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Research about Kilauea

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kilauea.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Thermal infrared and ultraviolet remote sensing of sulfur dioxide gas emitted during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kilauea, Hawaiʻi

Ultraviolet (UV) remote sensing is widely used to detect volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO₂) due to its high sensitivity and favorable spatial and temporal resolution. However, significant discrepancies have been reported between ground-based and satellite-based UV observations of dense volcanic plumes. A notable example is the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, where SO₂ emission rates derived from ground-based Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements differed substantially from those obtained by the spaceborne Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). In this study, we investigate these differences by applying thermal infrared (TIR) satellite retrievals using a modified version of the SO₂-ALTA algorithm to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations. The resulting TIR-derived SO₂ fluxes are compared with ground-based DOAS data, satellite UV observations, and petrological estimates of gas emissions. Our results show strong agreement between TIR-derived fluxes, ground-based DOAS measurements, and petrological estimates, particularly during the peak and plateau phases of the eruption. In contrast, satellite UV-derived SO₂ emissions are systematically lower. We find that TIR observations are more effective in quantifying high-concentration SO₂ plumes in the near-vent region, while UV measurements are more sensitive under lower-concentration conditions but more affected by scattering in optically dense plumes. These findings highlight the complementary strengths of UV and TIR remote sensing techniques and emphasize the importance of accounting for plume density and observation geometry when interpreting satellite SO₂ retrievals.

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Tephra from Kīlauea’s 2008–2018 lava lake eruption—Proximal deposits and dispersal characteristics

A network of ten buckets was established early in the 2008–2018 summit eruption at Kīlauea to collect proximal tephra ejected from the new, informally named the “Overlook crater”; the buckets were emptied on most days of the eruption thereafter. This report summarizes the results of more than 2,400 different sampling intervals (most 1–3 days long) during the eruption, focusing on the physical and dispersal characteristics of the tephra deposits. The network was within about 300 meters south of the vent to capture tephra dispersed by the dominant northeast trade wind. The juvenile tephra mainly reflected spattering at the southeast (SE) sink, a downwelling area in the southeastern part of the lava lake in the Overlook crater that remained in the same area throughout the eruption, with admixtures of solid rock and secondary minerals derived from the wall of the crater. The proportion of juvenile material to lithic material ranged widely early in the eruption but was generally greater than 90 percent for the last 6 years of the eruption as lake level rose and the crater walls decreased in height and became more stable. The accumulation rate of tephra at each bucket was strongly dependent on the location of the bucket and reflects the interplay between lava lake level and wind direction and speed. The mass per unit area (m/a) of collected tephra was a maximum of about 97 kilograms per square meter for the entire eruption, equivalent to a thickness of about 75 millimeters. Thirty-two explosive events with a volcanic explosivity index of −2 to −4 deposited much of the tephra in the network. Fifteen of these rock-fall-induced events occurred within 6 days of one another. Pele’s hair, a volcanic glass predominantly associated with quieter activity at the vent in the final half of the eruption, was dispersed more than 60 kilometers downwind from the lava lake and formed a nearly continuous deposit near the Overlook crater. This eruption was probably the most frequently sampled long-lasting eruption in history, but most of the deposits are ephemeral. The collected samples, although generally of small mass, are retained by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and are available for detailed study.

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Petrologic and geochemical characterization of the first year of the 2024–ongoing episodic Halemaumau eruption of Kilauea (Episodes 1–39)

