Distribution of organic carbon in bed sediments of Manoa Stream,Oahu, Hawaii

Organic carbon (OC) associated with fluvial bed sediment plays an important role in biotic and abiotic processes operating within drainage basins. Increasingly, there is a need to characterize storage and spatial distributions of OC in aquatic sediments, particularly under-sampled areas like tropical streams. The objectives of this study were to examine in detail the variation of OC concentration with bed sediment grain size, to characterize the influence of grain size variation on relative OC mass storage, and to compare weighted OC values to those in other aquatic sediments worldwide. The study area selected was a third-order dendritic drainage basin developed in a basaltic complex. Bed sediments along a 6 km section of Manoa Stream were systematically sampled every 50 m for a total of 113 sample site locations. Sediments were partitioned into six size fractions (< 2·0 mm) and OC was determined by dry combustion. Data indicate that the OC concentration increases with decreasing grain size, with the greatest values in the < 0·063 mm (silt + clay) fraction, approximately 4·6 times greater than the very coarse sand fraction (1·00–2·00 mm). Robust smoothing techniques illustrated a general decrease in OC concentration downstream for the size fractions < 0·25 mm. Bed sediments were dominated by size fractions coarser than 0·5 mm (80 per cent of the total distribution) and only about 2 per cent in the fractions less than 0·13 mm. Combining information on OC concentration per size fraction and the mass contribution of each fraction to the whole sample, it was observed that fractions coarser than 0·5 mm had eight to 12 times the storage of OC per kilogram of bed sediments than the fractions finer than 0·13 mm. Weighted OC values for Manoa Stream were on average 6·7 g-OC kg−1, and these were similar to those reported in the literature for a variety of sediments in aquatic environments, both freshwater and marine. These data provide important information on the relative mass storage of OC in bed sediments and their longitudinal patterns in a tropical fluvial environment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Postshield volcanism and catastrophic mass wasting of the Waianae Volcano, Oahu, Hawaii

 The 3.9- to 2.9-Ma Waianae Volcano is the older of two volcanoes making up the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Exposed on the volcanic edifice are tholeiitic shield lavas overlain by transitional and alkalic postshield lavas. The postshield "alkalic cap" consists of aphyric hawaiite of the Palehua Member of the Waianae Volcanics, overlain unconformably by a small volume of alkalic basalt of the Kolekole Volcanics. Kolekole Volcanics mantle erosional topography, including the uppermost slopes of the great Lualualei Valley on the lee side of the Waianae Range. Twenty new K–Ar dates, combined with magnetic polarity data and geologic relationships, constrain the ages of lavas of the Palehua member to 3.06–2.98 Ma and lavas of the Kolekole Volcanics to 2.97–2.90 Ma. The geochemical data and the nearly contemporaneous ages suggest that the Kolekole Volcanics do not represent a completely independent or separate volcanic event from earlier postshield activity; thus, the Kolekole Volcanics are reduced in rank, becoming the Kolekole Member of the Waianae Volcanics. Magmas of the Palehua and Kolekole Members have similar incompatible element ratios, and both suites show evidence for early crystallization of clinopyroxene consistent with evolution at high pressures below the edifice. However, lavas of the Kolekole Member are less fractionated and appear to have evolved at greater depths than the earlier Palehua hawaiites. Postshield primary magma compositions of the Palehua and Kolekole Members are consistent with formation by partial melting of mantle material of less than 5–10% relative to Waianae shield lavas. Within the section of Palehua Member lavas, an increase with respect to time of highly incompatible to moderately incompatible element ratios is consistent with a further decrease in partial melting by approximately 1–2%. This trend is reversed with the onset of eruption of Kolekole Member lavas, where an increase in extent of partial melting is indicated. The relatively short time interval between the eruption of Palehua and Kolekole Member lavas appears to date the initial formation of Lualualei Valley, which was accompanied by a marked change in magmatic conditions. We speculate that the mass-wasting event separating lavas of the Palehua and Kolekole Members may be related to the formation of a large submarine landslide west and southwest of Waianae Volcano. Enhanced decompression melting associated with removal of the equivalent volume of this landslide deposit from the edifice is more than sufficient to produce the modeled increase of 1–2% in extent of melting between the youngest Palehua magmas and the posterosional magmas of the Kolekole Member. The association between magmatic change and a giant landsliding event suggests that there may be a general relationship between large mass-wasting events and subsequent magmatism in Hawaiian volcano evolution. Received: 1 September 1996 / Accepted: 26 November 1996     

