Abstract
A correlation method, specifically designed for describing the characteristics of a complex wave field, is applied to volcanic tremor and gas‐piston events recorded by a semicircular array of GEOS instruments set at the foot of the Puu Oo crater on the east rift of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. The spatial patterns of correlation coefficients obtained as functions of frequency for the three components of motion over the entire array are similar for gas‐piston events and tremor, and clearly depict dispersive waves propagating across the array from the direction of Puu Oo. The wave fields are composed of comparable amounts of Rayleigh and Love waves propagating with similar and extremely slow phase velocities ranging from 700 m/s at 2 Hz to 300 m/s at 8 Hz. The highly cracked solidified lava flow on which the array was deployed, and subjacent structure of alternating lava and ash layers formed during repeated eruptions of Puu Oo since 1983, appear to be responsible for the low velocities observed. The results from Puu Oo stand in sharp contrast to those obtained in an experiment conducted in 1976 on the partially solidified lava lake of Kilauea Iki. Rayleigh waves were not observed in Kilauea Iki, but well‐developed trains of Love waves were seen to propagate there with velocities twice as high as those observed near Puu Oo. These differences in the propagation characteristics of surface waves at the two sites may be attributed to the presence of a soft horizontal layer of molten rock in Kilauea Iki, which may have lowered the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves more drastically than that of Love waves, resulting in severe scattering of the Rayleigh wave mode. On the other hand, the thin superficial pahoehoe flow under our array at Puu Oo may have favored the development of vertical columnar joints more extensively at this location than at Kilauea Iki, which may have reduced the shear moduli controlling the Love wave mode. The average phase velocities in the frequency band from 2 to 5 Hz found at Puu Oo are roughly similar to those determined for tremor at Klyuchevskoy volcano, Kamchatka, but the frequency dependence appears much stronger at Puu Oo.
Published Version
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