Kīlauea has been erupting episodically since December 23, 2024 (and is ongoing at the time of this writing in 2026) with two consistently active vents in Halema‘uma‘u producing lava fountains ranging in height from 40 to 540 m. In the first year of the eruption (through December 24, 2025, episode 39), the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory collected 178 samples for eruption monitoring purposes and used a subset of 80 for near-real-time geochemical analyses. Tephra, lava, and recycled lava lake ooze-out samples have been studied on inter-episode timescales using diverse microanalytical techniques, where research-scale investigations have proven to be advantageous pseudo-near-real-time techniques. Here we present a geochemical and petrologic overview of episodes 1–39 to better understand eruption dynamics and identify changes at Kīlauea following the 2018 summit caldera collapse. There are no significant intra-episode geochemical changes that might be related to variable fountain heights or episode durations, suggesting that eruption dynamics are instead primarily controlled by viscosity and conduit geometry changes throughout a single episode and between episodes. There is variable but clear influence of the still-molten lava lake interior on compositions of this eruption, including in tephra samples from lava fountains, indicating that the vent conduits are connected in some way at depth with the still molten passive lava lake core. Tephra glasses (7.0–7.8 wt.% MgO) show cyclic changes in MgO that were decoupled from lava fountain heights and behavior in episodes 1–28 but positively correlated after episode 29. Additionally, whole-rock and glass compositions are enriched in minor elements such as K 2 O and TiO 2 compared to 2008–2023 summit eruptions, tracking the arrival of a new magma composition that may be related to the prolonged episodic eruptive behavior. Olivine-hosted melt inclusions from five episodes have ~0.35–0.43 wt.% H2O, < 300 ppm CO 2 and < 1500 ppm S, with no significant variations between episodes. Melt and fluid inclusion barometry show that magmas driving these episodes are stored and sourced from the shallow 1–2 km Halemaʻumaʻu reservoir, as were olivine from the 2023 summit eruption. The ongoing episodic eruption also has higher bulk-rock MgO compared to the five previous summit eruptions (2020−2023) and the forsterite (Fo) content of olivine has varied systematically from 2015 to 2025 with the equilibrium olivine composition of the Halema‘uma‘u reservoir increasing from Fo 80.7 in 2015 to Fo 82.7 by 2025. We argue that the Halemaʻumaʻu reservoir is heating up because the rate of magma supply is outpacing effusion and cooling following caldera collapse in 2018.

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Depths in a day - A new era of rapid-response Raman-based barometry using fluid inclusions

Rapid-response petrological monitoring is a major advance for volcano observatories, allowing them to build and validate models of plumbing systems that supply eruptions in near-real-time. The depth of magma storage has recently been identified as high-priority information for volcanic observatories, yet this information is not currently obtainable via petrological monitoring methods on timescales relevant to eruption response. Fluid inclusion barometry (using micro-thermometry or Raman spectroscopy) is a well-established petrological method to estimate magma storage depths and has been proposed to have potential as a rapid-response monitoring tool, although this has not been formally demonstrated. To address this deficiency, we performed a near-real-time rapid-response simulation for the September 2023 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi. We show that Raman-based fluid inclusion barometry can robustly determine reservoir depths within a day of receiving samples — a transformative timescale that has not previously been achieved by petrological methods. Fluid inclusion barometry using micro-thermometric techniques has typically been limited to systems with relatively deep magma storage (>0.4 g/cm 3 or >7 km) where measurements of CO 2 density are easy and accurate because the CO 2 fluid homogenizes into the liquid phase. Improvements of the accuracy of Raman spectroscopy measurements of fluids with low CO 2 density over the past couple of decades has enabled measurements of fluid inclusions from shallower magmatic systems. However, one caveat of examining shallower systems is that the fraction of H 2 O in the fluid may be too high to reliably convert CO 2 density to pressure. To test the global applicability of rapid response fluid inclusion barometry, we compiled a global melt inclusion dataset (>4000 samples) and calculate the fluid composition at the point of vapor saturation (⁠X H 2 O⁠ ). We show that fluid inclusions in crystal-hosts from mafic compositions (<57 wt. % SiO 2 ) — likely representative of magmas recharging many volcanic systems worldwide — trap fluids with X H 2 O low enough to make fluid inclusion barometry useful at many of the world’s most active and hazardous mafic volcanic systems (e.g., Iceland, Hawaiʻi, Galápagos Islands, East African Rift, Réunion, Canary Islands, Azores, Cabo Verde).

