Under certain conditions pahoe- hoc changed to aa, and commonly the aa was covered by pahoehoe slightly later in a flow episode. As a rc crn lt, the di fferent categories are not only inter - gradational, but the ir boundaries, when dist inct , may be extremely in tr icate. This map is generalized and dep i cts merely t he broad major tr ends that char- acterized successive eruptive stages. Lava-type de;:;ignations on t he map are based on the morphology and ndlectivity of the lava flows evident on aerial photog r aphs. The appearance of a fl ow varies with the scal0 at which it is viewed. For simplicity in this report, however, the ef fects of viewing scale are i gno r ed, and features of the flm .... s are generally described in term s of their absolute di.mens ions. Aa fl ows tend to be long and th ick relative to their widt:'l, and have r ela tiv ely l 1igb surfac e relief (more t han 2 ml, on a dekameter scale (that is, over horizontal distances of tens of meters). They are characterized by such hectometer-scale f ea t ures (over hor i zonta1 di stances of hundreds of me t ers) as l ongi- tudinal ridges and large lava channels, commonly anas- tomosing, in their upper parts, a nd transverse ridges resembli ng glacier ogives i n t heir distal parts. PRELIMINARY MAP SHOWING PRODUCTS OF ERUPTIONS, 1962-1974 FROM THE UPPER EAST RIFT ZONE OF KILAUEA VOLCANO, HAW All By Robin T. Holcomb 1976 Surface-fed pahoell )e flows a re reJ. ati Ve ly thin and widespread--sheetlike - -near the vents, and numerous successive flows may o :cumulate to build broad lava shields in t he vent ar !as. The flows contain numerous larg0 and small lava c '.annels and longi t udinal ribs on dekameter and hectome : 'r sc ales. Lava ponds are c om~ mon; the ir surfaces ar i nearly flat on an hectometer scale and are composec' of a polygonal pat t ern of de k ametcr-sizcd plate ,, bowed sl ight ly upward and seoaro.tec:' by crilcks, · scmbling large cobblestones on the photographs. F md;;; in older depressions, such as Hiiaka and Pa ,.1, hi pi t craters, generally subside after they for 1 ·, and l eave lava-subsidence ter races chilled to tf'_ ir confining walls (Hoh:omb, 1973). Other ponds ar ., e nclosed by cont~mpo r aneous lava levees and perche above th e surrot1nd .i ng s ur - face (Holcomb and others, 1974). Subsidence · of pe rch ed ponds conunonly produces shallow depressio ns at.op sma11 vent.less lava shie l ds. Tu:Oe-fed pahoeho e flows an:c broad and thin, wi th broadly dendri ti .c patterns, feathering out from low, broad ridges marking the master lava tube sys tems . In the upper parts of the flows, large l ava tubes that have undergone par t ial collapse occur and can be recognized by chains of h ornitoes, skylights, and small rootless lava flows. In the lower parts of the f lows, t.umuli and pressure plateaus are abundant on dekameter to ki lometer sca les. Fresh aa flows have low albedoes, apparently due to their cen ti meter-scale surface roughness and their pauc i ty of glass. Fresh pahochoe flows have general ly higher albedocs, apparently due to the ir glassy skins and comparat i ve centimeter-scale smoothness. Howeve r, while the fresh aa fl ows are uniformly dark, fre sh pa- hoehoe flows exhibit a great range of albedoes depend- ing upon the phase angles through which they arc viewed. At different times, the same fl ov>' may a:9pear very dark or VE:'ry li ght depending upon the relative positions of the .sun and viewer above it. Becaus e of this, pahoehoe can be misin t erpreted a.c; aa; -chis prob- lem has been minimized by studying most fl ows on sev- eral photograph:; made unde r contrasting illuminations. Some tube-fed pahoehoe flows are dark on all pho- tographs, apparently because th ey are unusua lly roug h on a centimeter scale. These flows may be mistaken for . aa, but stereoscopic examh1ation reveals t umuli and other de kamc,ter- to hectometer-scale features characteristic of tube-fed flows. 