Abstract
Lava lakes are found at basaltic volcanoes on Earth and other planetary bodies. Density-driven crustal foundering leading to surface renewal occurs repeatedly throughout the life of a lava lake. This process has been observed and described in a qualitative sense, but due to dangerous conditions, no data has been acquired to evaluate the densities of the units involved. Kīlauea Iki pit crater in Hawai`i houses a lava lake erupted during a 2 month period in 1959. Part of the surface of the Kīlauea Iki lake now preserves the frozen record of a final, incomplete, crustal-overturn cycle. We mapped this region and sampled portions of the foundering crust, as well as overriding and underlying lava, to constrain the density of the units involved in the overturn process. Overturn is driven by the advance of a flow front of fresh, low-density lava over an older, higher density surface crust. The advance of the front causes the older crust to break up, founder, and dive downwards into the lake to expose new, hot, low-density lava. We find density differences of 200 to 740 kg/m3 between the foundering crust and over-riding and under-lying lava respectively. In this case, crustal overturn is driven by large density differences between the foundering and resurfacing units. These differences lead, inevitably, to frequent crustal renewal: simple density differences between the surface crust and underlying lake lava make the upper layers of the lake highly unstable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Duffield WA (1972) A naturally occurring model of global plate tectonics. J Geophys Res 77:2543–2555
Flynn LP, Mouginis-Mark PJ, Gradie JC, Lucey PG (1993) Radiative temperature measurements at Kupaianaha Lava Lake, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i. J Geophys Res 98:6461–6476
Harris AJL, Carniel R, Jones J (2005) Identification of variable convective regimes at Erta Ale lava lake. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 142:207–223
Helz RT (1993) Drilling report and core logs for the 1988 drilling of Kīlauea Iki lava lake, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i, with summary descriptions of the occurrence of foundered crust and fractures in the drill core. Open File Rep US Geol Surv 93–15:1–57
Hon K, Kauahikaua JP, Denlinger R, MacKay K (1994) Emplacement and inflation of pahoehoe sheet flows: observations and measurements of active lava flows on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i. Geol Soc Amer Bull 106:351–370
Houghton BF, Wilson CJN (1986) A vesicularity index for pyroclastic deposits. Bull Volcanol 51:451–462 doi:10.1007/BF01078811
Jaggar TA (1947) Origin and development of craters. Waverly, Baltimore
Karlstrom L, Manga M (2006) Origins and implications of zigzag rift patterns on lava lakes. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 154:317–324
Oze C, Winter JD (2005) The occurrence, vesiculation, and solidification of dense blue glassy pahoehoe. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 142:285–301
Peck DL (1978) Solidification of Alae Lave Lake. Cooling and vesiculation of Alae Lava Lake, Hawai`i. Prof Pap US Geol Surv 935-B:1–59
Peck DL, Minakami T (1968) The formation of columnar joints in the upper part of Kīlauean lava lakes, Hawai`i. Geol Soc Amer Bull 79:1151–1166
Rathbun JA, Spencer JR, Davies AG, Howell RR, Wilson L (2002) Loki, Io; a periodic volcano. Geophys Res Lett 29(10, 1443):84–1–84–4 doi:10.1029/2002GL014747
Richter DH, Eaton JP, Murata KJ, Ault WU, Krivoy HL (1970) Chronological narrative of the 1959–1960 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i. In: the 1959–1960 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i. Prof Pap US Geol Surv 537-E:E1–E73
Schenk P, Jackson MPA (1993) Diapirism on Triton: a record of crustal layering and instability. Geology 21:299–302
Shaw HR, Kistler RW, Evernden JF (1971) Sierra Nevada plutonic cycle: Part II, tidal energy and a hypothesis for orogenic-epeirogenic periodicities. Geol Soc Amer Bull 82:869–896
Swanson DA, Duffield WA, Jackson DB, Peterson DW (1973) The complex filling of Alae Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i. Bull Volcanol 36:105–126
Swanson DA, Duffield WA, Jackson DB, Peterson DW (1979) Chronological narrative of the 1969–71 Mauna Ulu eruption of Kīlauea volcano, Hawai`i. Prof Pap US Geol Surv 1056:1–55
Tazieff H (1994) Permanent lava lakes: observed facts and induced mechanisms. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 63:3–11
Turcotte DL, Schubert G (2001) Geodynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Witham F, Llewellin EW (2006) Stability of lava lakes. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 158:321–332
Worster MG, Huppert HE, Sparks RSJ (1993) The crystallization of lava lakes. J Geophys Res 98:15891–15901
Wright TL, Okamura RT (1977) Cooling and crystallization of tholeiitic basalt, Makaopuhi lava lake, Hawai`i. Prof Pap US Geol Surv 1004:1–78
Wright TL, Takahashi TJ, Griggs JD (1992) Hawai`i volcano watch—a pictoral history, 1779–1991. University of Hawai`i Press, Honolulu
Acknowledgements
We thank Ian Schipper and Andrea Steffke for their helpful field work and sample collection. This research was funded by National Science Foundation grant EAR-0409303. We would also like to thank W. Duffield, U. Küppers, F. Witham and an anonymous reviewer for their thorough reviews of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: D. Dingwell
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stovall, W.K., Houghton, B.F., Harris, A.J.L. et al. A frozen record of density-driven crustal overturn in lava lakes: the example of Kīlauea Iki 1959. Bull Volcanol 71, 313–318 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-008-0225-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-008-0225-y