This week’s UH News Image of the Week is from the UH Hilo Maunakea Rangers.

The view of Kīlauea’s eruption from earlier this year as seen from Maunakea.

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Using a nearly 200-year record of lava chemistry from Kīlauea and Maunaloa, earth scientists from the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa and colleagues revealed that �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s two most active volcanoes share a source of magma within the Hawaiian plume. Their discovery was published in the .

“In the past, the distinct chemical compositions of lavas from Kīlauea and Maunaloa were thought to require completely separate magma pathways from the melt source in the mantle beneath each volcano to the surface where eruptions take place,” said Aaron Pietruszka, lead author of the study and associate professor in the in the UH Mānoa (SOEST). “Our latest research shows that this is incorrect. Melt from a shared mantle source within the Hawaiian plume may be transported alternately to Kīlauea or Maunaloa on a timescale of decades.”

From the mid-20th century to around 2010, Mauanloa was less active, whereas Kīlauea was highly active. During this time, the chemistry of lava from Kīlauea became more similar to typical lava from Maunaloa.

“We think this was caused by a change in the transport of mantle-derived melt from a shared source within the Hawaiian plume from Maunaloa to Kīlauea,” Pietruszka added. “In other words, each volcano iteratively becomes more active when it receives melt from the shared source in the mantle and this process causes measurable changes in lava chemistry.”

Since 2010, the research team has observed a change in lava chemistry at Kīlauea. This change suggests that melt from the shared source is now being diverted from Kīlauea to Maunaloa for the first time since the mid-20th century.

Maunaloa—the largest active volcano on Earth—erupted in 2022 after its longest known inactive period (~38 years). This eruptive hiatus at Maunaloa encompasses most of the ~35-year-long Puʻuʻōʻō eruption of neighboring Kīlauea, which ended in 2018 with a collapse of the summit caldera, an unusually large rift eruption, and lava fountains up to 260 feet tall.

The authors of the study emphasize that a long-term pattern of such opposite eruptive behavior suggests that a magmatic connection exists between these volcanoes. Additionally, this magmatic connection between Kīlauea and Maunaloa results in a broad correlation between changes in their lava chemistry.

“For example, during the late 19th century when Maunaloa was more active and Kīlauea was less active, the chemistry of lava from Kīlauea became more ‘unique’ and particular to compositions that are only observed at Kīlauea,” said Pietruszka. “We think this was caused by the transport of mantle-derived melt from the shared source of magma to Maunaloa.”

Forecasting future eruptions

Long-term forecasting of volcanic activity currently relies upon extrapolation of a volcano’s past eruption record.

“Our study suggests that monitoring of lava chemistry is a potential tool that may be used to forecast the eruption rate and frequency of these adjacent volcanoes on a timescale of decades,” Pietruszka said. “A future increase in eruptive activity at Maunaloa is likely if the chemistry of lava continues to change at Kīlauea.”

The researchers will continue to monitor the changes in lava chemistry at Kīlauea to determine whether their predictions for future changes in eruptive behavior at these volcanoes is correct.

–By Marcie Grabowski

This week’s UH News Image of the Week is from the John A. Burns School of Medicine Willed Body Program Administrator Mari Kuroyama-Ton.

Kuroyama-Ton shared: “This photo was taken right outside the Volcano House Restaurant as we had dinner reservations there on Thursday night, January 2nd. We made a family trip for dinner there as it was my girls’ (a first and 4th grader) first time seeing the eruption. We lucked out that it was fountaining at the time of our visit.”

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University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa researchers assessed an unprecedented 120 years of data from Kīlauea volcano on �鶹��ý Island, uncovering, for the first time, century-spanning patterns of deformation and stress changes. They focused on the 1975 magnitude 7.7 Kalapana earthquake, which also resulted in a 20-foot high tsunami. The study was published in the .

They discovered that the Kalapana earthquake significantly altered the region’s state of stress and deformation. Prior to 1975, in the location where the large earthquake originated, there was no evidence of slip, a movement where two rock masses move past each other.

“This finding suggests that the region was likely frictionally locked and slowly accumulating stress over time leading up to the rupture,” said lead author Lauren Ward Yong, who conducted this study as part of her doctoral dissertation in the UH Mānoa (SOEST). “Furthermore, we observed that Kīlauea’s south flank, a geologically active region stretching from the volcano’s summit toward the coastline, experienced greater and more complex displacement [surface motion] prior to the Kalapana earthquake than after.”

Yong and co-authors explored both the deformation and stress changes of the volcano from 1898–2018 by analyzing six different datasets. Their analysis encompassed 338,396 earthquake observations and more than 15,000 measurements of surface motion, or displacements, to construct a computational model replicating the observed displacements and stress before, during and after the large 1975 Kalapana earthquake.

“Deciphering Kīlauea’s history deepens our understanding of volcanic and seismic hazards,” said Yong. “It offers critical insights into how stress evolves in volcanic systems, guiding our ability to anticipate and interpret future earthquakes and magmatic events.”

Enhancing hazard preparedness

The study highlights the hazard potential of the décollement, the major fault zone beneath Kīlauea volcano where two rock masses are moving past each other, which continuously drives the volcano southward and poses risks of large earthquakes coupled with complex volcanic activity within the region.

Researchers found the average slip was reduced from 10 centimeters per year before the 1975 earthquake, to 4 centimeters per year afterward. These variations in slip and stress distributions along the décollement point to changes in mechanical properties, such as friction, that influence the region’s seismic and magmatic activity over time.