'l'his type of lava ap p ear s to be one pahoehoe and aa. of the trans iti onal forms between A good example is the 1972 pahoehoe lying between the sites of Alae and M akaopuhi craters, southwec:.t of Makaopuh i and ea st-soutll ea st of Alae. Fresh Mauna Ul u pahoe !1oe is di ffi cult to disti n- guish fr om prehistoric pahoehoe in the same area . The old pahoehoe is unifonnly gray, as are the young lavas under some il lumination s. Many of the contacts are prac ti cally i nv i sible, and the only mea ns of sep- aration are commonly the scattered tr ees on the old er la va. Where vegetation is sp arse on the older lava, separation of pahoehoe of different ages is sometimes nearly impossible. This accounts for the dashed con- tact:; shown in the area of coastal flats inla nd frOm the site of Kealokomo. Fur ther complications are caused by tran.s it ions between t he var i ous flow ty pes. Transitions are of several types and may occu:r over d ist ances from a few meters to a k il ometer. In this map albedo ha s been used as the sol e criterion to distinguish pahoe- hoe (l i ght) from aa (dark) in the ir t ransition zones. M apping on the ground . may yield a different pa tter n. The transition, between surface-fed pahoehoe and tube- fed pahoe ho e is much more subtle than the pa ho e ho e-aa transit i on and can be defined only on the ba si s of hectometer-scale flow feature s such as the presence of a well-developed master tube syst em and medial ridge. Differences b0tween the two pahoehoc fl ow types are not apparent on p)lotographs, as least in the t ransi t. ion zone!3; the re fore dashed contacts shown are g radation al and somewhat arbitrary. Signiiicance of the map. Broad temporal trends in the morpholo gy of lava flows and landforms are evident on the map; they ref l ect rathe r well the eruptive history of t he area. The br i ef bu t volumi- nous initial erup tions of the series and ear ly un- stable stages of the Mauna Ulu eruption produced surface-fed pahoehoe that generally ponded or under- went transitions to aa. Long fissure vents were ge nera1ly left gaping ,,:hen the eruptions c::ea.o;ed, and vent edifices are generally absent or small and con- sist chiefly of tephra. Later, more continuous eruption at Mauna Ulu produced broad fields of tube- fed pahoehoe that partly covers earlier lavas and erupt ive fissure s. Fluctuations in lava supply later. produced additional sur face-fed pahochoe that accumu- lated around the vents to form broad lava shields and occasiona] ly underwent transitions to aa. Because changes in lava flow and vent morphology reflect. changes in eruption mode, t he same mapping technique s used here may be applied to prehistoric lava flrnvs to help characterize eruption modes at various times in the past. Deta i led mapping using Swanson's classification could be useful in eluc idating detailed erup tion hi stor ie s, bu t the preparation of th is map has indi- cated it would be d iffic ul t. Initic1.l near-vent prod- uc ts of continuing erupti ons become covered, whi le the surficial patt er n of exposed lava flows can be extremely complex. The complexity is caused by (1) changes in lava- flow types wit h respect to the dis- tance from the vents, and t heir attendant transition s, and (2) the complexity of eruptive events which pro- duce a spaghetti- l ike intermingl i ng and .over lapping of different flow types of diff erent ages. The prep- aration of this general i zeO map has relied upon re- peated photography and the detailed and careful ob- servations of the staff of the Hawaiian Volcano Ob- serva t ory fo r several years. It would be extremely difficult to work out the detailed h istory of a pre- histor ic, unobserved eruption sequen ce as complicated as this, even if the lava f lows remained unconcealed by vegetation and surficial deposits. Although the details of a complex assemblage of l avas cannot be elucidated, the general assemblage is use f ul in defining the gross na ture of er.upti ons and the cond .i.ti ons giving rise to them. Geologists investigating the history of an extens i ve area of r ecent b<J. sa ltic volcanism--such as the Hawa:i i.an I slands, Iceland, or the Snake River Plain of Idaho --should co n centrate not so much on the i ndividual lava fl ows but on the assemblages present, because the assemblages could reveal long-term changes in the erup tive hi story of the r~'gion. · ~;<.·,~/ , ,~ 1 -M 7 1 ~1i1i~mii~~~~~1 f ~ ·: ··-;· 1-~ 3 1818 001R':U:to<:i t:: M(200) MF 01, e,,\
Transcript
Page 1: ~,,;., iBur icd perched lava pond DISCUSSION Betv,een 1962 and 1974 lava erupted many times from various r,laces on Kilauea's upper east rift zone. The eruptive episodes varied considerably

