Details of the Abstract
| Title of paper | Magnetotelluric imaging of the magmatic roots of Kīlauea volcano |
| List of authors | Bedrosian, P. A., Finn, C. A., Peterson, D. E. |
| Affiliation(s) | United States Geological Survey, United States Geological Survey, United States Geological Survey |
| Summary | Kīlauea volcano, in Hawaii, USA, is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, erupting frequently from vents at its summit and along the southwest and east rift zones (SWRZ, ERZ). Volcano-tectonic linkages were highlighted by a 2018 eruption, when fissure eruptions along the lower ERZ, 40 km away from the summit, were accompanied by collapse of the summit crater. Magnetotelluric (MT) data have been collected at Kīlauea for several decades yet past studies have been hindered by limited survey aperture and poor data quality. From 2022-2023 we collected wideband MT data over the entire volcanic system with 3 km nominal station spacing. Strategies employed to collect quality data despite the challenging environment include long recording times, large station arrays, and use of a distant remote station. Three-dimensional inversion of the data reveals shallow magma storage within a pair of stacked reservoirs at 1 and 3 km depth beneath the summit, as well as shallow magmatic connections extending 10 km from the summit along both the SWRZ and ERZ. At greater depths, linear resistors mark sheeted-dike complexes aligned with the rift zones. Notably, no conductive connection is imaged between the summit and vents from the 2018 eruption, consistent with episodic transport of melt from the summit via dikes that cool below the solidus within a few years of emplacement. The MT model suggest Kīlauea’s magmatic system is driven by flux to the summit reservoirs and that melt moves rapidly through the rift zones with melt storage confined to small pockets. |
| Session Keyword | 4.0 Tectonics and geodynamics, including magmatism |
| File upload |
4.0_magnetotelluric_imaging_o_bedrosian.pdf
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