“�鶹��ý’s communities live alongside active volcanoes and face significant seismic risks,” said Yong. “This research enhances hazard preparedness and reinforces UH’s commitment to advancing science for the safety and well-being of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s residents and ecosystems by shedding light on past significant events.”

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–By Marcie Grabowski

Between 59 million to 51 million years ago, Earth experienced dramatic warming periods of both gradual warming that stretched over millions of years and sudden warming events. In a study in the , University of Utah and University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa geoscientists revealed sea surface temperatures were closely linked with levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during sudden warming periods known as hyperthermals.

Further, the gradual warming was linked to CO2 from volcanic sources, whereas organic or methane-derived CO2 was linked to rapid warming.

“Volcanic sources of CO2 are usually smaller and act over long time scales (millions of years), whereas methanogenic or organic sources can have higher rates of input and act over shorter time scales (decades to millennia),” said Richard Zeebe, study co-author and professor in the UH Mānoa . “The higher rates are relevant to our future because human activities are releasing carbon at unprecedented rates compared to natural sources over the past 56 million years or more.”

Today, human activities associated with fossil fuels are releasing carbon four to 10 times more rapidly than occurred during these ancient hyperthermal events. However, the total amount of carbon released during the ancient events is similar to the range projected for human emissions, giving researchers a glimpse of what could be in store for us and future generations.

Learning from the past

The study suggests emissions during two ancient hyperthermals are similar enough to today’s anthropogenic climate change to help scientists forecast its consequences. The findings further provide case studies to test carbon cycle feedback mechanisms and sensitivities critical for predicting anthropogenic climate change as humans continue pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere on an unprecedented scale in the planet’s history.

The research team analyzed microscopic fossils—recovered in drilling cores taken from an undersea plateau in the Pacific—to characterize surface ocean chemistry at the time the shelled single-cell organisms were alive. Using a statistical model, they reconstructed sea surface temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels over a 6-million-year period that covered two hyperthermals, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (56 million years ago) and Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (54 million years ago).

“These events might represent a mid- to worst-case scenario kind of case study,” said lead author Dustin Harper, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah. “We can investigate them to answer what’s the environmental change that happens due to this carbon release?”

The findings indicate that as atmospheric levels of CO2 rose, so too did global temperatures. During the hyperthermals, no ice sheets covered the poles and ocean surface temperatures were in the mid-90s degrees Fahrenheit.

Portions of this content are courtesy of the .

Throughout her academic career, Natalia Gauer Pasqualon has had a passion for understanding the dynamics of volcanic systems and their implications for hazard assessment and mitigation. As a graduate student at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa (SOEST), she studies volcanic deposits and active eruptions, and develops methodologies that improve prediction and response to volcanic hazards.

“Science exists to solve problems within society, so it is a priority for me that our community is aware of what’s happening at the university,” said Pasqualon, who is pursuing her doctoral degree in the SOEST . “Engaging with community members demystifies the research process and makes science accessible to everyone.”

Pasqualon was selected for the semester-long SOEST outreach and communications trainee program, through which she shared her knowledge, curiosity and passion for volcanoes and Hawaiian geology with hundreds of students and community members. During the traineeship, she offered workshops, hands-on activities, and presentations at Oʻahu elementary and high schools, and the Waikīkī Aquarium’s Mauka to Makai community event.

“Making science enjoyable and relatable helps break down barriers and encourages learning,” Pasqualon said. “This transparency builds trust and allows the community to see the real-world applications of our work. And, by offering interesting activities and engaging with kids we spark their curiosity and enthusiasm for science, inspiring the next generation.”

Making science enjoyable and relatable helps break down barriers and encourages learning

Reciprocal learning

Pasqualon appreciates that learning and sharing goes two ways when interacting with students and community members.

“Building strong relationships with the community starts with these types of interactions,” she said. “Local knowledge and perspectives can provide valuable insights and incorporating community input into our research ensures that our work is relevant and beneficial to society.”

Another significant benefit, she said, is that she was invited to become more immersed in the local community.

“While waiting for other students to arrive at Nānākuli High School, I had a wonderful cultural exchange with one student,” Pasqualon shared. “They were preparing an ʻahu ʻula, a feathered cape traditionally worn by aliʻi royals and high chiefs, to welcome a teacher returning after a period away. I was amazed to learn from this local student about the ʻahu ʻula and how they put it together. It was definitely a highlight of my trainee experience.”

Funding for the SOEST Outreach and Communications Trainee program was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF/GEO #2304691) through a Catalyst Award for Science Advancement.

–By Marcie Grabowski

Oʻahu high school and community college students explored �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s volcanoes and their hazards through a combination of field experiences and hands-on classroom activities. The week-long experience was offered by University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa and �鶹��ý Pacific University Earth scientists in summer 2023.

“The goal of the program was to connect the local students with Hawaiian geology and hopefully inspire them to pursue a path in the geosciences,” said Aaron Pietruszka, program co-instructor and associate professor in the at UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s (SOEST).

“We hoped to spark an interest in local geology by sharing information about the origins of the Hawaiian Islands and the volcanic and sedimentary processes that created the topography we see on Oʻahu,” said Reed Mershon, an Earth sciences graduate student who was an assistant instructor.