DEPART1\1ENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

155°15' (

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- .

Keau hou Po int

''-·'

19°2o'~--155"15'

----·-r- - -------- - ' --------- --- •------- ·--· .. ·----------i--------

Base frcm ll.S, Geologica l Survey, Hakaopuhi Ct:ater and Volcano, 1963

EXPLANATION

SYMBOLS FOR ERUPTED MATERIALS--Pref i x number indicates year of eruption . A letter before the prefix num­ber indicates month o f eruption, for short-duration eruptions only (A69PS means August 1969 s urface-fed pahoehoe lava)

T Tcphra PS surface-fed pahochoc lava

A Aa lava PT Tube-fed pahoehoe lava

B Hyaloclastite beach deposit { ) Buried lava f l ow---Numbcr indicates year of eruption.

Flow l_ype net i ndicated

SYMBOLS FOR MORPHOLOGIC t "EATUN.ES

Contact--Dashed where dotted where buried

gradational or approximate;

Fi ssure, with date of opening--Cross-r1atc}1cd where lava was emitted

Buritcd fissure, with date of opening--Cross-hu tch0.d where lava was emitted

Lava channel, showing flow direction

----',>, Lava tube, showing flow direction

@ Crater

,1.T.,. Buried crater ,., () Perched lava pond

'>'.i." Bur icd perched lava pond .,,

D ISCUSSION

Betv,een 1962 and 1974 lava erupted many times from various r,laces on Kilauea's upper east rift zone. The eruptive episodes varied considerably in behavior, duration, and produc t s and are the subjects of ongoing studies. Included among them was the first well­observed long-duration flank eruption (1969-197 4) in historic time, an eruption that see..m~, partiCL1larly significant in understanding t he h istory of Ki l auea.

PuLpose of the map. This map is .intended to serve <'.l.'' a guide to the area of recent eruptions, as a base milp for current work, and as a poss i ble model for further mapping of the p r eh i storic l"l.va flows of Ki Lrnea and volcanic reqions elr;ewhere. The topo­graphic base for this prelimi nary uncolored version of the map is obsolete. The pr<;csent map may meet the unmedia t e needs of Hawai i County c itizrms and planni ng offic::ials, sc ient ists , and others having interests in the area nnt:i l a revised base becomes available.

Location anJ eruptive history. Kila11ea is an active sh i e ld volcano on the Island of Hawaii at the southeastern end of th e Hawaiian archipelago (Macdonald a nd Abbott, 197 0). Kilauea has erupted f requently during the 150 years of i ts historic per i od a n d for many centuries t~arl i er. According to Hawaiian oral trac3 ition':i, erupt ions from Kilauea "had taken place during every king's reign, whose nilllle was preser v(~d in tradit ion, or soi19 , from Akea, first king of t.he i sland, down to the present monarch" {Ellis, 1827, p. 194). 1,,1 1 known erupt.ions of Kilauea have occnrred from its smmnit ca l dera, its southwest ri f t zone, and i ts east rift zone.

Apva Poirt

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PREPARED \VITH THE COOPERATION OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

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MISCELLANEOUS FIELD STUDIES MAP MF- 811

KILAUEA VOLCANO, HA \V All

INDEX MAP

Howoii, showing -fo-, location of

"o ·~~~ -~•K~ilouea

156° Maur,a Keo 155°

\', - -_ _,.,""-f!uala ;ai

Area of mop

' " ,0

N

1

Cape KumJka~i

50 KILOMETERS

Ki l auea Volcano s l1owin3 East Rift Zone lava flows, 1955-197 4

Table.--Photographs usl'll in compiLation*

Date Flown

5/28/72/

10/1.9/72

2/5/73

7/2 1/73

12/13/73

6/1/74

6/3/74 7 /28/74

Flight Linc No.

57 1 9 5736 5737 5739 5740

5809 5810

5811 5812

5813 5814 5815

5857 5858

5859

5926

6111

6113

6246 6247 6270 6356

Frame Nos.

1-8 1-9 1-7 6-9 1-10

1-12 1-13

1-12 1-12

1-5 1-8 1-13

1 - 13 1-12

1-8

1-7

1-8

1- 7

1-13 1-16 1-10 1-9

Approximate Scale

1:19,000 l:l.l,000 1:18,000 1: 1 8,000 1: 22,000

1:16,000 1:21,000

1:20,000 1:16,000

1: 19 ,000 1:21,000 1:12,000

1: 21,000 1:9,000

1:25,000

1:12,000

1:26,000

1:12,000

1:16,000 1:22,000 1:11,000 l:19,000

Flight line location and direction

S to N, from Apua Point to Puu Huh:hulu

E to W,

S to N, s " " '

from fi::om from to

N to S, from

Napau to Hiiaka-Ainailou Kaena Po int to Makaoµ;,:,hi Kalag ana Trail to Napau Makaopuhi to Apua Poir.t

S to N, from Apua Point to Makaopu11 i -Alae s to N, from Kahue Point to Makaop1.:.hi­