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Eruption of stagnant lava from an inactive perched lava lake

Lava flow hazards are usually thought to end when the erupting vent becomes inactive, but this is not always the case. At Kīlauea in August 2014, a spiny ʻaʻā flow erupted from the levee of a crusted perched lava lake that had been inactive for a month, and the surface of the lava lake subsided as the flow advanced downslope over the following few days. Topography constructed from oblique aerial photographs using structure-from-motion (SfM) software shows that the volume of the flow (∼68,000 m 3 ) closely matches the volume of subsidence of the crusted lava lake (∼64,000 m 3 ). The similarity of these volumes, along with the textural characteristics of the lava, shows that the lava that fed the flow had been stored beneath the surface of the perched lava lake, and that the flow was not generated by reactivation of the vent. This extends the duration of the local lava flow hazard presented by perched lava lakes and similar flow field structures that store lava, such as rootless shields. The flow probably occurred because the density of the lava beneath the crusted surface of the perched lava lake increased through loss of gas bubbles until it was able to penetrate the less-dense levee, which was composed of relatively vesicular overflows. The flow is thus equivalent to the lava seeps described previously at Kīlauea and elsewhere. We present a simple physical model for the pressure change at the base of a densifying body of lava, which we apply to this case study, and which could be applied to similar scenarios elsewhere.

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Topographic changes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption from Single-pass Airborne InSAR

The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawai‘i, was its most effusive in over 200 years. We apply the airborne Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer (GLISTIN‐A) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) instrument to measure topographic change associated with the eruption. The GLISTIN‐A radar flew in response to the eruption, acquiring observations of Kīlauea on seven days between May 18 and September 15, 2018. Topography differences were computed relative to GLISTIN‐A observations in 2017. Bare‐earth topography and off‐shore bathymetry were used to correct for vegetation and creation of new coastal land within the Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) lava flow field. We estimate that the LERZ subaerial flows total bulk volume is 0.593 ± 0.011 km 3 and that the summit collapse volume is ‐0.836 ± 0.002 km 3 . Within the temporal sampling and uncertainty from submarine flow volumes, we find that both the LERZ and caldera volume changes were approximately linear.

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Accurate predictions of microscale oxygen barometry in basaltic glasses using V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy: A multivariate approach

Because magmatic oxygen fugacity ( f O2 ) exerts a primary control on the discrete vanadium (V) valence states that will exist in quenched melts, V valence proxies for f O2 , measured using X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), can provide highly sensitive measurements of the redox conditions in basaltic melts. However, published calibrations for basaltic glasses primarily relate measured intensities of specific spectral features to V valence or oxygen fugacity. These models have not exploited information contained within the entire XANES spectrum, which also provide a measure of changes in V chemical state as a function of f O2 . Multivariate analysis (MVA) holds significant promise for the development of calibration models that employ the full XANES spectral range. In this study, new calibration models are developed using MVA partial least-squares (PLS) regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression to predict the f O2 of equilibration in glasses of basaltic composition directly. The models are then tested on a suite of natural glasses from mid-ocean ridge basalts and from Kilauea. The models relate the measured XANES spectral features directly to buffer-relative f O2 as the predicted variable, avoiding the need for an external measure of the V valence in the experimental glasses used to train the models. It is also shown that by predicting buffer-relative f O2 directly, these models also minimize temperature-relative uncertainties in the calibration. The calibration developed using the Lasso regression model, using a Lasso hyperparameter value of α = 0.0008, yields nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) relative f O2 predictions with a root-mean-square-error of ±0.33 log units. When applied to natural basaltic glasses, the V MVA calibration model generally yields predicted NNO-relative f O2 values that are within the analytical uncertainty of what is calculated using Fe XANES to predict Fe 3+ /ΣFe. When applied to samples of natural basaltic glass collected in 2014 from an active lava flow at Kilauea, a mean f O2 of NNO-1.15 ± 0.19 (1σ) is calculated, which is generally consistent with other published f O2 estimates for subaerial Kilauea lavas. When applied to a sample of pillow-rim basaltic glass dredged from the East Pacific Rise, calculated f O2 varies from NNO-2.67 (±0.33) to NNO-3.72 (±0.33) with distance from the quenched pillow rim. Fe oxybarometry in this sample provides an f O2 of NNO-2.54 ± 0.19 (1σ), which is in good agreement with that provided by the V oxybarometry within the uncertainties of the modeling. However, the data may indicate that V XANES oxybarometry has greater sensitivity to small changes in f O2 at these more reduced redox conditions than can be detected using Fe XANES.