The students, 15 from Oʻahu high schools and one from , participated in field trips and interactive classroom activities that brought to life the science and hazards of volcanoes.

One student, upon walking around the Lānaʻi lookout on Oʻahu, said, “I’ve passed by this place a million times and never thought about how it got there. It’s so cool to finally learn how and why Oʻahu looks the way it does.”

Lānaʻi Lookout is a volcaniclastic (rock that contains volcanic material) deposit consisting of several ash layers deposited by nearby vents—the students were able to observe the variations in the ash layers, indicating the dynamic eruptive conditions.

The instructors shared potential educational pathways and careers in geosciences. In an effort to include and welcome students who are from underrepresented groups in STEM fields. This program looked at volcanology with an Indigenous viewpoint.

“We connected the storytelling and history of the Hawaiian Islands with the local geology,” said Mershon.

Current activity, ancient processes

Through the National Science Foundation-funded project, the research team recently assembled what is likely the most complete collection of samples from the Emperor Seamounts, those to the north of the Northwestern Hawaiian Ridge seamounts. Some of the lava samples from the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain are extremely old—as old as 80 million years.

Mershon brought in a few samples for the students to observe and touch. After seeing a 45-million-year-old lava from Koko Seamount, one student said, “But wait, this looks just like the rocks near my house!”

“The rocks near their house and the rocks from these seamounts are extremely similar,” said Mershon. “It was really satisfying to see the student make this connection and realize that the current volcanic processes we see on �鶹��ý Island are the same processes that created the ancient lava.”

The program will be offered again in summer 2024. To be notified when the application period for the program opens, email apietrus@hawaii.edu.

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The atmospheric flow over the tropical Pacific Ocean, termed the “Pacific Walker Circulation,” is changing, with important implications for El Niño and La Niña (cold and warm states of the tropical Pacific) events, according to a study published in by an international team of researchers. As a result, El Niño and La Niña events that persist for multiple years may become more common, which can exacerbate the associated risks of drought, fire, rains and floods.

“The tropical Pacific has an outsized influence on global climate,” said Sloan Coats, study co-author and assistant professor in the in the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa . “Understanding how it responds to volcanic eruptions, anthropogenic [man-made] aerosols and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to confidently predicting climate variability and projecting future climate in �鶹��ý and around the globe.”

The team used data from ice cores, trees, lakes, corals and caves to investigate Pacific Ocean weather and climate over the past 800 years. This allowed them to compare the Pacific Walker Circulation—the atmospheric part of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and a major influence on global weather—before the human-caused rise in greenhouse gases and after.

The scientists observed that the length of time for the Pacific Walker Circulation to switch between El Niño-like and La Niña-like phases has slowed over the industrial era.

“We set out to find out whether greenhouse gases had affected the Pacific Walker Circulation,” said Georgy Falster, lead author of the study and research fellow at the ARC (Australian Research Council) Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. “We found that the overall strength hasn’t changed yet, but instead, the year-to-year behavior is different.”

Volcanoes play a role

Volcanic eruptions have the power to impact climate on a global scale, but not every volcano has such impact. Previous research has shown that when there is a strong tropical volcanic eruption, the world tends to get cooler.

Volcanic eruptions were found to cause an El Niño-like weakening of the Pacific Walker Circulation, according to the researchers’ data analysis and reconstructions of past climate.

“This is not happening by chance. It’s something that is quite robust,” said co-author Bronwen Konecky, an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis. “We see a consistent response in the atmosphere, whereas others have not seen the same response in ocean temperatures. And that’s either because the atmospheric response is stronger or it’s easier to detect.”

“Our study provides a long-term context for a fundamental component of the atmosphere-ocean system in the tropics,” said Coats, whose expertise is Common Era paleoclimate, which focuses on climate variability over the last 2,000 years, and how and why the tropical Pacific is changing with the climate. “Understanding how the Pacific Walker Circulation is affected by climate change will enable communities across the Pacific and beyond to better prepare for the challenges they may face in the coming decades.”

Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi Seamount, which was renamed in July 2021 by the �鶹��ý Board on Geographic Names), a submarine Hawaiian volcano located about 20 miles off the south coast of �鶹��ý Island, has erupted at least five times in the last 150 years, according to new research led by Earth scientists at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa. For the first time, scientists were able to estimate the ages of the most recent eruptions of Kamaʻehu, as well as the ages of eight older eruptions at this volcano going back about 2,000 years. The findings were published in .

Hawaiian volcanoes are thought to transition through a series of growth stages. Kamaʻehu is currently in the earliest submarine “pre-shield” stage of growth, whereas the active neighboring volcano Kīlauea is in its main shield-building stage.

“Kamaʻehu is the only active and exposed example of a pre-shield Hawaiian volcano,” said Aaron Pietruszka, lead author of the study and associate professor in the at UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s (SOEST). “On the other Hawaiian volcanoes, this early part of the volcanic history is covered by the great outpouring of lava that occurs during the shield stage. Thus, there is great interest in learning about the growth and evolution of Kamaʻehu.”

��������ʻ����’s eruption history

Previously, the only known and confirmed eruption of Kamaʻehu was one that occurred in 1996, an event that was only discovered because it coincided with a large swarm of earthquakes that were detected remotely by seismometers on �鶹��ý Island.