Napau S to N, f rom Kaena Point to Napau S to N, from Apua Point-Keauhou to

Hiiaka-Mauna Ulu S to N, from Polioke awe Pal i to Pauahi W to E, from Devils Throat to Puu ¥.ahaua l ea E tow, from Puu Kamoarnoa to Pauahi-Ainahou

ltl to E:, from Hiiaka to Iilewa-He .i heiahulu E to W, from Heiheiahulu to Ai na hou­

Pol iokcawe N to s, from Mauna Ulu-Makaopuhi to

Kealckomo-Apua Point

W to from Devi.ls Throat to MakaoJ?uh i

S to N, from Apua Point t.o Puu Huluh1ilu­Makaopuhi

W to E, from Devi ls Throat to Makaopuhi

N to s, from Hiiaka-Alae to Kealakomo S to N, from Apua Point to Puu HuJ.uhulu W to E, from Pauahi to Napau NW to SE, from Bird Park to Polioke awe

Pali

*In addition t o thec;e recent photographs by Robert M. Towill Corpora tion (Honolulu) c;everal older photograph series were al so consulted. Mo s t useful among these wGr s< the 195 4 HAI series (l:50,000) b y t he. U.S. Navy and the 1964- 5 EKL series (1:20,000) Ly the

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. /Fl i ght lines of this date have incomplete stereoscopy

ACKNOWLEDGl•iENTS

I thank the staff of the Hawa i ian Volcano Observ­atory for their many and 1ong-cont.inued contributions to this map. I am especial l y grateful to D. A. Swan ­son for compiling informat i on on buried eruptive fis­sures and distributions of lava flows prior to 1972 and to D. W. Peterson for compiling the principal lava tube systems. This work was partly supported by a grant from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

REFERENCES

Ell ie:, , W., 1827, Journal of William El l is, Na rrative of a tour of Hawai i, or Owhyhce; w·ith rema rks on the history, traditions, manners, customs and language of tht' i nhabitants of the Sandwich Islands: Honolu l u Advertiser Publishing Company,

Ltd., 342 p. Fiske, R. s., and Koyanagi, R. Y,, 1968, The December

1965 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai i : U.S. GcoL Survey Prof. Paper 607, 21 p.

Hc,waiian Volcano Observatory Staff , 1 974, F i eld guide to summit area and upper east rift zone, Kilaued Volcano, Hawaii: Guidebook to the Hawa iian Plan­e to logy Conference, Hi lo , Hawai i , October 1974, p. 199-21.5.

Holcomb, R. 'T'., 1 973, Lava-subsidence terraces of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii [abs. J: P r ogram, 9th

Congress, Internat. Union for Quatt:rnary Re­search, Christchurch, New Zea .land, Dec. 2-10, 1973, p. 152-153.

Holcomb, R. T., Peterson, D. W., and Tilling, R. J_

1974, Recent l andforms at Ki la1wa Volcano, a selected photograph ic comp i lation: Guidebook to the Haw.aiian Plane.to.logy Conference, Hilo, Hawaii, October 1974, p. 49-86.

J ackson, D. B., Swanson, D. A., Koyanagi, R. Y., and wright, -T. T"", 1975, The August and Octo­ber, 1 968 east r i f t eruptions of Kilauea Vol­cano, Hawai i : U.S. Geol. Survey Prof . Paper 890, 33 p a [1976].

Macdonald, G. A., and Abbott, A . T., 1970, Volcanoes i n · the Sea--the geology of Hawaii: Honolulu, university of Ha,,·aii Press, 441 p.

Macdonald, G . A., and Eaton, J . P., 1964, Hawaiian volcanoes durin9 1955: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull.

1171, 170 p. :,:oore, J, G., and Krivoy , H. L., 1964, The 1962 flank

eru ption of Ki lauea Volcano and structure of the cast rift zone: Jour. Geophys. Research, v . 69, no. 10, p. 2033-2045.

Moore, J. G., and Koya nagi, R. Y., 1969 , The October 1 963 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 514-C, 13 p.

Moore, J. G., Phillips, R. L., Grigg, k. W., Peterson, D. w., and Swanson, D. A., 1973, Flow of lava into the c;ea, 1969-1971, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: Gcol.

Soc. America Bull., v. 84, no . 2, p. 537-546. Peck, D, L., Wright, T., L., and Mcore, J. G., 1966,

Crystallization of tholeiitic basalt in Alae lava lake, Hawaii in International on Volconology, New Zealand , 1965: Volcanologiq:ue, v . 29, p. 629-656.

