Search

This paper is the first to compile the accounts of Western explorers to Hawai'i who used volcanic heat. During the 1800s, Western explorers used volcanic heat when climbing and surveying Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawai'i. The explorers cooked food on steam vents and lava streams. They drank condensed water from volcanic steam and bathed in a warm basin and warm springs. They warmed themselves near steam cracks and a lava stream, lit cigarettes with Kīlauea's lava lake, and collected rocks. To confirm the presence of volcanic heat, this study uses geothermal resource maps and data from the Hawai'i Play Fairway project. The areas where the explorers used volcanic heat have a probability of volcanic heat of 0.7 to 1.0, and elevated temperatures in nearby water wells indicate heat sources. Kīlauea and Mauna Loa erupted numerous times, and the surrounding areas experienced volcanic steam releases and lava flows. The explorers used volcanic heat to facilitate not only their survival but also the Western exploration and scientific investigation of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the terrestrial land and seafloor contain no volcano-tectonic mega landforms expressed in relief that could be similar in size to those identified on Mars, and could have analogous structure and origin to the giant landforms whose volumes of constituent rocks are (1‒2.4) × 106 km3 (Alba Patera, Olympus Mons, Arsia Mons, Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Elysium Mons). No fragments or traces of similar features have ever been unambiguously identified and described in geological rock sequences, not only in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rock sequences, but also in those dating back to Paleozoic time. The same applies to the older epochs on Earth. Now the topographic constituent components of Martian mega landforms have the appearance of very magnified copies of well-known and repeatedly described terrestrial volcanic edifices, viz., dominantly shield-like and lava volcanoes, lava domes, as well as calderas of various types. However, the edifices of the above types of volcanoes are not identical with their Martian counterparts as to morphology, being shorter in height and having steeper slopes. The calderas are smaller by factors of multiple times. The Martian volcanic landforms are much older. There is a unique edifice, namely, Olympus Mons, a mega landform that stands in a large glacier sheet and for whose origin glacial processes are also responsible. It is classified as belonging to the type of giant tuyas. Its mini analogues are glacial subaerial tuyas of different ages and parameters that have been subjected to glaciation in volcanic areas on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Mauna Loa Curve initiated by chemist Charles Keeling. Keeling Curve measured the carbon dioxide concentration of air on the active volcano Mauna Loa, Hawaii which is considered as the fever curve of the world. It is stated that the curve represents the life's work of Keeling. The Mauna Loa measurements indicated a rise since carbon dioxide concentration has been assessed in the upper troposphere by dozens of balloon flights and after World War II by rockets. The curve is a high precision analytical method that finds the origin of the carbon source.

Two species of the Mecyclothorax argutor (Sharp, 1903) species-group, M. neonomas sp. nov. and M. brunneonubiger sp. nov., are newly described from Mauna Loa volcano on the Island of Hawai'i. Mecyclothorax neonomas is most similar morphologically to M. swezeyi Liebherr, 2008 of Mauna Kea and is therefore proposed as its adelphotaxon. Conversely, the adelphotaxon proposed for M. brunneonubiger is M. blackburnianus Liebherr, 2008, precinctive to Kohala volcano, Island of Hawai'i. Based on the younger geological age of origin of Mauna Loa relative to Mauna Kea and Kohala, it is hypothesized these two newly described, sympatric species arose via progressive colonization of Mauna Loa during development of the geologically dynamic Island of Hawai'i. A revised key to all Mecyclothorax species known from Hawai'i Island is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Surges" in magma supply from the mantle can lead to significant changes in eruptive behavior, thus their early identification is critical to long‐term eruption forecasting. Here, we document and analyze two order‐of‐magnitude increases in seismicity in the upper mantle beneath southern Hawaiʻi between 2015 and 2020. We interpret the anomalous seismicity, which involved the rapid formation of new multiplets and a change in fault‐plane solution orientations relative to pre‐2015 events, as reflecting a substantial increase, or "surge" in mantle‐derived magma, and we suggest that the intruded magma has been driving concurrent unrest at Mauna Loa, Kīlauea, and Lōʻihi Volcanoes through mechanical stress transfer. Plain Language Summary: The rate of earthquakes in the upper mantle beneath the southern part of the Island of Hawaiʻi increased strongly in 2015, and again in 2019. The characteristics of the earthquakes that occurred between 2015 and 2020 indicate that they are caused by the emplacement of new magma deep beneath Hawai'i. The timing of unrest at the neighboring volcanoes Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, and Lōʻihi is coincident with the increases in deep earthquake activity, indicating that the newly emplaced magma is squeezing the plumbing systems of the neighboring volcanoes and causing them to deform and have more shallow earthquakes. Key Points: The rate of deep earthquakes beneath southern Hawai'i increased significantly in 2015, and again in 2019The 2015–2020 deep earthquakes are consistent with magma intrusionIncreases in seismicity are coincident with unrest at Mauna Loa, Kīlauea, and Lōʻihi Volcanoes, indicating a possible causal relationship [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferric/ferrous ratios have been used to estimate the oxygen fugacity of lavas erupted in 1984 on Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii. Rapidly quenched lavas erupted close to vents are less oxidized than rapidly quenched lavas scooped from lava flows several kilometers away from the vents. These results demonstrate that sampling is of critical importance in determining the oxidation state of lava. The oxidation state of the vent lavas, below or at magnetite–wüstite (MW), is significantly lower than that previously reported for Hawaiian lavas (~FMQ). Similarly, rapidly quenched lavas from the ongoing Kilauea eruption and Loihi seamount, all have oxygen fugacities that are close to MW and on the low side of the range previously reported for Hawaiian lavas. From this we conclude that the initial oxygen fugacity of parental Hawaiian magmas is close to MW, not FMQ, and that previous estimates of the oxidation state of Hawaiian lavas may have been too high. This implies that the plume source of these magmas is also at or below MW, but not as reduced as the mantle source of mid-ocean ridge basalts. Additionally, Mauna Loa lavas appear to be slightly more reduced than Kilauea or Loihi lavas, perhaps indicating heterogeneous oxidation within the Hawaiian plume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two picrite flows from the SW rift zone of Mauna Loa contain xenoliths of dunite, harzburgite, lherzolite, plagioclase-bearing lherzolite and harzburgite, troctolite, gabbro, olivine gabbro, and gabbronorite. Textures and olivine compositions preclude a mantle source for the xenoliths, and rare earth element concentrations of xenoliths and clinopyroxene indicate that the xenolith source is not old oceanic crust, but rather a Hawaiian, tholeiitic-stage magma. Pyroxene compositions, phase assemblages and textural relationships in xenoliths indicate at least two different crystallization sequences. Calculations using the pMELTS algorithm show that the two sequences result from crystallization of primitive Mauna Loa magmas at 6 kbar and 2 kbar. Independent calculations of olivine Ni–Fo compositional variability in the plagioclase-bearing xenoliths over these crystallization sequences are consistent with observed olivine compositional variability. Two parents of similar bulk composition, but which vary in Ni content, are necessary to explain the olivine compositional variability in the dunite and plagioclase-free peridotitic xenoliths. Xenoliths probably crystallized in a small magma storage area beneath the rift zone, rather than the large sub-caldera magma reservoir. Primitive, picritic magmas are introduced to isolated rift zone storage areas during periods of high magma flux. Subsequent eruptions reoccupy these areas, and entrain and transport xenoliths to the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]