Petrological Study of Rift Zone Magmatism at Kilauea's Puna Ridge

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Award is for Direct Current Plasma (DC)) trace element analysis of quench melt glasses from the offshore Puna Ridge, an underwater extension of Kilauea"s East Rift Zone, and for their petrological interpretation. These glasses were collected by dredging and rock coring during a previous expedition that also mapped the Puna Ride by side-scan sonar, deep-tow video and photography, and near-bottom magnetometer. These analyses are a crucial part of a larger effort aimed at investigating the volcanic and magmatic processes occurring on the Puna Ridge, a critical part of Kilauea as most of the sampled near-primary melts erupted from he volcano come from this ridge.