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Topographic and stochastic influences on pāhoehoe lava lobe emplacement

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Abstract

A detailed understanding of pāhoehoe emplacement is necessary for developing accurate models of flow field development, assessing hazards, and interpreting the significance of lava morphology on Earth and other planetary surfaces. Active pāhoehoe lobes on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, were examined on 21–26 February 2006 using oblique time series stereo-photogrammetry and differential global positioning system measurements. During this time, the local discharge rate for peripheral lava lobes was generally constant at 0.0061 ± 0.0019 m3/s, but the areal coverage rate of the lobes exhibited a periodic increase every 4.13 ± 0.64 min. This periodicity is attributed to the time required for the pressure within the liquid lava core to exceed the cooling-induced strength of its margins. The pāhoehoe flow advanced through a series of down-slope and cross-slope breakouts, which began as ∼0.2-m-thick units (i.e., toes) that coalesced and inflated to become approximately meter-thick lobes. The lobes were thickest above the lowest points of the initial topography and above shallow to reverse-facing slopes, defined relative to the local flow direction. The flow path was typically controlled by high-standing topography, with the zone directly adjacent to the final lobe margin having an average relief that was a few centimeters higher than the lava-inundated region. This suggests that toe-scale topography can, at least temporarily, exert strong controls on pāhoehoe flow paths by impeding the lateral spreading of the lobe. Observed cycles of enhanced areal spreading and inflated lobe morphology are also explored using a model that considers the statistical likelihood of sequential breakouts from active flow margins and the effects of topographic barriers.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Benjamin Brooks and the Pacific GPS facility for providing access to DGPS survey equipment and post-processing resources, Samuel Hulme for his assistance with GMT, Richard Herd for kindly providing DGPS data for photogrammetry control, Andrew Harris for his assistance in the field making contemporaneous FLIR observations, Tim Orr for providing historical lava flow data shown in Fig. 1, as well as Sarah Fagents, Thorvaldur Thordarson, and Jacob Bleacher for many insightful discussions relating to lava flow emplacement. Prof. S. Robson and Prof. J. P. Muller are thanked for their ongoing support through the provision of VMS and GOTCHA, respectively. Christopher Kilburn and Jim Kauahikaua are sincerely thanked for their thorough and constructive reviews. Field work was conducted in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park under Scientific Research and Collecting Permit # HAVO-2006-SCI-0003. CWH was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities through a contract with NASA. LSG and SMB research was supported by the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics and Mars Data Analysis programs (LSG, 811073.02.01.04.44 and 203959.02.03.17.56; SMB, NNX08AF16G and NNX10AP63G).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Christopher W. Hamilton & Lori S. Glaze

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Christopher W. Hamilton

  3. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Mike R. James

  4. Proxemy Research, Laytonsville, MD, USA

    Stephen M. Baloga

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  1. Christopher W. Hamilton
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  2. Lori S. Glaze
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Correspondence to Christopher W. Hamilton.

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Editorial responsibility: S. Calvari

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Hamilton, C.W., Glaze, L.S., James, M.R. et al. Topographic and stochastic influences on pāhoehoe lava lobe emplacement. Bull Volcanol 75, 756 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-013-0756-8

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