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The 2010 slow slip event and secular motion at Kilauea, Hawai`i inferred from TerraSAR-X InSAR data

We present here an Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) algorithm to extract both transient and secular ground deformations on the order of millimeters in the presence of tropospheric noise on the order of centimeters, when the transient is of short duration and known time, and the background deformation is smooth in time. We applied this algorithm to study the 2010 slow slip event as well as the secular motion of Kīlauea's south flank using 49 TerraSAR-X images. We also estimate the tropospheric delay variation relative to a given reference pixel using an InSAR SBAS approach. We compare the InSAR SBAS solution for both ground deformation and tropospheric delays with existing GPS measurements and confirm that the ground deformation signal andtropospheric noise in InSAR data are successfully separated. We observe that the coastal region on the south side of the Hilina Pali moves at a higher background rate than the region north side of the Pali. We also conclude that the 2010 SSE displacement is mainly horizontal and the maximum magnitude of the 2010 SSE vertical component is less than 5 mm.

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Pushing the Volcanic Explosivity Index to its limit and beyond: Constraints from exceptionally weak explosive eruptions at Kīlauea in 2008

Estimating the mass, volume, and dispersal of the deposits of very small and/or extremely weak explosive eruptions is difficult, unless they can be sampled on eruption. During explosive eruptions of Halema‘uma‘u Crater (Kīlauea, Hawaii) in 2008, we constrained for the first time deposits of bulk volumes as small as 9–300 m 3 (1 × 10 4 to 8 × 10 5 kg) and can demonstrate that they show simple exponential thinning with distance from the vent. There is no simple fit for such products within classifications such as the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). The VEI is being increasingly used as the measure of magnitude of explosive eruptions, and as an input for both hazard modeling and forecasting of atmospheric dispersal of tephra. The 2008 deposits demonstrate a problem for the use of the VEI, as originally defined, which classifies small, yet ballistic-producing, explosive eruptions at Kīlauea and other basaltic volcanoes as nonexplosive. We suggest a simple change to extend the scale in a fashion inclusive of such very small deposits, and to make the VEI more consistent with other magnitude scales such as the Richter scale for earthquakes. Eruptions of this magnitude constitute a significant risk at Kīlauea and elsewhere because of their high frequency and the growing number of “volcano tourists” visiting basaltic volcanoes.

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Deep volcanic tremor and magma ascent mechanism under Kilauea, Hawaii

Deep harmonic tremor originating at depths around 40 km under Kilauea was studied using records accumulated since 1962 at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey. The deep source of the tremor was determined by onset times and confirmed by the relative amplitude across the island-wide network of seismometers. The period of tremor was conclusively shown to be determined by the source effect and not by the path or station site effect because the period would change considerably in time but maintained uniformity across the seismic net during the tremor episode. The tremor appeared to be primarily composed of P waves. We interpret the observed period and amplitude in terms of the stationary crack model of Aki et al. (1977) and find that the seismic moment rates for deep tremors are considerably larger than those for shallow-tremors suggesting more vigorous transport for the former. We propose a kinematic source model which may be more appropriate for deep tremor. According to this model, a measurable quantity called ‘reduced displacement’ is directly proportional to the rate of magma flow. A systematic search for deep tremor episodes was made for the period from 1962 through 1979, and the amplitude, period, and duration of the tremor were tabulated. We then constructed a cumulative reduced-displacement plot over the 18-year period. The result shows a generally steady process which does not seem to be significantly affected by major eruptions and large earthquakes near the surface. The total magma flow estimated from the reduced displacement is however, one order of magnitude smaller than that estimated by Swanson (1972). It may be that most channels transport magma aseismically, and only those with strong barriers generate tremor.