Symposium Bull. ,

Peterson, D. W,, Christiansen, R. L ., Duffield, W, A., Holcomb, R. T,, and Tilling, R. I., in press, Recent activity of Kilauea vo l cano, Hawa ii : Bull,

Vo lcanologique . Peterson, o. w., anO Swanson, D. A., 1974, Observed

formation of lava tubes d uring 1?70-1971 at Ki l auea Volcano, Hawaii: Studies in Sp<" l.eology ,, v. 2, pt. 6, p. 209-222.

Richter, D. H., Ault, W. u., Eat.on, .J . P., and Moore, J. G. , 1964, The 1961 erupt.ion o f Ki lauca Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Pape r 474-D,

14 p. Richter, D. H., Eaton, J. P,, Murata, K . J., Ault,

w. u., and Krivoy, H. L., 1970, Chronological narrative of the 1959-60 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geo 1. Survey Prof. Paper

537-E, 73 p. [ 1971]. Swanson, D. A., 1973, Pahoehoe flows from the 1969-

19"/l Mauna Ul u ernption, Ki l auea Volcano, Hawai i : (.eol. Soc. America Bull. ,. v. 84, r:o. 2, p. 615-626.

S•.,;anson, D. A., Jackson, D. B . , Duff ield, W. A.,

and Peterson, D. W., 1971, Mauna Ul.u eruption, Kilauea Volcano: 12-1 6,

Ceotiinc<_;, v. 16 , no. 5, p.

Swanson, D. A., Jackson, D. B., Koyanagi, R. Y., and Wright, T. L", 1976, The February 1969 east rift eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 891, 30 p ..

Tilling, R. I ., Peter~on, D. W., Christiansen, R. L., and Holcomb, R .. T., 1973, Dt:'vc l opment of new volcanic shields at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, 1969 to 1973 [abs.]: Progrc.m, 9th Congress, Internat. Union for Quaternary Research, Christchurch, New Zealand, Dec . 2-10, 1973, p. 366-367.

Ti l ling, R. I., Holcomb, R .. T .. , Lockwood, J. F.,

and Peterson, D. W., 1975, Recent eruptions of Hawaiian volcanoes and t he evolut i on of basal­tic landforms [abs.]: Program, Internat. Col-1oqui um of Planetary Geol ogy, Rome, Italy , Sept. 22-30, 1975, p. 149-152.

Wright, T. L., Ki noshita, W. T., and Peck, D , L.,

1968, March 1 965 eruption of Kilauea volcano and tfle format i on of Makaopuhi lava lake: Jour. Geophys. Rscarch, v, 73, no. 10, p. 3181-3205 .

-------,-------------- ·t --- I .. 12'30"

------- --, - ----- --- - ------ ----- --- - - ----, .. __ I ----

10' --,-- - - ---- -----c--

0

' ' 1000

After at least 150 years of i nfrequent eruptions and 33 years of dormancy, when most activity was con ­fined to the sununit caldera, the subaerial part of Kilauea's east rift zone resumed f requent activit y in February-May 1955 with a series of eruptions on the lower segment between Heiheiahulu lava shjeld and Cape Kumukahi (Macdonald and Eaton, 1964). These were followed by eruptions from the middle (Napau Crater to Heiheiahulu) and lower parts of t il e rift zone in Januar y-February 1950 and Sept.ember 1961 (Richter and others, 1970; Richter and others, 1964) Further eruptions from t h e upper (Kilauea caldera to Napau era te r ) and middle parts of the ri:':'t :.:cue occurred in 'December 1962, August 1963, March and December 1965, August and Octobe r 1968, ci.nd February 1969 (Moore and Krivoy, 1964; PeCk and others, l:J.66; ,',1oore and Koyanagi, 1969; Wright and others, 1968; Fiske and Koyanagi, 1 968; ,Jackson and others, 1975;

Swanson and others, 19 76). In the first phase of this rift zone sequence (1955-1961), eruptions oc­curred at po i nts widely distributed along the rift zone, interspersed with eruptions at the summit; as the ac t i vity conti nued, however, it became concen­trated primarily along an upper segment of the rift zone between Hiiaka and Napau pit craters. As the locus of eruptions contracted, the frequency of e r uptions increased to intervals of a few months in 1968 and 1969.