“Seismometers can only be used to detect the ongoing active eruptions of submarine volcanoes because earthquakes are transient,” said Pietruszka. “In order to determine the ages of older eruptions at Kamaʻehu, we took a different approach. We used a mass spectrometer to measure tiny amounts of the isotope radium-226 in pieces of quenched glassy lava that were sampled from the seafloor outcrops of Kamaʻehu using a submersible.”

Magma naturally contains radium-226, which radioactively decays at a predictable rate. Pietruzska and co-authors used the amount of radium-226 in each sample to infer the approximate time elapsed since the lava was erupted on the seafloor, that is, the eruption age of the sample.

Pietruszka started this investigation many years ago as a postdoctoral researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, after finishing his doctoral degree in Earth science from SOEST. Once he returned to UH Mānoa in 2019, he got access to submersible dive videos and photos around Kamaʻehu and had the information he needed to finish connecting the dots.

“The submersible dive images and videos provided independent confirmation of our estimates of eruption ages,” said Pietruszka. “The lavas with the freshest appearance also had the most radium-226, and vice versa for the lavas with the ‘older’ appearance, that is, fractured and broken, and/or covered with marine sediment. I was surprised to discover that Kamaʻehu had erupted five times within the last ~150 years, which implies a frequency of ~30 years between eruptions at this volcano. This is much slower than at Kīlauea, which erupts almost continuously (with infrequent pauses of only a few years).”

Chemical changes in lava

The chemistry of the lava erupted from Hawaiian volcanoes changes over time. The new eruption ages for the lavas from Kamaʻehu, coupled with measurements of lava chemistry, reveal that the timescale of variation in lava chemistry at this pre-shield volcano is about 1,200 years. In contrast, Kīlauea lava chemistry changes over a timescale of only a few years to decades, with a complete cycle over about 200 years.

“We think that the origin of this difference is related to the position of the two volcanoes over the Hawaiian hotspot,” said Pietruszka. “This is an area of Earth’s mantle that is rising toward the surface—a ‘mantle plume’ that ultimately melts to form the magma that supplies Hawaiian volcanoes. Models and other isotope data from thorium-230 suggest that the center of a mantle plume should rise faster than its margin. Our results—specifically, the factor of six longer timescale of variation in lava chemistry at Kamaʻehu—provides independent confirmation of this idea.”

The research team hopes to better understand how Hawaiian volcanoes work from their earliest growth stages to their full, and frequently active, maturity to help them understand the deep controls on volcanic eruptions that initiate within the mysterious, upwelling mantle plume under the Hawaiian hotspot.

–By Marcie Grabowski

To prepare ground for a new U.S Geological Survey (USGS) facility that will monitor volcanoes and support conservation science, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland attended a ground blessing and visited with students on June 28. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz and USGS Director David Applegate also attended.

The facility, which will be located on the UH Hilo campus, will house the USGS and the USGS .

“We selected this location because of its unique qualities and partnership opportunities,” Applegate said. “One quality in particular that is critical to our future success is access to a very precious resource: students who can become our next-generation workforce, helping bring science to bear on some of the most challenging issues facing our nation and the planet.”

The ceremony, called a kīpaepae, was coordinated by UH personnel. The kīpaepae included USGS and university staff and students, and focused on coming together in the new location.

“UH Hilo has a long and rewarding relationship with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, and I am excited for the additional opportunities their presence on campus will have for research partnerships and student internships,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin. “Working side-by-side with professionals in the field is an invaluable complement to the education students receive at our university.”

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitors and assesses hazards from active volcanoes and earthquakes in �鶹��ý, providing important science for emergency managers, scientists and local communities. The observatory was previously located in �鶹��ý Volcanoes National Park, near the active volcanoes of Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Lōʻihi and Hualālai. The observatory’s previous facility was irreparably damaged during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption.

The USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center conducts research to support management and conservation of biological resources in �鶹��ý and other Pacific locations. This includes scientific studies of imperiled species, invasive species and plant diseases such as Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death.

“Partnership and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do. I’m so excited about the collaborations that will be formed in this facility between USGS scientists and personnel, the brilliant faculty and the students who have already accomplished so much,” said Haaland. “As we celebrate this facility today, we celebrate the enduring relationship it represents for the Department of the Interior and the community at large, as well as the benefits this partnership will bring long after our time doing this important work is done.”

Construction of the facility is estimated to be completed in late 2025.

Earth scientists from the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa were gifted a set of precious basalt samples collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from the Kīlauea Iki lava lake between 1959 and 1988. Investigating these samples will provide new insights for understanding recent and future volcanic eruptions in �鶹��ý.

“This set of lava core samples is one-of-a-kind. This type of multiple decade-long sampling of a magma body will unlikely be ever done again in �鶹��ý or elsewhere,” said Tom Shea, earth sciences assistant professor in the UH Mānoa (SOEST).

In 1959, a large eruption filled an existing crater at the summit of Kīlauea with a lava lake. Over the next three decades, USGS drilled into this area to collect cores of cooling lava, noting the date, location and temperature of the rocks.

“This set of lava cores represents a remarkable, 30-year-long magma cooling experiment that enables us to track chemical changes in olivine through time, to see if they behave like faithful ‘crystal clocks’,” said Shea.

From thin sections to lava cores

Previously, Shea and his team had analyzed thin slices of these samples, shared by USGS collaborator Rosalind Helz. Olivine, the light green mineral common in basalt, acts as a type of crystal clock. It records progressive smearing of the boundaries between different elemental compositions, a change that occurred over the decades of cooling of the lava lake. Volcanologists typically use the distribution of chemical elements, from core to rim, to infer time since the eruption.

