This Ninuscript Has Been Reproduced Rom the Micro61m Master. UMI
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INFORMATION TO USERS This ninuscript has beenreproduced Rom the micro61mmaster. UMI Sms the text directly &om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesisand dissertationcopies are in typewriter See, while others may be &om anytype of computerprinter. The qualityof this reproductionis dependentupon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrationsand photographs,print bleedthrough,substandard margins, andimproper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that bte author did not send UMI a complete manuscriptand there are missingpages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorizedcopyright materialhad to be removed,a note will indicate the deletion. Oversizematerials e.g., maps, drawings, charts! are reproduced by sectioningthe original, beginningat the upper left-hand corner and continuingRom left to right in equalsections with small overlaps. Each originalis also photographedin one exposureand is includedin reduced form at the back of the book. Photographsincluded in the original manuscripthave been reproduced xerographicallyin this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographicprints are availablefor any photographs or illustrations appearingin this copy for an additionalcharge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell 8t Howell Information Company 300 North ZeebRoad, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346USA 3 13/761<700 800/521~ VOLCANO INSTABILITY ON THE SUBMARINE SOUTH FLANK OF HAWAII ISLAND A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAH IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTSFOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY OCEANOGRAPHY DECEMBER 1996 By John R. Smith, Jr. Dissertation Committee: AlexanderMalahofE Chairperson Alexander N. Shor Gary M. McMurtry Richard N. Hey GeorgeP.L. Walker VMI Number: 9713982 Copyright 1996 by Smith, John Ruesell, Jr. All rightsreserved. UMI Microform 9713982 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company.All rights reserved. This microform editionis protectedagainst unauthorized copyingunder Title 17, United StatesCode. 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 We certify that we haveread this dissertationand that, in our opinion,it is satisfactoryin scopeand quality as a dissertationfor the degreeof Doctor of Philosophyin Oceanography DISSERTATION COMMITTEE airperson ! Copyright 1996 by John R. Smith, Jr. All RightsReserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This studywas supportedby NSF grantOCE-9116535 to AlexanderShor and AlexanderMalahoff with additionalNOAA supportto me through A. MalahofFsSea Grantand NURP/MJRL grants. Heartfelt gratitudegoes to the captains,crews, and technicianswho carriedout the variousfield programsand the USGS for cooperationin the HAWAII MRl surveyunder an MOU with SOEST. Theseindividuals displayed true heroismat seaand madethis study possible. Someof the SeaBeamdata were formatted for the my useby Andra Bobbitt of PMEL andBill Chadwickof OSU. HMRG provided computerresources and valuableadvice while processingthe HAWAII MR1 data. Many thanksto the HIG ZOO dwellerswho offeredcritical UNIX and GMT-Systemassistance. GlennBrown andthe University of Toronto ScotiaBankMarine GeologicalLaboratory and SharonStahl of STAG assistedwith the Russiandata processing. HURL offered office and personalsupport. Tom Wright andJane Takahashi generously allowed early useof their Hawaiiangeology digital bibliographicdatabase for EndNote.. Alan Rice is appreciatedfor calling to my attentionhis studiesof the Mt. St. Helenslandslide and associatedgeotechnical literature on earthquakesand other triggering mechansims. Discussionswith A Rice and SteveMartel led to improvementsin the manuscript. J. Kauahikauaof HVO and J. Foster of SOESTprovided the digital databaseof subaerial structuresfor someof my figures. Tem Duennebierwas instrumentalin the initial preparationof the topographidbathymetricgrid usedin this dissertation. Long term encouragementwas generouslyprovided by my parents,sister, brother, other family members,close &iends, and the MushroomTrack Club. Specialthanks to Diane, my wife, for her patienceand support through this project,along with Sniffer, Binky, and Orville. ABSTRACT Marinegeophysical data, including SEA BEAM bathymetry,HAWAII MR1 sidescan, seismicreflection profiles, and magneticanomaly data were acquiredover the offshore continuationof the unstableKilauea volcano south flank This slope,comprised of the three activehot spotvolcanoes Mauna Loa, Kilauea, and Loihi seamount,is thelocus of theHawaiian hot spotand is thesite of fiequentlow intensityseismicity as well asepisodic large magnitude earthquakes.Its subaerialportion is reportedto creepseaward at approximately10 cm/yr. The Hilinaslump is theonly largesubmarine landslide in