Geology and geochemistry of basaltic lava flows and dikes from the Trans-Koolau tunnel, Oahu, Hawaii

A 200-m section of Koolau basalt was sampled in the 1.6-km Trans-Koolau (T–K) tunnel. The section includes 126 aa and pahoehoe lava flows, five dikes and ten thin ash units. This volcanic section and the physical characteristics of the lava flows indicate derivation from the nearby northwest rift zone of the Koolau shield. The top of the section is inferred to be 500–600 m below the pre-erosional surface of the Koolau shield. Therefore, compared with previously studied Koolau lavas, this section provides a deeper, presumably older, sampling of the shield. Shield lavas from Koolau Volcano define a geochemical end-member for Hawaiian shields. Most of the tunnel lavas have the distinctive major and trace element abundance features (e.g. relatively high SiO₂ content and Zr/Nb abundance ratio) that characterize Koolau lavas. In addition, relative to the recent shield lavas erupted at Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, most Koolau lavas have lower abundances of Sc, Y and Yb at a given MgO content; this result is consistent with a more important role for residual garnet during the partial melting processes that created Koolau shield lavas. Koolau lavas with the strongest residual garnet signature have relatively high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, and low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd. These isotopic characteristics have been previously interpreted to reflect a source component of recycled oceanic crust that was recrystallized to garnet pyroxenite. This component also has high La/Nb and relatively low ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, geochemical characteristics which are attributed to ancient pelagic sediment in the recycled crust. Although most Koolau lavas define a geochemical endmember for Hawaiian shield lavas, there is considerable intrashield geochemical variability that is inferred to reflect source characteristics. The oldest T–K tunnel lava flow is an example. It has the lowest ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, Zr/Nb and La/Nb, and the highest ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio found in Koolau lavas. In most respects it is similar to lavas from Kilauea Volcano. Therefore, the geochemical characteristics of the Koolau shield, which define an end member for Hawaiian shields, reflect an important role for recycled oceanic crust, but the proportion of this crust in the source varied during growth of the Koolau shield. Received: 1 June 1998 / Accepted: 30 August 1998     

A Model of Regional Ground-Water Flow in Secondary-Permeability Terrane

The ground-water flow system in the Lower Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and Maryland can be considered as one complex unconfined aquifer in which secondary porosity and permeability are the dominant influences on the occurrence and flow of ground water. The degree of development of secondary porosity and permeability in the various lithologies of the lower basin determines the aquifer characteristics of each lithology. Based on qualitative evidence, the use of a porous-media model was assumed to be appropriate on a regional scale and a finite-difference ground-water flow model was constructed for the lower basin. The conceptual model of ground-water flow in the lower basin incorporates the major features of the flow system. Through the use of two layers, 21 hydrogeologic units, and five topographic settings, the conceptual model was systematically reduced to arrive at a simplified conceptual model. Further reduction produced a numerical model representation of the conceptual model, in which the essential features of the lower-basin flow system were quantified for input into the numerical model. The model was calibrated under both steady-state and transient conditions, and was used to evaluate the water-supply potential of the 21 hydrogeologic units. The carbonate units have the greatest potential for ground-water development and the Triassic sedimentary and crystalline units have the least potential. A total ground-water yield potential of about 900 million gallons per day could be obtained from the lower basin with a consequent 50-percent reduction of base flow in streams.