Nabila Nizam, a doctoral candidate in the SOEST , works with Shea on crystal clocks as part of a National Science Foundation-funded CAREER project, investigating how distinct chemical zoning in olivine grains gets progressively smeared with time. In the course of her work on the thin sections, she and Shea discovered that the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park wanted to find a new home for some Kīlauea Iki drill cores. USGS collaborator Frank Trusdell worked hard with them on a drill core rescue mission.

“We set out on several trips to the National Park to characterize what was there, and clean and select some subsamples,” said Nizam. “Every box we opened was like viewing another surprise! Eventually, we shipped two full drill core sets (16 core boxes for each set) by boat to Honolulu earlier this year.”

These boxes of drill cores will be housed at SOEST and will be a part of research projects and available for appreciation.

“It’s thrilling to host this treasure trove of samples,” added Shea. “They have beautiful olivine crystals that will provide unmatched constraints on the rate at which different elements move within a mineral with time.”

The cores will allow the researchers to ground the theoretical cooling model that Earth scientists have been working with. With these samples, they know the exact timing and the temperature the lava lake was when the samples were collected.

–By Marcie Grabowksi

This week’s UH News Images of the Week are from University of �鶹��ý at Hilo’s .

The two images capture the fire of Maunaloa’s eruption and the ice in snow on Maunakea occurring at the same time on �鶹��ý Island.

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The eruption of Maunaloa has created a fiery living laboratory and real world classroom for students, faculty and staff at the .

Steve Lundblad, a professor, took his introductory geology class on an excursion two days after the first fissure opened to safely view the flow from Saddle Road. They based their observations at Gilbert Kahele Park.

“We talked about Maunaloa and Maunakea, and the Maunakea cinder cones surrounded by newer Maunaloa lava flows,” Lundblad explained. He expressed, students were mostly busy looking at the eruption through binoculars.

The curriculum of Lundblad’s class is designed to prepare students for further studies in geology. They study the features and materials that make up Earth, with emphasis on structures, various erosional and depositional processes, and the role of plate tectonics.

Lava sample study

Staff from the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS-HVO) continue to collect and bring samples of fresh lava to the UH Hilo for analysis on the Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, commonly called the EDXRF machine, which analyzes groups of elements simultaneously.

“Our student worker Baylee McDade will help prepare the samples, grinding them into powder, for analysis on the EDXRF machine…after the rocks finish in the drying oven,” said Darcy Bevens, an educational specialist at the UH Hilo .

“The analysis will give HVO details about the composition of the rock,” Bevens added.

Lundblad and colleague Peter Mills, an professor, have operated the X-Ray Fluoresence Spectrometer for the past 20 years, working on archaeological materials.

In past years, they also have worked with geology lecturer Cheryl Gansecki on newly erupted samples from Kīlauea—and now this week, Maunaloa—to track changes in the eruption. They do this by taking samples from the active flows, which are run through the EDXRF machine and analyzed for changes from one sample to the next.

In-depth tracking

UH Hilo has been analyzing lava flow samples from Kīlauea since 2013 however the composition barely changed until May 2018. First there was magma that had been stored, older, colder, and then as the fissures progressed, the scientists started to see, younger, hotter, magma coming in. This type of lava is more fluid and can travel longer distances.

“We successfully tracked changes during the 2018 eruption from magma that was stored in the lower East Rift zone to new magma that traveled from the summit reservoir,” Lundblad said.

The chemical change detected by the UH Hilo team preceded the change in Kīlauea’s eruptive behavior by two to three days which gave officials advanced warning in their task of protecting the public.

Now the UH Hilo team is at work on the Maunaloa flows.

“Because Maunaloa is a new eruption, we are hoping to help the USGS-HVO folks track changes from the early phases of the eruption to later stages,” Lundblad said.

For more information go to .

In January 2022, the largest underwater volcanic eruption of this century led to a dramatic phytoplankton bloom north of the island of Tongatapu, in the Kingdom of Tonga. A team of scientists from the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa and Oregon State University revealed in a recently published that the bloom of microscopic marine life covered an area nearly 40 times the size of the island of Oʻahu, �鶹��ý within 48 hours after the eruption.

UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s (SOEST)-led team, analyzed satellite images of various kinds—true color, emission of red and infrared radiation, and light reflection at the sea surface—and determined that the deposition of volcanic ash was likely the most important source of nutrients responsible for phytoplankton growth.

“Even though the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai eruption was submarine, a large plume of ash reached a height of tens of kilometers into the atmosphere,” said Benedetto Barone, lead author of the study and research oceanographer at the (C-MORE) in SOEST. “The ash fallout supplied nutrients that stimulated the growth of phytoplankton, which reached concentrations well beyond the typical values observed in the region.”

Phytoplankton are the tiny photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen and serve as the base of the marine food web. The growth of these microbes is often limited by the low concentrations of nutrients dissolved in the surface ocean, but phytoplankton can increase rapidly when nutrients become available.

“We were impressed to observe the large region with high chlorophyll concentrations within such a short time after the eruption,” said Dave Karl, study co-author and director of C-MORE. “This shows how quickly the ecosystem can respond to nutrient fertilization.”

