RAPID: Tracking magmatic and volcanic changes in the May 2018 Kilauea Eruption.

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

This Rapid Research Response (RAPID) award will enable a detailed study of the May 2018 eruption in an effort to reconstruct lava emplacement within and between several sites spread out over about 10 km of the volcano's east rift zone. By coupling this information to lava and crystal cargo compositional analyses, the study will aim to answer questions about the magmatic system and magma migration pathways leading to this unanticipated eruption. Microtextural analysis of samples that are contextualized with aerial imagery will permit critical evaluation of existing flow emplacement models and thus engender improved quantitative understanding of lava flow dynamics. By comparing geochemical and petrologic results to the geophysical signals, the project will enhance understanding about how and why volcanoes erupt. This RAPID award will support short-fuse, high resolution geochemical studies of lava flows from the Kilauea volcano eruption in May 2018. It is planned to use 210Po-210Pb-226Ra, petrologic analysis of eruption products, and rheological evolution of basaltic lava, all in a tightly constrained spatio-temporal context. Despite the unfortunate interaction of eruption fissures with personal property and infrastructure, this eruption represent an excellent opportunity to investigate magmatism at one of Earth's most active volcanoes, with implications for why, when, and how volcanic activity occurs at a particular location. The unprecedented geophysical record of events leading to and during the eruption from the US Geological Survey's Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) dense observational network, and strong partnership and collaboration with HVO colleagues for sample collection and eruption parameter observations, and the excellent lava sample suite that is and will be collected for this study, makes this a truly unique opportunity to address fundamental scientific questions about magmatic processes within a volcanic rift zone and flow emplacement mechanics during opening phases of fissure-fed lava effusion. Volcanic products from the new/ongoing rift zone eruption have been sampled for us by the USGS, with more collections forthcoming. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.