Before May 1969, the east rift zone eruptions were short-lived, lasting from a few hours to a few

weeks. But this pattern changed when an eruption began and cont i nued for 21, years from May 1969 until Octobe r 197 1 (Swanson and others, 1971; Swanson,

1976, written commun.). During the initial stages of this eruption, high l ava fou ntaining alternated Wi t h 1ow fountaining and qui.et vent overf1ows of extremely flu id gas-rich lava. After the f irst six months of eruption the J-1igh f ountain i ng ceased1giving 1,.Iay to continuous, relat ively quie t activity. After two short summit eruptions and a 3\,-month pause ]ate in 1971, eruptions resumed at th0. same site in February 1972 and c ontinued there wit.fl occasional short pauses and brief eruptions farther up the rift zone until mid-1974 (Peterson and others, in press) . Re!1ewed eruptions following the pauses generally began with periods of moderate fountaining that occasiona l ly alternated with periods of comparative quiet, remi­niscent of the early phase of activity, but never with the vigor of the first six months. Lava from thCe 1969-1974 erupt ions built a new satellitic l ava shield 120 meters high nam ed Mauna Ulu between the

former pit craters Aloi and Alac, covered Gl km 2 o f the subaerial south f lank of the volcano, and built 0.1 km? of new 1and along the southern coast of the island.

Compilat i on methods and accuracy of the map. This map shows the fissn.n!S and erupt i ve products in t he area of conce!1trated and sustained activity dur ­ing the period of f n !qLient eruptions beginning in 19.55. The map area includes the .Makaopuhi Crater 71:-:-minute quadr angle and the southern par t of the Volcano 7\-minute quadrangle. The compilation was made from aeria l photographs made by R. M. Tow i ll Corporation (see table) and from data and note s collected by the staff of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Alt hou gh the map area has been thor­oughly traversed· on foot and is in timate ly known by U1e author, field checks were not made fol lowing comp ila t ion.

SCALE 1·24000 0 1 Ml lE

Geology mapped in 1975

2000 30C-O

CONTOUR INTERVAL 20 FEET DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

woo ll)(JO CCET

KUIMETER

Lava flows erupted from 1962 to 1974 are shown o n the map. However, the recent eruptive history is exceed i ngly complex, and because of the great number of overlapping flows, all flows could not be shown. In the rifted vent area along the chain of pit cra­ters, flows buried bCefore 1970 have been omitted, and buried younger flows have been generalized. Elsewherc ' buried flows are generally omitted if t hey were covered before aerial photographs recorded their positions. Similarly, lava channels and lava tubes of buried flows have b een omitted. Buried eruptive fissures have been sir:iplif iec', anc1 their indicat.eC. position,;, are only approximate,.

On this preliminary map the temporal subdivisions of the Mauna Ulu eruption are in years. This scheme was c hosen in order to dep i ct the relat ive rates of eruption during successive equal increments of t ime. Howe ver, these subdivisions a r e somewhat artificial with respect to the a ctual events of the eruption. For example, the sheet of 1973 l ava south of Mauna Ulu actua l ly began spreading late in 1972, and the 1972 lava near Alae can be subdivided into distinct units. A different tempor al classification could yield a more meaningful picture of the eruption.

The accuracy of thi s mup i~, limited by temporal and spatial gaps in t h e photogru.phic coverage. For example, aerial photographs were not made between 1959 and 1972. This has caused WJ.certainties in th e ages of some flo·,:s and incomplete delineations of others. Parts of two f l m ... ·s, the 1972 pahoehoe at Kaena Poi nt and the 1974 aa below Holei Pali, still uncovered and mapped, hav e not been photographed compl.cte1y since they ceased spreading. Conse­quently the mapped extents of these flows are incom­plete, and their approximate tennini are indicated by da,:;hE:'d lines.

The base map does not p roperly depict present topography because t h e contour lines show the to­pography in 1963, before it was covered by new lava, 'l'he e r up t ions have produced drastic changes: Aloi and l\.lae pit craters have been completely fil l ed, whilE:' Hiiaka, Pauahi, and Makaopuhi pit craters have been par tia1ly fi lled. Large l ava shields have been buil t at Mauna Ulu and the site of Alae Crater , and smaller spatter ramparts have been :built around other vent::;. Talus-and-lava cones (Holcomb and others, 1974) have accumulated agaiust palis {cliffs), and lava deltas (Moore and others, 1973) have added new land to the south coast. Ground surfcl.cC has been modified and genera lly built up by several meter,; i n areas of new flows.

The obsolescence of t h e topograph ic bac,e ha~ caused i naccuracies lo the compi l at i on of t his pre ­liminary geologic map. A Kail Radia l Planimetric Plotter was used to transfer flm·1 boundarie~ and other features from the photographs to the t opogra-phic base. The plotler's position on the base map

and its sca le could not be accurately established because control points shown on the base map have been obliterated by new lava flows . Moreover, the accuracy of some indicated positions is reduced because of the plotter's inh erently poor resolution of high-relief features, such as steep -walled craters and precipitous palis. Though an effort was made to plot positions to within an accuracy of 20 meters, some points may be a hundred meters off, especially near the center of the map where i dentif iable con­trol points are widely spaced.