“A casual observer might see seemingly very different parts of the environment—in this case, a volcano producing a large eruption and a major shift in the ecology of the oceans nearby,” said Ken Rubin, study co-author and volcanologist in the SOEST . “However, our observations illustrate the broad interconnectedness and interdependence of different aspects of the environment, perhaps even indicating an under-appreciated link between volcanism and shallow marine ecosystems globally.”

Lessons from 2018 Kīlauea eruption

Three of the study authors had previously assessed and sampled a smaller phytoplankton bloom that was linked with the Kīlauea eruption of 2018, which highlighted the potential impacts of volcanic eruptions on ocean ecosystems.

“When I heard of the Tonga eruption, it was fairly straightforward to modify the computer code that I had written to analyze the satellite measurements around �鶹��ý to determine the impact of the Tonga eruption on the nearby ocean ecosystem,” said Barone. “From the first moment of seeing the results of the analysis, it was clear that there had been a fast phytoplankton response in a large region.”

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–By Marcie Grabowski

The catastrophic eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in 2022 triggered a special atmospheric wave that has eluded detection for the past 85 years. Researchers from the , Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and Kyoto University relied on state-of-the-art observational data and computer simulations to the existence of Pekeris waves—fluctuations in air pressure that were theorized in 1937 but never proven to occur in nature, until now.

The study was published in the .

The eruption in the South Pacific earlier this year released what was likely the most powerful explosion the world has experienced since the famous 1883 eruption of Mt. Krakatau in Indonesia. The rapid release of energy excited pressure waves in the atmosphere that quickly spread around the world.

The atmospheric wave pattern close to the eruption was quite complicated, but thousands of miles away the disturbances were led by an isolated wave front traveling horizontally at more than 650 miles per hour as it spread outward. The air pressure perturbations associated with the initial wave front were seen clearly on thousands of barometer records throughout the world.

“The same behavior was observed after the Krakatau eruption, and in the early 20th century a physical theory for this wave was developed by the English scientist Horace Lamb,” said Kevin Hamilton, emeritus professor of atmospheric sciences at the UH Mānoa . “These motions are now known as Lamb waves. In 1937, the American-Israeli mathematician and geophysicist Chaim Pekeris expanded Lamb’s theoretical treatment and concluded that a second wave solution with a slower horizontal speed should also be possible. Pekeris tried to find evidence for his slower wave in the pressure observations after the Krakatau eruption but failed to produce a convincing case.”

Successfully identifying the wave

Scientists applied a broad range of tools now available including geostationary satellite observations, computer simulations and extremely dense networks of air pressure observations to successfully identify the Pekeris wave in the atmosphere following the Tonga eruption.

Lead author, Shingo Watanabe, deputy director of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology’s Research Center for Environmental Modeling, performed computer simulations of the response to the Tonga eruption.

“When we investigated the computer simulated and observed pulses over the entire Pacific basin, we found that the slower wave front could be seen over broad regions and that its properties matched those predicted by Pekeris almost a century ago,” said Hamilton.

of the global atmosphere after the Tonga eruption.

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For the first time in its history, the University of �鶹��ý 10-campus system topped half a billion dollars in extramural funding with a record $505 million in fiscal year 2022 (FY2022), which ended June 30. The record total tops UH’s previous record of $488.6 million in FY2011 and is a $19.5 million or 4% increase over FY2021.

Extramural funding is external investments from the federal government, industry and non-profit organizations that support research and academic activities conducted by university faculty and staff. Extramural projects support research and innovation—increasing knowledge and providing solutions to improve quality of life.

“We are extremely pleased to have reached this significant milestone in our extramural funding history,” said UH Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos. “Much of the credit is due to the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff and graduate students who keep the UH research enterprise on a steady course despite significant challenges from our economy, world affairs and fallout from the recent pandemic.”

UH ����ԴDz�, the system’s flagship campus, accounted for $366 million of the extramural awards, followed by units at the UH System level ($70.6 million), UH Community Colleges ($43.6 million), UH Hilo ($18.0 million) and UH West Oʻahu ($6.7 million).

UH research expenditures contribute to �鶹��ý’s economy through business sales, employee earnings, state tax revenue and job creation; and serve as the main component in the diversification of �鶹��ý’s economy. According to a 2021 economic impact report by the UH Economic Research Organization, UH research-related expenditures of $476.8 million in extramural funding in FY2020 generated $734.8 million in total business sales, $236.9 million in spending, $41.2 million in state tax revenue, while supporting an estimated 5,428 jobs.

“We are incredibly proud to have grown our UH extramural enterprise into a major economic sector for �鶹��ý that creates thousands of jobs and provides economic stimulation across our islands,” said UH President David Lassner. “Our faculty and staff are collaborating with and training our students to engage in research and problem-solving that addresses the great challenges and opportunities that face �鶹��ý and the world. This includes everything from climate change and energy solutions to addressing health disparities, educational inequities and training our residents for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”

Several examples of UH programs that attracted the attention of funders:

