Kulanaokuaiki Tephra (ca. A.D. 400-1000): Newly recognized evidence for highly explosive eruptions at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i

Research Article| May 01, 2009 Kulanaokuaiki Tephra (ca. A.D. 400–1000): Newly recognized evidence for highly explosive eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i Richard S. Fiske; Richard S. Fiske 1Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013–7012, USA †E-mail: fisker@si.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Timothy R. Rose; Timothy R. Rose 1Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013–7012, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Donald A. Swanson; Donald A. Swanson 2U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii 96718, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Duane E. Champion; Duane E. Champion 3U.S. Geological Survey, MS-910, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John P. McGeehin John P. McGeehin 4U.S. Geological Survey, MS-926A, Reston, Virginia 20192-0002, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2009) 121 (5-6): 712–728. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26327.1 Article history received: 12 Sep 2007 rev-recd: 19 May 2008 accepted: 28 May 2008 first online: 03 Oct 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Richard S. Fiske, Timothy R. Rose, Donald A. Swanson, Duane E. Champion, John P. McGeehin; Kulanaokuaiki Tephra (ca. A.D. 400–1000): Newly recognized evidence for highly explosive eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i. GSA Bulletin 2009;; 121 (5-6): 712–728. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26327.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Kīlauea may be one of the world's most intensively monitored volcanoes, but its eruptive history over the past several thousand years remains rather poorly known. Our study has revealed the vestiges of thin basaltic tephra deposits, overlooked by previous workers, that originally blanketed wide, near-summit areas and extended more than 17 km to the south coast of Hawai'i. These deposits, correlative with parts of tephra units at the summit and at sites farther north and northwest, show that Kīlauea, commonly regarded as a gentle volcano, was the site of energetic pyroclastic eruptions and indicate the volcano is significantly more hazardous than previously realized. Seventeen new calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages suggest these deposits, here named the Kulanaokuaiki Tephra, were emplaced ca. A.D. 400–1000, a time of no previously known pyroclastic activity at the volcano. Tephra correlations are based chiefly on a marker unit that contains unusually high values of TiO2 and K2O and on paleomagnetic signatures of associated lava flows, which show that the Kulanaokuaiki deposits are the time-stratigraphic equivalent of the upper part of a newly exhumed section of the Uwēkahuna Ash in the volcano's northwest caldera wall. This section, thought to have been permanently buried by rockfalls in 1983, is thicker and more complete than the previously accepted type Uwēkahuna at the base of the caldera wall. Collectively, these findings justify the elevation of the Uwēkahuna Ash to formation status; the newly recognized Kulanaokuaiki Tephra to the south, the chief focus of this study, is defined as a member of the Uwēkahuna Ash. The Kulanaokuaiki Tephra is the product of energetic pyroclastic falls; no surge- or pyroclastic-flow deposits were identified with certainty, despite recent interpretations that Uwēkahuna surges extended 10–20 km from Kīlauea's summit. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.