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Magma decompression rates during explosive eruptions of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, recorded by melt embayments

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Abstract

The decompression rate of magma as it ascends during volcanic eruptions is an important but poorly constrained parameter that controls many of the processes that influence eruptive behavior. In this study, we quantify decompression rates for basaltic magmas using volatile diffusion in olivine-hosted melt tubes (embayments) for three contrasting eruptions of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii. Incomplete exsolution of H2O, CO2, and S from the embayment melts during eruptive ascent creates diffusion profiles that can be measured using microanalytical techniques, and then modeled to infer the average decompression rate. We obtain average rates of ~0.05–0.45 MPa s−1 for eruptions ranging from Hawaiian style fountains to basaltic subplinian, with the more intense eruptions having higher rates. The ascent timescales for these magmas vary from around ~5 to ~36 min from depths of ~2 to ~4 km, respectively. Decompression-exsolution models based on the embayment data also allow for an estimate of the mass fraction of pre-existing exsolved volatiles within the magma body. In the eruptions studied, this varies from 0.1 to 3.2 wt% but does not appear to be the key control on eruptive intensity. Our results do not support a direct link between the concentration of pre-eruptive volatiles and eruptive intensity; rather, they suggest that for these eruptions, decompression rates are proportional to independent estimates of mass discharge rate. Although the intensity of eruptions is defined by the discharge rate, based on the currently available dataset of embayment analyses, it does not appear to scale linearly with average decompression rate. This study demonstrates the utility of the embayment method for providing quantitative constraints on magma ascent during explosive basaltic eruptions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NSF grant (EAR1145159). H.G. was supported by NSF grant EAR1145187. D.J.F. also acknowledges support from a Lamont-Doherty Postdoctoral Fellowship and P.R. from NSF grants EAR1348022 and EAR1426820. We are grateful to Julianne Gross at AMNH for assistance with the electron microprobe analysis, Alex Lloyd for discussions and lab support, and Jacob Lowenstern and Mike Poland for comments on an earlier version of the paper. We acknowledge reviews by Nicole Metrich and two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. David J. Ferguson

    Present address: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

  2. Philipp Ruprecht

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA

    David J. Ferguson, Philipp Ruprecht & Terry Plank

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    David J. Ferguson

  3. Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    Helge M. Gonnermann

  4. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Erik H. Hauri

  5. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Bruce F. Houghton

  6. U. S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Hawaii National Park, HI, 96718, USA

    Donald A. Swanson

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  1. David J. Ferguson
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Ferguson, D.J., Gonnermann, H.M., Ruprecht, P. et al. Magma decompression rates during explosive eruptions of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, recorded by melt embayments. Bull Volcanol 78, 71 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-016-1064-x

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