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Source materials for inception stage Hawaiian magmas: Pb‐He isotope variations for early Kilauea

New noble gas and radiogenic isotopic compositions are presented for tholeiitic, transitional, and alkalic rocks from the submarine Hilina region on the south flank of Kilauea, Hawaii. The 3 He/ 4 He ratios for undegassed glass and olivine separates (11–26 Ra) contrast with those of postshield and rejuvenated alkalic lavas, consistent with the alkalic and transitional basalts at Hilina corresponding to early Kilauea magmas. Most early Kilauea samples contain highly radiogenic Pb isotopes compared with other Hawaiian rocks and therefore derive from a Hawaiian plume end‐member source (here referred to as the Hilina component) distinctive in that respect. Besides radiogenic Pb isotopes, the Hilina component has relatively low 3 He/ 4 He (<12 Ra) among the Hawaiian magmas. Hawaiian inception stage magmas, including Hilina, Loihi, and deep Hana Ridge (east Maui), define a linear array in 206 Pb/ 204 Pb‐ 3 He/ 4 He isotope space, indicating that mixing between the Hilina and Loihi components (or their melts) dominates magmatism at the leading edge of the Hawaiian plume. The Hilina component's isotopic characteristics can be derived from young subduction‐recycled crust or metasomatised mantle. The isotopic differences between the geographically discriminated Kea and Loa trend volcanic chains, observed in shield stage lavas, are also seen in the inception stage magmas, suggesting that proportions of melts derived from the Hilina and Loihi components were different between the Kea and Loa trend volcanoes.

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Catalog of Tephra samples from Kilauea's summit eruption, March-December 2008

The opening of a new vent within Halema'uma'u Crater in March 2008 ended a 26-year period of no eruptive activity at the summit of Kilauea Volcano. It also heralded the first explosive activity at Kilauea's summit since 1924 and the first of eight discrete explosive events in 2008. At the onset of the eruption, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) initiated a rigorous program of sample collection to provide a temporally constrained suite of tephra samples for petrographic, geochemical, and isotopic studies. Petrologic studies help us understand conditions of magma generation at depth; processes related to transport, storage, and mixing of magma within the shallow summit region; and specific circumstances leading to explosive eruptions. This report provides a catalog of tephra samples erupted at Kilauea's summit from March 19, 2008, through the end of 2008. The Kilauea 2008 Summit Sample Catalog is tabulated in the accompanying Microsoft Excel file, of2009-1134.xls (four file types linked on right). The worksheet in this file provides sampling information and sample descriptions. Contextual information for this catalog is provided below and includes (1) a narrative of 2008 summit eruptive activity, (2) a description of sample collection methods, (3) a scheme for characterizing a diverse range in tephra lithology, and (4) an explanation of each category of sample information (column headers) in the Microsoft Excel worksheet.

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Chasing lava: a geologist's adventures at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

A lively account of the three years (1969-1972) spent by geologist Wendell Duffield working at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea, one of the world's more active volcanoes. Abundantly illustrated in b&w and color, with line drawings and maps, as well. Volcanologists and general readers alike will enjoy author Wendell Duffield's report from Kilauea--home of Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Duffield's narrative encompasses everything from the scientific (his discovery that the movements of cooled lava on a lava lake mimic the movements of the earth's crust, providing an accessible model for understanding plate tectonics) to the humorous (his dog's discovery of a snake on the supposedly snake-free island) to the life-threatening (a colleague's plunge into molten lava). This charming account of living and working at Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, is sure to be a delight.

