Continuation of the notes for the fourth quiz
Shield-Building Stages
Declining Stage - Keynote pdf
Hawaiian shield volcanoes can go through several different lifestages, each
with different characteristics.
However, all volcanoes do not pass through each stage, and they can stop at
any given stage.
Three primary lifestages of Hawai'i shield volcanoes:
Shield-building stage is divided into two phases:
Submarine Shield-Building Stage
Lo'ihi is in the submarine shield-building stage
Volcanoes in the submarine shield-building stage tend to erupt alkalic basalts.
Alkalic basalts are richer in Na and K, compared to Ca.
Geologists are not sure why alkalic basalts erupt early in the lifestages of
Hawaiian shield volcanoes, but many suspect that it is related to the relative
position of the volcano to the center of the hot spot.
Volcanoes nearer to the edge of the hot spot tend to erupt alkalic basalts.
This might be related to the degree of melting of the mantle rock.
Near the edge of the hot spot the temperature would be lower, therefore the
degree of melting would be less.
A lower degree of melting can generate alkalic basalts.
The submarine shield-building stage is characterized by a shield constructed
of dense pillow lavas.
No pyroclastic material is generated because, at depths greater than 1 km,
the weight of the overlying water inhibits the formation of gas bubbles.
Lo'ihi has a caldera, so calderas can form early in the lifestages of Hawaiian shield volcanoes.
Near the end of the submarine shield-building stage, as the volcano nears
the surface of the ocean, the lavas become tholeiitic.
Tholeiitic basalts are the normal basalts erupted by Hawaiian shield volcanoes.
Within a few hundred meters of sea level, the eruptions become explosive as
gas bubbles form.
Once summit is above sea-level, lava is extruded and the volcano continues
to grow.
The volcano has entered the subaerial shield-building stage.
Subaerial Shield-Building Stage
Frequent eruptions of tholeiitic basalts characterize the subaerial shield-building
stage.
Volcanoes in this stage are near the center of the hot spot, so the degree
of melting is greater.
During this stage the caldera repeatedly collapses and refills.
Kilauea and Mauna Loa are examples of volcanoes in the subaerial shield-building
stage.
Towards the end of the subaerial shield-building stage the
The volcano is entering the declining stage.
End of the notes for the fourth quiz
Start of the notes of the fifth quiz
The primary characteristic of the declining stage is the formation of an alkalic
cap.
A volcano in the declining stage has drifted towards the edge of the hot spot
and once again erupts alkalic basalts.
In addition, many unusual basalts and other magmas erupt during this stage.
A possible explanation for the production of these lavas is related to the
declining frequency of eruptions.
If the magma stays in the magma chamber longer, the cooling magma can differentiate.
Differentiation can result in layered magma chambers, where the composition
of the magma varies significantly.
Eruptions that tap different areas of the magma chamber can erupt lavas with
distinct compositions.
The magma is more viscous and gas rich, so most of the eruptions form pyroclastic
cones.
The alkalic cap fills in and buries the caldera.
Hualalai and Mauna Kea are examples of volcanoes in the declining stage.
Mauna Kea last erupted 4,000 years ago.
Hualalai last erupted in 1801.
Eventually, volcanoes drift so far from the hot spot that eruptions cease,
and the volcano enters a long period of erosion.
Kohala has not erupted for 60,000 years and is heavily dissected by stream
valleys that are eroding into the caldera region.
The notes of the fifth quiz are continued with Age of the Islands
The Rejunvenated Stage will not be on the quiz
After the final eruptions of the declining stage, a Hawaiian shield volcano
generally enters a long period of erosion.
Hualala'i currently is in the erosional period, its last eruption was 60,000
years ago.
Stream valleys, such a Waimea Valley, have eroded across the windward side of
the volcano and into the caldera region.
Most Hawaiian volcanoes will experience renewed volcanism, after they have
drifted very far from the hot spot.
This return of volcanic activity is called the rejuvenated stage.
Rejuvenated volcanics have occurred on Maui, Moloka'i, Kaho'olawe, O'ahu, and
Kauai.
The source of the magma during the rejuvenated stage is unknown.
Declining stage eruptions ending on O'ahu approximately 1.8 million years ago.
The erosional period lasted about 1 million years, before volcanism returned
to O'ahu.
The first rejuvenated eruptions on O'ahu began about 800,000 years ago.
Most of the rejuvenated stage eruptions haved occurred in the Honolulu region
of O'ahu.
The volcanic deposited are called the Honolulu Series.
The eruptions tend to be much more explosive, with many phreatomagmatic eruptions.
The eruptions occur along fracture systems that trend perpendicular to the rift
system of the Ko'olau Volcano.
The Honolulu Series is comprised of approximately 40 rejuvenated stage volcanoes:
Leahi (Diamond Head), Koko Head, Koko Crater, Manana (Rabbit) Island, Mokapu,
Salt Lake, Ka'imuki lava shield, Punch Bowl, etc.
The last eruptions of the Honolulu Series might be as young as a few thousand
years old.
Because as much as 100,000 years separated eruptive periods in the rejuvenated
stage, most geologists believe that O'ahu continues in the rejuvented stage
and that the island will erupt again.