the HawaiianArchipelago thought to be active,and this study is the first to morehighly resolve a particularslide feature. The overall picturegained from these data sets is oneof masswasting of the neovolcanicterrain as it builds upwardand seaward, though reinforcement by youngand pre-Hawaii seamounts adjacent to the pedestalis apparent.Extensive lava delta deposits are formed by hyaloclastitesand detritus from recentlava flows into the sea. Thesedeposits dominate the upper submarineslope offshore of Kilauea. Along the lower flanks of submarinevolcanic rift zonesare patchesof hummocky topographysuggesting failure by avalanchingor moreSequent sloughing off of material.The largerand more intact Hilina slumpblock is classifiedinto four distinctzones from nearshoreto theisland's base. Estimates of sizebased on these data indicate a slumpedarea of 2100km' anda volumeof 10,000-12,000km' equivalentto about10'/o of theentire island edifice. Thus, volcano buildingon the leadingedge of the Hawaiianhot spot is a "two stepsup, onestep down" process whereseveral scales of flank degradationare apparent The slopeinstabilities on the southeast flank of Hawaii Island suggesta complexinterplay of neotectonicand neovolcanicactivity in a mid-platesetting, and provide an active model for interpretingthe processes causing structural collapsein theform of extensivesubmarine landslides within the EEZ's of oceanicislands and seamountsthroughout the world ocean. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments . Iv Abstract .v List of Tables List of Figures List of Maps Xlll CHAPTER I: Introduction, GeologicalSetting, and Previous Work ......1 INTRODUCTION . 1 GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND PREVIOUS WORK ....7 REGIONAL SETTING 7 KILAUEA CALDERA AND SUBAERIAL PORTIONS OF THE RIFT ZONES ..7 Kilauea caldera 7 Kilauea East Rift Zone KERZ! Kilauea Southwest Rift Zone KSWRZ! 9 Mauna Loa Southwest Rift Zone MLSWRZ! ... 10 OTHER SUBAERIAL FAULT SYSTEMS ON THE SOUTH FLANK ..... 12 The Hilina Pali . 12 Kaoiki-Waiohinu Fault System 14 KILAUEA VOLCANO AND OCEAN CRUST STRUCTURE ... 14 Hypocenterlocations and earthquake frequency 14 Refraction studies 16 OFFSHORE EXTENSIONS OF THE VOLCANO RIFT ZONES ... 16 Kilauea East Rift Zone ....16 Mauna Loa Southwest Rift Zone .18 Kilauea Southwest Rift Zone ...18 LOIHI SUBMARINE VOLCANO .19 CRETACEOUS SEAMOUNTS ' SUBMARINE LANDSLIDES ON THE HAWAIIAN RIDGE 21 Typesof slides 21 Causes 22 Timing and dating 23 The Hilina Slump '75 Punalu'u Slide ............................................................... ,...'78 Papa'usand/rubble flow , 29 Slumpsand slideson the southwestflank of MaunaLoa 29 VOLCANISM IN THE VICIMTY OF THE SOUTHEAST FLANK ...30 Kilauea lava flows into the sea ... 30 Volcanismon the slopeand adjacent seafloor ....31 THE SURROUNDING SEAFLOOR AND SEDIMENTATION 32 CHAPTER II: Acousticcharacter, geomorphology, and near surface substructure of the Hawaii Island southeast flank 48 PREVIOUS WORK.....................,...., ............,..., 48 INSTRUMENTS and METHODS .48 Bathymetry .49 SEA BEAM datapost-processing 49 Sidescan 50 HAWAII MR1 datapost-processing . 51 Systemresolution comparison 52 Seismic Reflection 55 GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS and INTERPRETATIONS ...56 MajorRift Zoneson the SoutheastFlank 56 KilaueaERZ PunaRidge! 57 Kilauea SWRZ 57 Mauna Loa SWRZ .....59 Upper Delta .60 Hilina Slump .64 Basal Lava Flows .68 West Valley 70 Cretaceous Seamounts 70 SUMMARY 71 CHAPTER III: Interpretationof shipboardmagnetic anomalies observed over the southeast flank of Hawaii Island .100 PREVIOUS WORK .100 METHODS .103 OBSERVATIONS and INTERPRETATIONS .105 Neotectonic Zone 1 .106 Neovolcanic Zone 1 .107 Boundary . 109 Neotectonic Zone 2 110 Apua Point anomalies .110 Nearshoreand Upperslope anomalies 110 Offshore anomalies 111 Neovolcanic Zone 2 112 SUMMARY 113 CKV'TER IV: Detailedanalysis and dynamicsof the Hilina slump . 126 DIFFICULTIES OF LANDSLIDE STUDY ON VOLCANIC ISLANDS 126 PREVIOUS SLUMP STUDIES ON THE KILAUEA SOUTH FLANK 126 SUBAERIAL SLUMP STUDIES 127 HILINA SLUMP GEOMORPHOLOGY 129 REGION OF DEPLETION 129 Zone 1: Upper Main Body - Onshoreto the relativelynearshore 129 Crown 130 Head, Main and Minor scarps 131 Zone 2: Lower Main Body - Midslopebench and catchmentbasin 133 REGION OF ACCUMULATION 135 Zone 3: Transition- TransverseCracks and SurfaceRupture ..135 Zone 4: Foot .135 Upper Foot - Outer Scarp .135 Lower Foot - Blocks and Toes . 136 Detached Blocks ... 136 Thrust Toe and TransverseRidges ... 137 DISCUSSION Dynamics of the KilaueaSouth Flank . 138 CONCLUSIONS 146 SPECULATION AND HAZARD ASSESSMENT FOR KILAUEA'S SOUTH FLANK . 147 APPENDIX A .162 APPENDIX B .163 BIBLIOGRAPHY .164 LIST OF TABLES Table ~Pae 2.1. Comparisonof detectionlimits of sonarsystems 54 3.1. Sumaryof magneticanomaly interpretation. 115 LIST OF FIGURES ~Pa e 1.1 Digital ElevationModel of Hawaii Island 34 1.2 SeismicityBeneath