• The and UH ����ԴDz�’s (SOEST) was awarded $5.5 million, part of a five-year $25 million investment by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop an engineered coral reef ecosystem to protect coastlines. Read more on UH News.
• UH received over $11 million for natural resource management programs covering endangered and invasive species, as well as marine and coastal ecosystems protection.
• UH ����ԴDz�’s (HNEI) received $6.2 million from the (ONR) for its Asia-Pacific Research Initiative for Sustainable Energy Systems for testing and evaluation of renewable generation and power system controls for smart- and micro-grids. HNEI also received $6 million from ONR to continue its research and maintenance support of the U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site in ����Ա�ʻ�dz�� Bay. Read more on UH News.
• The UH System received more than $5 million from ONR for tank inspection (UH ����ԴDz� ), hydrogeological research of groundwater and contaminant flow (SOEST) and enhanced water quality testing (UH ����ԴDz�’s ) related to the Red Hill water crisis.
• The was awarded $4.6 million, part of a five-year $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for Ola HAWAIʻI, a multidisciplinary research center that addresses health disparities in the underserved, multiethnic populations in �鶹��ý. Read more on UH News.
• UH’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research received $3.5 million, part of a five-year $20 million grant by the , to integrate climate and data science research under its Change HI initiative. Read more on UH News.
• DHHS awarded $2.9 million to the to continue its important Multiethnic Cohort Study. Read more on UH News.
• received $2 million from the National Science Foundation for its Akeakamai I Ka Lā Hiki Ola initiative that encourages and promotes STEM education to Native Hawaiian students.
• received a $1 million donation from the to create the �鶹��ý Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems, a food system transformation hub grounded in complementary STEM disciplines, indigenous knowledge and cultural practices. Read more on UH News.
• UH �ᾱ����’s received $712,000 from the U.S. Department of the Interior to conduct geological, geochemical, geophysical and risk mitigation research related to the Kīlauea, Mauna Loa and Haleakalā volcanoes.

The number of earthquakes in Pāhala, a town located in the southern Kaʻū district of �鶹��ý Island, have increased 70-fold since 2015, and Earth scientists from the and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) deployed instruments called seismic nodes to understand why.

Pāhala is currently the most seismically active region in the Hawaiian Islands. Frequent, deep earthquakes (greater than 12 miles below sea level) are felt by residents, however, the current level of activity was not always common to the region, and researchers are trying to understand why.

Since mid-2019, there have been several hundred earthquakes on average each week. And since August 2020, eight magnitude-4.2-to-4.6 earthquakes have been recorded at depths of 19–21 miles.

Helen Janiszewski, assistant professor of at UH ����ԴDz�’s (SOEST), SOEST Earth sciences graduate student Jade Wight, and researchers from HVO, deployed 86 seismic nodes in June to record ground shaking generated by shallow and deep earthquakes across �鶹��ý Island and distant earthquakes from around the world.

“We are grateful to our collaborators at HVO, our field team, and local landowners and community members for a successful field campaign to deploy the seismic nodes,” said Janiszewski. “We are looking forward to their recovery in a few months, in order to better understand the underlying causes of the ongoing Pāhala earthquake swarm.”

Earthquakes may reveal magma pathways

Unlike permanent seismic stations, which are placed farther apart and cover �鶹��ý Island, the temporary seismic nodes will be tightly grouped in order to more densely record earthquake signals across the region surrounding Pāhala.

The densely-spaced nodal instruments will collect seismic data at unprecedented resolution. Seismologists at HVO and UH ����ԴDz� will analyze data collected from these seismic nodes to create images of the Earth’s structure beneath Pāhala from 25–31 miles below sea level all the way to the surface.

The data and images will be used to precisely locate the earthquakes in this region and aim to identify or constrain the locations and distributions of shallow and deep fault zones and potential magma pathways within the region. The results will help researchers understand what is causing the frequent earthquake activity in the region beneath Pāhala.

Previous geophysical studies have theorized that deep earthquake activity beneath the Pāhala region may be related to hot spot magma transport and/or faulting in the brittle upper mantle beneath the island. Interestingly, the region is almost equidistant from the summits of the three most active volcanoes in �鶹��ý: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa and Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi Seamount).

Whether Pāhala has a possible connection to the shallower magma storage and transport systems of Kīlauea or Mauna Loa is unclear, but there are no obvious indicators of magma transport from this region to the surface.

Most people in �鶹��ý are familiar with—olivine—a gorgeous light green mineral in basalt rock that makes Mahana Beach on �鶹��ý Island one of the few “green sand” beaches in the world. Researchers are using olivine as a type of “crystal clock,” where its chemical make-up (in particular how its chemical elements are distributed from core to rim) can be analyzed and exploited to read time information. Leading the investigation is a assistant researcher, who received $554,181 from a National Science Foundation CAREER award over the next five years.

Thomas Shea plans to experimentally calibrate these crystal clocks in a lab and apply the findings to understand natural systems on �鶹��ý Island.

“UH has for many decades been an essential component and leader in the study of active volcanoes,” said Shea, who works in the ’s . “I hope to continue this long tradition of conducting frontier volcanological research with many of my colleagues at UH and in collaboration with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, part of the United States Geological Survey. �鶹��ý is such a special place on Earth geologically, and we consider the study of our dynamic environment and natural hazards an absolutely critical mission of UH.”

Getting students informed and interested in Earth science careers is of utmost importance for �鶹��ý and one of the major endeavors of the five-year award. With respect to the research components, given the destructive outcome of the last large eruption at Kīlauea volcano in 2018, better understanding the timing of events that happen underneath the surface prior to these eruptions is also of key significance for �鶹��ý.

An exploratory aspect of the work planned for this award is to use a set of samples that were collected from a hot lava lake over nearly 30 years (1959-88). A large eruption filled an existing crater at the summit of Kīlauea in 1959 with a lava lake, and this lake formed a hard crust and took more than 40 years to fully solidify (62 years later, that lava is no longer molten but still hot deep underneath).