Da ;:-;'J flow· types . map is to illustrate

The principal purpose cf th is changes in character of lava

flows erupted on Kalauea's east rift zone during this i nterva l . Flows were classified according to the sc l1eme of Swanson (1973), wh o recogi-iizcd t hree major types of pahoehoe lava produced by the Mauna Ulu erup t ion: (1) shelly, (2) foun t ain fed, and (3) tube fed. Although these types grade into one another, the distinctions betwfcen them are useful for inter pre­ting eruptive and lava flow histories . Because they arc difficult to distinguish on aerial photographs, the she1ly and f o,1ntain-fed varieties are grouped to­gether on this map as surface-fed pahoehoe, distin­guished from two other broad cc1tegor j c;s designated tube-fed pahoch oe and -aa. Swanson's observations have shown that surface-fed flows were relatively short lived or re s ulted from widely fluctuati n g rates of lava supply, whereas tube-fed f l ows reflect fairly constant suppl ies for a t least a few days (Peterson and Swanson, 1974). Under certain conditions pahoe­hoc changed to aa, and commonly the aa was covered by pahoehoe slightly later in a flow episode. As a rc crn l t , the d i fferent categories are not only inter­gradational, but the ir boundaries, when dist inct , may be extremely intr icate. This map is generalized and dep i cts merely t he broad major trends that char­acterized successive eruptive stages.

Lava-type de;:;ignations on t he map are based on

the morphology and ndlectivity of the lava flows evident on aerial photogr aphs. The appearance of a fl ow varies with the scal0 at which it is viewed. For simplicity in this report, however, the effects of viewing scale are i gnor ed, and features of the flm .... s are generally described in terms of their absolute di.mens ions.

Aa flows tend to be long and thick relative to their widt:'l, and have r elatively l1igb surface relief (more t han 2 ml, on a dekameter scale (that is, over horizontal distances of tens o f meters). They are characterized by such hectometer-scale f ea t ures (over hor i zonta1 di stances of hundreds of me t ers) as l ongi­tudinal ridges and large lava channels, commonly anas­tomosing, in their upper parts, a nd transverse ridges resembli ng glacier ogives i n t heir distal parts.

PRELIMINARY MAP SHOWING PRODUCTS OF ERUPTIONS, 1962-1974 FROM THE UPPER EAST RIFT ZONE OF KILAUEA VOLCANO, HAW All

By

Robin T. Holcomb

1976

Surface-fed pahoell )e flows a re reJ.atiVe ly thin and widespread--sheetlike - -near the vents, and numerous successive flows may o :cumulate to build broad lava shields in t he vent ar !as. The flows contain numerous larg0 and small lava c '.annels and longi t udinal ribs on dekameter and hectome : 'r s c ales. Lava ponds are c om~ mon; their surfaces ar i nearly flat on an hectometer scale and are composec' of a polygonal patt ern of dekametcr-sizcd plate,, bowed s l ight l y upward and seoaro.tec:' by crilcks, Y· ·scmbling large cobblestones on the photographs. F md;;; in older depressions, such as Hiiaka and Pa ,.1, hi pi t craters, generally subside after they for1 ·, and l eave lava-subsidence ter races chilled to tf'_ , ·ir confining walls (Hoh:omb, 1973). Other ponds ar . , e nclosed by cont~mpor aneous lava levees and perche above the surrot1nd .i ng s ur ­face (Holcomb and others, 1974). Subsidence · of perched ponds conunonly produces shallow depression s at.op sma11 vent.less lava shie l ds.

Tu:Oe-fed pahoehoe flows an:c broad and thin, wi th broadly dendri ti.c patterns, feathering out from low, broad ridges marking the master lava tube sys tems . In the upper parts of the flows, large l ava tubes that have undergone par t ial collapse occur and can be recognized by chains of hornitoes, skylights, and small rootless lava flows. In the lower parts of the f lows, t.umuli and pressure plateaus are abundant on dekameter to k i lometer scales.

Fresh aa flows have low albedoes, apparently due to their centimeter-scale surface roughness and their pauc i ty of glass. Fresh pahochoe flows have general l y higher albedocs, apparently due to their glassy skins and comparati ve centimeter-scale smoothness. However, while the fresh aa f l ows are uniformly dark, fre s h pa­hoehoe flows exhibit a great range of albedoes depend­ing upon the phase angles through which they arc viewed. At different times, the same f l ov>' may a:9pear very dark or VE:'ry light depending upon the relative positions of the .sun and viewer above it. Becaus e of this, pahoehoe can be misint erpreted a.c; aa; -chis prob­lem has been minimized by studying most f l ows on sev­eral photograph:; made unde r contrasting illuminations.

