The Pu'u 'O'o-Kupaianaha Eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i: The First 20 Years

U.S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper 1676

The Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha Eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: The First 20 Years

Edited By Christina Heliker, Donald A. Swanson, and Taeko Jane Takahashi

From the Preface

The Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha eruption started on January 3, 1983. The ensuing 20-year period of nearly continuous eruption is the longest at Kilauea Volcano since the famous lava-lake activity of the 19th century. No rift-zone eruption in more than 600 years even comes close to matching the duration and volume of activity of these past two decades. Fortunately, such a landmark event came during a period of remarkable technological advancements in volcano monitoring. When the eruption began, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS) were but glimmers on the horizon, broadband seismology was in its infancy, and the correlation spectrometer (COSPEC), used to measure SO2 flux, was still very young. Now, all of these techniques are employed on a daily basis to track the ongoing eruption and construct models about its behavior. The 12 chapters in this volume, written by present or past Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff members and close collaborators, celebrate the growth of understanding that has resulted from research during the past 20 years of Kilauea’s eruption. The chapters range widely in emphasis, subject matter, and scope, but all present new concepts or important modifications of previous ideas—in some cases, ideas long held and cherished.

Files available for this book consist of a cover, introductory material, and 12 chapters, and a list of volunteers at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, all available here as PDF files

Cover for this book (288 KB)

Introductory material (including title page, table of contents, preface, list of contributors, and a poem about the origin of the name Pu‘u ‘O‘o) (1.1 MB)

Chapter 1. The First Two Decades of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha Eruption: Chronology and Selected Bibliography (5.1 MB)

Chapter 2. The Rise and Fall of Pu‘u ‘O‘o Cone, 1983–2002 (5.4 MB)

Chapter 3. Correlation Between Lava-Pond Drainback,
Seismicity, and Ground Deformation at Pu‘u ‘O‘o (940 KB)

Chapter 4. Hawaiian Lava-Flow Dynamics During the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha Eruption: A Tale of Two Decades (3.3 MB)

Chapter 5. The Transition from ‘A‘a to Pahoehoe Crust on Flows Emplaced During the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha Eruption (2.9 MB)

Chapter 6. Thermal Efficiency of Lava Tubes in the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-
Kupaianaha Eruption (908 KB)

Chapter 7. Magma-Reservoir Processes Revealed by Geochemistry of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha Eruption (1.1 MB)

Chapter 8. Lava-Effusion Rates for the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Kupaianaha
Eruption Derived from SO₂ Emissions and Very Low
Frequency (VLF) Measurements (516 KB)

Chapter 9. The Shallow Magmatic System of Kilauea Volcanob (3.2 MB)

Chapter 10. Long-Term Trends in Microgravity at Kilauea’s
Summit During the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-Küpaianaha Eruption (720 KB)

Chapter 11. Tectonic Pulses During Kïlauea’s Current
Long-Term Eruption (1.9 MB)

Chapter 12. Stress Changes Before and During the Pu‘u ‘O‘o-
Küpaianaha Eruption (2.1 MB)

Chapter 13. Volunteers at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory,
1983–2002 (76 KB)

For questions about the content of this report, contact Christina Heliker

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URL of this page: http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/prof-paper/pp1676/
Maintained by: Carolyn Donlin
Created: 7-12-03
Last modified: 7-15-03 (cad)

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1676