During those years, scientists drilled through the hard crust to sample lava at the different depths, and repeatedly over three decades.

“Today we have a remarkable time series of samples from the 1960-80s that are sort of like a 30-year-long magma cooling experiment where we can track chemical changes in the olivine and see if they behave like faithful ‘crystal clocks’ that we will be able to leverage for more recent and future eruptions,” said Shea.

This work is an example of UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Promoting Earth sciences to �鶹��ý students

The educational component of the award proposes to use hands-on experimentation and active learning to get �鶹��ý students (particularly at the pre-college level) excited about STEM and discover some of the fascinating facets of Earth sciences. This will involve both on-site activities and programs at UH and going to classrooms in high schools around Oʻahu and potentially �鶹��ý Island.

“Part of our mission as scientists and teachers—and our responsibility to the state of �鶹��ý —is to investigate and understand natural phenomena and educate our children and local population,” added Shea. “Only a small percentage of our local students are taught about Earth sciences in secondary schools statewide. Yet the coming decades pose formidable challenges in terms of hazards related to natural phenomena, not just volcanic eruptions at our four most active volcanoes (Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai and Haleakalā) but coastal erosion, reef survival and climate change.”

A new volcano, Geldingadalir, has erupted in Iceland, offering rare opportunities for close-up exploration and research into eruption processes and how to better predict future eruptions. 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker talked with University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa (SOEST) alumni Thorvaldur Thordarson and Christopher Hamilton, and Professor Bruce Houghton, during the eruption response.

Opportunity knocks

After a drastic decline in volcanic activity from the Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake on Kīlauea Volcano by April 2021 and with no access to the Italian volcano Stromboli during the COVID-19 pandemic, Houghton connected with Thordarson, who is now a professor in volcanology and petrology at the University of Iceland to find a new target for his research.

Given their robust working partnership and the dynamic and rapidly changing character of the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, the two researchers developed a plan to capture high resolution videos of the Reykjanes fountains to quantify the changing patterns of eruption style and strength and link this to drone-based studies of the evolving craters, lavas and cones.

When Houghton arrived at the volcano, he witnessed a spectacular sight.

“These were easily the best, most breath-taking fountaining eruptions that I have ever seen,” said Houghton. “Conditions were perfect for documenting their activity—we could approach safely to the very edge of any part of the system of linked lavas and cones and had driving access to many key observation points.”

Now back in �鶹��ý with the video footage in hand, Houghton and UH researcher Caroline Tisdale will measure key parameters like eruption rate, particle sizes and velocities that determine the style and intensity of these unusual eruptions, which sit in the middle ground between Hawaiian lava fountains and short-lived explosions such as Stromboli.

The collaboration continues to provide new insights into the mechanisms affecting when, why and how basaltic volcanoes erupt. This information feeds directly into hazard and impact studies that are particularly important, in light of the 2018 eruptions and devastation at Kīlauea.

This event is an example of UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

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–By Marcie Grabowski

The 2018 Kīlauea eruption in �鶹��ý provided scientists with an unprecedented opportunity to identify new factors that could help forecast the hazard potential of future eruptions.

A team of researchers, including University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa Professor Bruce Houghton, identified an indicator of magma viscosity that can be measured before an eruption, providing critical information to help understand possible future eruptions. The findings are .

“The study is very unusual because it falls at the interface between two distinct disciplines in volcanology: seismology and studies of the viscosity (fluidity) of the molten rock,” said Houghton.

Viscous magma linked with powerful explosions

The properties of the magma inside a volcano affect how an eruption will play out. In particular, the viscosity of this molten rock is a major factor in influencing how hazardous an eruption could be for nearby communities.

Very viscous magmas are linked with more powerful explosions because they can block gas from escaping through vents, allowing pressure to build up inside the volcano’s plumbing system. On the other hand, extrusion of more viscous magma results in slower-moving lava flows.

“But magma viscosity is usually only quantified well after an eruption, not in advance,” explained Diana Roman, lead author of the study and volcanologist at . “So, we are always trying to identify early indications of magma viscosity that could help forecast a volcano’s eruption style.”

Kīlauea eruption provides wealth of data

The 2018 event included the first eruptive activity in Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone since 1960. The first of 24 fissures opened in early May, and the eruption continued for three months. This situation provided unprecedented access to information for the team of researchers.

The event provided a wealth of simultaneous data about the behavior of both high- and low-viscosity magma, as well as about the pre-eruption stresses in the solid rock underlying Kīlauea.

Tectonic and volcanic activity cause fractures, called faults, to form in the rock that makes up Earth’s crust. When geologic stresses cause these faults to move against each other, geoscientists measure the 3-D orientation and movement of the faults using seismic instruments.

By studying what happened in Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone in 2018, Roman and her colleagues determined that the direction of the fault movements in the lower East Rift Zone before and during the volcanic eruption could be used to estimate the viscosity of rising magma during periods of precursory unrest.

“We were able to show that with robust monitoring we can relate pressure and stress in a volcano’s plumbing system to the underground movement of more viscous magma,” Roman explained. “This will enable monitoring experts to better anticipate the eruption behavior of volcanoes like Kīlauea and to tailor response strategies in advance.”

This research is an example of UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

–By Marcie Grabowski