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Mapping the sources of the seismic wave field at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, using data recorded on multiple seismic Antennas

Seismic antennas constitute a powerful tool for the analysis of complex wave fields. Well-designed antennas can identify and separate components of a complex wave field based on their distinct propagation properties. The combination of several antennas provides the basis for a more complete understanding of volcanic wave fields, including an estimate of the location of each individual wave-field component identified simultaneously by at least two antennas. We used frequency-slowness analyses of data from three antennas to identify and locate the different components contributing to the wave fields recorded at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, in February 1997. The wave-field components identified are (1) a sustained background volcanic tremor in the form of body waves generated in a shallow hydrothermal system located below the northeastern edge of the Halemaumau pit crater; (2) surface waves generated along the path between this hydrothermal source and the antennas; (3) back-scattered surface wave energy from a shallow reflector located near the southeastern rim of Kilauea caldera; (4) evidence for diffracted wave components originating at the southeastern edge of Halemaumau; and (5) body waves reflecting the activation of a deeper tremor source between 02 hr 00 min and 16 hr 00 min Hawaii Standard Time on 11 February.

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Waters associated with an active basaltic volcano, Kilauea, Hawaii: Variation in solute sources, 1973-1991

Chemical and isotopic analyses of samples collected from a December 1962-m-deep research borehole at the summit of Kilauea Volcano provide unique time-series data for composition of waters in the uppermost part of its hydrothermal system. These waters have a distinctive geochemical signature: a very low proportion of chloride relative to other anions compared with other Hawaiian waters—thermal (•30°C) or nonthermal (<30°C)—and with most thermal waters of the world. Isotope data demonstrate that the borehole waters are of essentially meteoric origin, with minimal magmatic input.

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Where lava meets the sea; Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Active volcanoes on the island of Hawai'i provide scientists with exceptional opportunities to observe volcanic phenomena at close range. Such an opportunity occurred on November 24, 1992, when geologists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) witnessed spectacular explosive interactions between lava and seawater on the southeast coast of the island. As seawater invaded submarine conduits transporting milten lava, large steam explosions produced glowing fountains of lava that rose as high as 100m into the air and built a 7.5-m-high mound of volcanic ejecta called a littoral cone (see cover paragraphs). Seaside explosions of the type and magnitude of the event on November 24, 1992, are infrequent. the observation of this event represents a rare opportunity to enhance our understanding of the birth of littoral cones and the nature of explosive activity when lava enters the ocean.

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Diapiric transfer of melt in Kilauea Iki lava lake, Hawaii: A quick, efficient process of igneous differentiation

Kilauea Iki lava lake, formed in 1959, is a large pond of picritic basalt (average MgO content = 15.34% by weight), which has cooled and crystallized as a small, self-roofed magma chamber. Repeated drilling of the upper crust of the lake, down to its molten core, and more recent (1981) drilling, through the thermal maximum and part way through the lower crust, have made it possible to monitor the differentiation processes in the lake in detail. Differentiation processes recognized as active in the lake include rather inefficient settling of the larger (2-10 mm) olivine phenocrysts, formation of segregation veins, and formation of diapir-like vertical olivine-rich bodies, all processes which occur in one or more of the other Kilauean lava lakes as well. In addition, most of the central part of Kilauea Iki has been affected by diapiric melt transfer. In this process, relatively low-density liquid, present at 1145-1160 °C, rose from within the loose crystal mush at the base of the lens of melt and intruded the equivalent thermal horizon at the top of the lens of melt, passing through the hotter but denser melt in the core of the lake without mixing. The source volume from which the low-density liquid was extracted is depleted in TiO 2 and other incompatible elements and enriched in FeO and CaO. The upper part of the lake shows the opposite effects. The crystalline assemblage present was olivine + augite + minor plagioclase. The crystallinity of both the source and receiving layers was low enough that no obvious textural imprint was left by the transfer process; the principal evidence for its occurrence is the chemical zonation of the lake seen in core from depths of 13 to 80 m. Diapiric melt transfer was active from 1960 to 1971 and has affected most of the central part of the lake from 13 m to at least 80 m. The process ran simultaneously with the other three main differentia tion processes but started and stopped independently of the others. Calculations suggest that between 21 and 42 wt % liquid has been extracted from the depleted zone at 56-78 m in the center of the lake, making this a very efficient process of chemical differentiation.

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