Scanning Electron Microscope images, collected at UH Hilo, showing a fragment of lava collected from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava pond in November 2013. The bar scale at the right is 300 microns (0.012 in). The mostly uniform light gray is basalt glass and darker gray crystals are olivine (left) and pyroxene (right). Both crystals contain melt inclusions comprised of light gray glass. The polished, 1-inch-round acrylic disk (upper-right) contains fragments of Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava (top row ) and Pele’s tears and hairs from Halema`uma`u (bottom rows) ready for analysis.

(Volcano Watch is a weekly article written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

Every year about this time, we write about the chemistry of lava erupting from KÄ«lauea Volcano.

In previous articles, we have discussed the significance of monitoring subtle changes in the chemical composition of new lava. With specialized equipment, we can monitor the composition of crystals grown within the lava, the uncrystalized glass that quenched around them at sampling time, and the tiny remnants of the parent magma frozen within the crystals (melt inclusions) to assess conditions of magma storage and transport within KÄ«lauea Volcano.

The crystals and glass can tell us the amount of time that was spent and the depth through which this magma traversed before being erupted at the Earth’s surface. Analyzing the melt inclusions can tell us about the source of the magma batch before it started its upward journey. This information, along with volcano seismicity, deformation, gas emissions and eruptive behavior, is the core of our multi-faceted approach to understanding and forecasting the behavior of ongoing summit and east rift zone eruptions of Kīlauea.

For the last decade, near-vent lava samples collected by HVO geologists were shipped to the Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO) in Vancouver, Washington, where they were carefully examined and processed. This has worked pretty well, because most of the analytical work is accomplished using specialized lab facilities on the Mainland. However, it was usually weeks to months before lab results were available.

When there are sudden and significant changes in eruptive activity, quick results are needed to determine whether the lava composition has changed. For this reason, HVO started a cooperative program with the Geology Department at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UHH) 18 months ago, designed to share some routine responsibilities related to petrologic monitoring of Kīlauea, while training and educating prospective scientists at the same time.

Under the direction of Dr. Cheryl Gansecki, students and staff at UHH have been trained in HVO’s protocol for the processing and preparation of lava samples. The UHH group has also added their own methods and instrumentation to the effort. The project is funded by the U.S. Geological Survey through a cooperative agreement between the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, administered by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes.

Now, when lava is sampled in and around Puʻu ʻŌʻō, or Pele’s hair is collected at Halema‘uma‘u, the samples are sent directly to the UHH Geology Department. There, a geologist provides a brief summary of character and appearance of samples, along with assessments of the abundance of any crystals observed in the raw samples. Any apparent changes in the eruption samples, or the lack of changes, are immediately communicated to HVO scientists.

Portions of larger samples are carefully separated for more specialized analysis in Mainland laboratories, and then rapid trace-element (elements only present in minute amounts in lava) analyses are performed using an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument at UHH to detect possible changes in the magma source. After that, finely polished grain-mounts of carefully selected crystals and lava fragments are prepared for detailed analysis on the Mainland, using very narrow X-ray beams capable of resolving chemical changes finer than 50 microns or micrometers (0.002 in). Finally, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at UHH is used to image crystal textures and to obtain qualitative analyses for mineral identification compositions and glasses in KÄ«lauea grain mounts and melt inclusions. This work by UHH provides an eloquent array of targets for quick quantitative analysis of KÄ«lauea eruption samples while enabling efficient use of more specialized instruments available only on the Mainland.

Results so far indicate that the program is working well, confirming that no significant changes have occurred in the magma/lava source. The HVO-UHH partnership provides a local collaborator for routine hazard-related HVO petrology tasks while providing new opportunities and experience for staff and students at UHH. This addition to our eruption-monitoring routine has added advantages of rapid turnaround of lava-chemistry information for immediate use in monitoring and forecasting eruptive activity in Hawai‘i.

Figure caption: Scanning Electron Microscope images, collected at UH Hilo, showing a fragment of lava collected from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava pond in November 2013. The bar scale at the right is 300 microns (0.012 in). The mostly uniform light gray is basalt glass and darker gray crystals are olivine (left) and pyroxene (right). Both crystals contain melt inclusions comprised of light gray glass. The polished, 1-inch-round acrylic disk (upper-right) contains fragments of Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava (top row ) and Pele’s tears and hairs from Halema`uma`u (bottom rows) ready for analysis.