Some tube-fed pahoehoe flows are dark on all pho­tographs, apparently because they are unusua lly rough on a centimeter scale. These flows may be mistaken for .aa, but stereoscopic examh1ation reveals t umuli and other dekamc,ter- to hectometer-scale features characteristic of tube-fed flows. 'l'his type of lava app ear s to be one pahoehoe and aa.

of the transitional forms between A good example is the 1972 pahoehoe

lying between the sites of Alae and Makaopuhi craters, southwec:.t of Makaopuhi and east-soutlleast o f Alae.

Fresh Mauna Ulu pahoe!1oe is di ffi cult to disti n ­guish f r om prehistoric pahoehoe in the same area . The old pahoehoe is unifonnly gray, as are the young lavas under some i l luminations. Many of the contacts are practically i nv i sible, and the only mean s of sep­aration are commonly the scattered trees on the old er lava. Where vegetation is sparse on the older lava, separation of pahoehoe of different ages is sometimes nearly impossible. This accounts for the dashed con­tact:; shown in the area of coastal flats inland frOm the site of Kealokomo.

Fur ther complications are caused by tran.s i t ions between t he var i ous flow types. Transitions are of several types and may occu:r over d istances from a few meters to a k ilometer. In this map albedo ha s been used as the sole criterion to distinguish pahoe­hoe (l i ght) from aa (dark) in their t ransition zones.

Mapping on the ground .may yield a different pattern. The transition, between surface-fed pahoehoe and tube­fed pahoehoe is much more subtle than the pahoe hoe-aa transit i on and can be defined only on the basis of hectometer-scale flow feature s such as the presence of a well-developed master tube system and medial ridge. Differences b0tween the two pahoehoc fl ow types are not apparent on p)lotographs, as least in the t ransit. ion zone!3; therefore dashed contacts shown are g radationa l and somewhat arbitrary.

Signiiicance of the map. Broad temporal trends in the morphology of lava flows and landforms are evident on the map; they ref l ect rathe r well the eruptive history of t he area. The br i ef but volumi­nous initial eruptions of the series and ear ly un­stable stages of the Mauna Ulu eruption produced

surface-fed pahoehoe that generally ponded or under-went transitions to aa. Long fissure vents were genera1ly left gaping ,,:hen the eruptions c::ea.o;ed, and vent edifices are generally absent or small and con­sist chiefly of tephra. Later, more continuous eruption at Mauna Ulu produced broad fields of tube­fed pahoehoe that partly covers earlier lavas and eruptive fissure s . Fluctuations in lava supply later. produced additional sur face-fed pahochoe that accumu­lated around the vents to form broad lava shields and occasiona] l y underwent transitions to aa. Because changes in lava flow and vent morphology reflect. changes in eruption mode, t he same mapping technique s used here may be applied to prehistoric lava flrnvs to help characterize eruption modes at various times in the past.

Deta i led mapping using Swanson's classification could be useful in eluc idating detailed eruption h i stories, but the preparation of this map has indi­cated it would be d ifficult. Initic1.l near-vent prod­uc ts of continuing eruptions become covered, wh i le the surficial pattern of exposed lava flows can be extremely complex. The complexity is caused by (1) changes in lava-flow types with respect to the dis­

tance from the vents, and t heir attendant transitions, and (2) the complexity of eruptive events which pro­duce a spaghetti- l ike intermingl i ng and .overlapping of different flow types of different ages. The prep­aration of this general i zeO map has relied upon re­peated photography and the detailed and careful ob­servations of the staff o f the Hawaiian Volcano Ob­serva t ory fo r several years. It would be extremely difficult to work out the detailed h istory of a pre­histor ic, unobserved eruption sequence as complicated as this, even i f the lava f lows remained unconcealed by vegetation and surficial deposits.

Although the details of a complex assemblage of l avas cannot be elucidated, the general assemblage i s use f ul in defining the gross nature of er.uptions and the cond.i.tions giving rise to them. Geologists investigating the history of an extens i ve area of r ecent b<J.sa ltic volcanism--such as the Hawa:i i.an I slands, Iceland, or the Snake River Plain of Idaho --should concentrate not so much on the i ndividual lava f l ows but on the assemblages present, because the assemblages could reveal long-term changes in the eruptive history of the r~'gion.

·~;<.·,~/ , ,~ 1-M7 1~1i1i~mii~~~~~1f ~ ·:··-;·1-~ ~ 3 1818 001R':U:to<:i t::

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