Implications for eruptive processes as indicated by sulfur dioxide emissions from Kı̄lauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, 1979–1997

Abstract

Kı̄lauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, currently hosts the longest running SO2 emission-rate data set on the planet, starting with initial surveys done in 1975 by Stoiber and his colleagues. The 17.5-year record of summit emissions, starting in 1979, shows the effects of summit and east rift eruptive processes, which define seven distinctly different periods of SO2 release. Summit emissions jumped nearly 40% with the onset (3 January 1983) of the Pu`u `Ō`ō-Kūpaianaha eruption on the east rift zone (ERZ). Summit SO2 emissions from Kı̄lauea showed a strong positive correlation with short-period, shallow, caldera events, rather than with long-period seismicity as in more silicious systems. This correlation suggests a maturation process in the summit magma-transport system from 1986 through 1993. During a steady-state throughput-equilibrium interval of the summit magma reservoir, integration of summit-caldera and ERZ SO2 emissions reveals an undegassed volume rate of effusion of 2.1×105m3/d. This value corroborates the volume-rate determined by geophysical methods, demonstrating that, for Kı̄lauea, SO2 emission rates can be used to monitor effusion rate, supporting and supplementing other, more established geophysical methods. For the 17.5 years of continuous emission rate records at Kı̄lauea, the volcano has released 9.7×106t (metric tonnes) of SO2, 1.7×106t from the summit and 8.0×106t from the east rift zone. On an annual basis, the average SO2 release from Kı̄lauea is 4.6×105t/y, compared to the global annual volcanic emission rate of 1.2×107t/y.