. :. · ~ ....... ·. ... :· ••• • .. p • . _·.- · .• :.-:-\ ... t ,•: ... .. : . •,,:• . ., .. ·. .'· :: ·'} ... 'J. ,: • . :·:! ~ ., ~ .· .• . ...... .. · ···.•· The Eruption of August 1963 and the Formation of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii By DALLAS L. PECK and W. T. KINOSHITA SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 935-A A detailed description of the forrnation and surface features of a thin) po.nded basalt flow UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1976 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR THOMAS S. KLEPPE, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY V. E. McKelvey, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Peck, Dallas Lynn, 1929- The eruption of August 1963 and the formation of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii. (Solidification of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii) (Geological Survey professional paper 935-A) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16 :935-A 1. Kilauea. 2. Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii. I. Kinoshita, W. T., joint author. II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Professional paper ; 935-A. QE523.K5P4 557.3'08s [551.2'1] 76...,608005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 024-001-02848-4/Catalog No. I 19.16:935 A CONTENTS Page Page Metric-English equivalents _______________________ _ IV Temperature measurements ------------------------ ~13 ~bstract ----------------------------------------- ~1 Deflation of the summit region and seismic activity Introduction _____________________________________ _ 1 during and after the eruption -------------------- 14 ~cknowledgrnents --------------------------------- 2 Physical features of the lake ------------------------ 15 Geologic setting _________________________________ _ 3 Surface features other than joint cracks -------- 15 Pre-eruption uplift of the summit region and seismic Inferred circulation of lava during the eruption __ 22 activity _______________________________________ _ 5 Development of joint cracks ------------------ 24 Description of the ~ugus.t 21-23, 1963, eruption ____ _ 6 Referenc·es cited ---------------------------------- 32 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Page FIGURE 1. Map showing the five volcanoes consti- FIGURE 18. ~erial photograph of ~ugust 1963 lake__ ~17 tuting the island of Hawaii ________ ~3 19. Pressure dome in moat at south edge· 2. Index map of the summit and upper east of lake --------------------------- 18 rift zone of Kilauea Volcano as it ap- 20. Panorama of ~lae lava lake ---------- 19 peared in 1963 -------------------- 4 21. Map of surface features of ~lae· lava 3. Map of ~lae Crater showing distribution lake exclusive of joint cracks ______ 20 of volcanic rocks from the ~ ugust 22. Pressure dome of jumbled slabs near 1963 eruption --------------------- 5 northwest edge of the lake -------- 21 4. East-west ground tilting of the Kilauea 23. Twisted-ribbon bomb on the. surface. of summit area from Dec. 1962 to Sept. ~lae lava lake -------------------- 21 1963 ----------------------------- 5 24. Cross sections of the surface of the lake 21 5. Chronology of events during the ~ugust 25. Pressure ridge formed from the: crust 1963 eruption of Kilauea ----------- 6 of a linear oozeup ---------------- 22 6. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 19h20m, ~u- 26. Surface features exclusive of joint gust 21, 1963 --------------------- 7 c.racks of a c.entral part of ~lae lava 7. Volume of lava in ~lae lava lake during lake ----------------------------- 23 the ~ugust 1963 eruption ---------- 7 27. Filamented surface ----------------- 24 8. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 11h10m, ~u- 28. Outer margins of active lava circulation, gust 22 --------------------------- 8 shear zones, and inferred directions of 9. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 15\ ~ugust lava flowage during the even~ng of 22 ------------------------------- 9 ~ugust 2.2, 1963 ------------------ 25 10. Fountain in ~lae Crater at 17h45m, ~u- 29. Cross section along the major axis of gust 22 --------------------------- 10 ~lae lava lake during the evening of 11. Eruption in ~lae Crater at about 18h, ~ ugust 22 showing inferred lava cir- ~ugust 22 ------------------------ 11 culation -------------------------- 26 12. Eruption in ~lae Crater at about 2th, 30. Open joint cracks at the surface of the ~ugust 22 ------------------------ 12 lava lake ------------------------- 26 13. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 22h45m, ~u- 31. Map of open joint cracks on the lava gust 22 --------------------------- 12 lake .that formed during drainback 14. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 23h16m, ~u- ne•ar the close of the eruption ------ 27 gust 22 --------------------------- 12 32. Map showing cracks on part of the ~lae 15. Northwest part of ~lae lava lake on lava lake ------------------------- 28 ~ugust 31 ------------------------ 13 33. Troughs and crests on part of ~lae lava 16. Changes in altitude of benchmarks along lake ------------------------------ 29 the Chain of Craters Highway be­ 34. ~lae lava lake on October 21, 1963 ___ 30 tween mid-July and early Septembe.r 35. ~lae lava lake on ~ugus.t 25, 1964 ____ 31 1963 ----------------------------- 14 17. Map and cross sections of ~lae lava 36. ~reas bared of :filamented surface layer lake, show.ing contours at the base and near joint cracks in the lake ------- 31 margin of the lake ---------------- 16 37. ~lae lava lake on ~ugust 18, 1965 32 III IV CONTENTS METRIC-ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS Metric unit English equivalent Metric unit English equivalent Length Specific combinations-Continued millimetre (mm) 0.03937 inch (in) litre per second (1/s) .0353 cubic foot per second metre (m) 3.28 feet (ft) cubic metre per second kilometre (km) .62 mile (mi) per square kilometre [ (ms;s) /km2] !!1.47 cubic feet per second per Area square mile [ (fts;s) ;mi2] metre per day (m/d) 3.28 feet per day (hydraulic square metre (m2) 10.76 square feet (ft2) conductivity) (ft/d) square kilometre (km2) .386 square mile (mi2) metre per kilometre hectare (ha) 2.47 acres (m/km) G.28 feet per mile (ft/mi) kilometre per hour (km/h) .9113 foot per second (ft/s) Volume metre per second (m/s) 3.28 feet per second cubic centimetre (cm3) 0.061 cubic inch (ins) metre squared per day 2 10.764 litre (l) 61.03 cubic inches (m /d) feet squared per day (ft2/d) cubic metre (m3) 35.31 cubic feet (ft3) (transmissivity) cubic metre .00081 acre-foot (acre-ft) cubic metre per second cubic hectometre (hms) =810.7 acre-feet (ms;s) = 22.826 million gallons per day litre 2.113 pints (pt) (Mgal/d) litre 1.06 quarts (qt) cubic metre per minute litre .26 gallon (gal) (ma;min) =264.2 gallons per minute (gal/min) cubic metre .00026 million gallons (Mgal or litre per second (1/s) 15.85 gallons per minute 106 gal) litre per second per cubic metre 6.290 barrels ( bbl) ( 1 bbl = 42 gal) metre [ (l/s) /m] 4.83 gallons per minute per foot [(gal/min) /ft] Weight kilometre per hour (km/h) .62 mile per hour (mi/h) gram (g) o.o:m ounce, avoirdupois ( oz avdp) metre per second (m/s) 2.237 miles per hour gram .0022 pound, avoirdupois (lb avdp) gram per cubic tonne (t) 1.1 tons, short (2,000 lb) centimetre (g/cms) 62.43 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft3) tonne .98 ton, long ( 2,240 lb) gram per square centimetre (g/cm2) 2.048 pounds per square foot (lb/ft2) gram per square Specific combinations centimetre .0142 pound per square inch (lb/in2) kilogram per square centimetre (kg/cm2) 0.96 atmosphere (atm) Temperature kilogram per square centimetre .98 bar (0.9869 atm) degree Celsius (°C) 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) cubic metre per second degrees Celsius (m3/s) 35.3 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) (temperature) = [ ( 1.8 X •c) + 32] degrees Fahrenheit SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII THE ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND THE FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAll By DALLAS L. PECK and W. T. KINOSHITA ABSTRACT 0.3- to 0.7-m-high hummocks, which were divided by ortho­ gonal cracks into 3- to 6-sided polygons averaging 1% m in After the seismic episodes and summit collapses of May, diameter. Many new cracks, mostly short ones near the July, and early August 1963, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, crests of hummocks, opened during a period of heavy rain­ erupted along the east rift zone in and near Alae Crater fall 5 to 9 months after the eruption. Most of these cracks from August 21 to 23, only 8lh months after the December were sites of deposition of sublimates of sulfur and calcium · 1962 eruption in nearby Aloi Crater. The eruption started at sulfate. Between 1 and 2 years! after the eruption, when the 18hlom, August 21, after nearly 4lh hours of summit defla­ lake had completely solidified, the surface was broken by long tion, low-amplitude tremor, and many small earthquakes. swarms of short cracks that originated in the zone of maxi­ Fountains on the floor and north wall of Alae Crater fed mum cooling at depths of 5 to 10 m in the lake and propa­ lava, at rates as high as 2.3 X 105m3 per hour and at maximum gated upward to the surface. temperatures of about 1,160°C, into a growing lava lake in Field stud,ies of the August 1963 lake ended in February the southeast pit of the crater. During the last 12 hours of 1969, when the lake was covered by 72 m of new lava. the eruption, a decrease in the rate of extrusion to near zero, accompanied by a decrease in temperature to 1,140°C, led to stagnation of the lava lake at its maximum volume of INTRODUCTION 8.4X10~ 3 • Near the end of the eruption at 08h10m, August 23, 1.8X105m3 of lava drained back into the vents leaving a Kilauea Volcano erupted in and near Alae Crater stagnant lake 305 m long, 245 m wide, and as much as 15 m from August 21 to 23, 1963, 81;2 months after the deep, composed of homogeneous tholeiitic basalt containing eruption in nearby Aloi Crater. The eruption left in 3.5 percent olivine.