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Coupling at Mauna Loa and Kīlauea by stress transfer in an asthenospheric melt layer

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 826–829 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The eruptive activity at the neighbouring Hawaiian volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, is thought to be linked1,2,3, despite both having separate lithospheric magmatic plumbing systems. Over the past century, activity at the two volcanoes has been anti-correlated, which could reflect a competition for the same magma supply1,2. Yet, during the past decade Kīlauea and Mauna Loa have inflated simultaneously3. Linked activity between adjacent volcanoes in general remains controversial4,5,6. Here we present a numerical model for the dynamical interaction between Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, where both volcanoes are coupled by pore-pressure diffusion, occurring within a common, asthenospheric magma supply system. The model is constrained by measurements of gas emission rates7,8, indicative of eruptive activity, and it is calibrated to match geodetic measurements of surface deformation at both volcanoes, inferred to reflect changes in shallow magma storage. Although an increase in the asthenospheric magma supply can cause simultaneous inflation of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, we find that eruptive activity at one volcano may inhibit eruptions of the adjacent volcano, if there is no concurrent increase in magma supply. We conclude that dynamic stress transfer by asthenospheric pore pressure is a viable mechanism for volcano coupling at Hawai‘i, and perhaps for adjacent volcanoes elsewhere.

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Figure 1: Global distribution of volcanoes in close proximity.
Figure 2: Dynamic coupling model.
Figure 3: Model results.

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Acknowledgements

The Kīlauea and Mauna Loa GPS networks are supported by grants from the USGS, NSF and NASA and operated in collaboration by the USGS, Stanford University and the Pacific GPS Facility at the University of Hawai‘i. The authors thank J. Sutton for providing access to the CO2 data and S.E. Ingebritsen for constructive comments. H.M.G. thanks A. M. Jellinek and T. Fournier for constructive discussions. This work was supported by the USGS and by the NSF Geophysics and Volcanology & Petrology programmes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA

    Helge M. Gonnermann

  2. Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, SOEST, University of Hawai‘i, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822, USA

    James H. Foster, Cecily J. Wolfe & Benjamin A. Brooks

  3. US Geological Survey, Hawai‘ian Volcano Observatory, Hawai‘i National Park, Hawai‘i 97818-0051, USA

    Michael Poland & Asta Miklius

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

    Cecily J. Wolfe

Authors
  1. Helge M. Gonnermann
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  2. James H. Foster
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  3. Michael Poland
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  4. Cecily J. Wolfe
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  5. Benjamin A. Brooks
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  6. Asta Miklius
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design of this study; H.M.G. developed the model; H.M.G. led the writing of the paper; C.J.W. significantly contributed to the writing of the paper; M.P.’s knowledge about Mauna Loa and Kīlauea were of critical importance to the model development; B.B., J.F., M.P. and A.M. have been involved in installation of GPS stations and in data acquisition; J.F. analysed the GPS data and produced the GPS time series; M.P. and A.M. have been involved in daily monitoring of the eruptive activity.

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Correspondence to Helge M. Gonnermann.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Gonnermann, H., Foster, J., Poland, M. et al. Coupling at Mauna Loa and Kīlauea by stress transfer in an asthenospheric melt layer. Nature Geosci 5, 826–829 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1612

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