Origin of the Differentiated and Hybrid Lavas of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Kilauea Volcano has erupted lava from its summit caldera andfrom two rift zones that extend from the summit towards theeast and south-west. Lavas erupted from the summit of the volcanodiffer from each other principally in their content of olivineand define lines of ‘olivine control’ on magnesiavariation diagrams. Lavas erupted on the rift zones may be similarin composition to the summit lavas or may be differentiatedby processes that involve minerals other than olivine. All ofthe differentiated lavas have less than 6·8 per centMgO and plot off the extension of olivine control lines forthe summit lavas. Prehistoric vents (before A.D. 1750) fromwhich differentiated lavas have been erupted are found on theeast rift zone and in the western Koae fault zone adjacent tothe south-west rift zone; historic vents for differentiatedlavas are confined to the east rift zone. Twenty-one new analysesare presented for several of the east rift differentiates andfor the newly discovered differentiates adjacent to the south-westrift zone. The differentiates have MgO as low as 3·9per cent and SiO₂ as high as 56 per cent; both extremes arefound in the prehistoric lavas adjacent to the south-west rift. Detailed petrochemical studies suggest the following conclusions:

1. Thechemical composition of magma erupted at Kilauea summitvarieswith the date of eruption. Lavas erupted before 1750,duringthe eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and in the twentiethcentury form groups that can be distinguished chemically. Ona lesser scale, each Kilauea summit eruption in the twentiethcentury has a chemistry that is distinctive with respect tothe chemistry of every other summit eruption.
2. During lateprehistoric time pockets of differentiated magmawere formedwithin the rift zones by separation of the liquidremainingafter partial crystallization of bodies of summitmagma. Thisprocess presumably is still going on within theeast rift zone,but the more recently separated liquids havenot yet been eruptedto the surface. The relative time at whichthese differentiatedmagmas were produced can be estimated fromcalculations basedon their chemical compositions, which showthat the differentiatescould lie on the liquid line of descentfor Kilauea summit magmaof prehistoric composition but noton any liquid line of descentfor younger summit magmas.
3. Lava from some eruptions, notablythe early part of the 1955eruption on the lower east rift,has the composition of theliquid fraction as it is generatedwithin the rift. Lava compositionsof other eruptions, includingthose of the later lavas of 1955,are best explained by mixingof magma supplied from a centralreservoir beneath Kilauea summitwith the differentiated liquidin the rift. Lava from each summiteruption is unique chemically,so it is possible to recognizeits presence or absence as componentsof mixing in such mixedlavas. It appears that summit magmaof composition characteristicof the 1952 and 1961 Halemaumaueruptions contributed to thecomposition of the mixed lavasproduced in the latter part ofthe 1955 eruption. Summit magmaof 1961 composition is alonesufficient to explain the compositionof mixed lavas eruptedin 1960 and 1961. In rift lavas eruptedfrom 1962 to 1965, thecomposition of lava erupted in Halemaumauin 1967, in additionto the 1961 composition, is a componentof mixing, and it isthe dominant summit component in the compositionof the two1965 eruptions. The proportion of summit magma todifferentiatedmagma needed to explain the composition of lavaserupted onthe upper east rift increases from 1961 to 1965;this increaseindicates that the differentiated magma was beingdiluted andused up by repeated flooding of this part of therift zone bymagma supplied from the central reservoir.
4. The fact that componentsof ‘summit composition’appear in rift eruptionsbefore they appear undiluted in Halemaumausuggests that thecentral reservoir is vertically zoned. Rifteruptions are fedfrom lower levels where younger magma is available,and summiteruptions are fed from the relatively older magmaabove. Thechemical distinction between lava of successive summiteruptionsimplies that significant convective mixing of magmadoes nottake place throughout the central reservoir.
5. The unique anduniform composition of lava of each successivesummit eruptionalso suggests that summit eruptions end whenall of the magmaof one composition has been erupted. The magmaerupted fromthe upper levels of the reservoir during one cycleis continuallyreplaced from below by younger magma of differentcomposition.In order for eruption to be renewed in Halemaumau,new magmafrom the mantle must be held in storage at intermediatelevelsbefore it attains an ‘eruptive state’.
6. The hypothesispresented in 2–4 above permits qualitativepredictionsconcerning future lava compositions. The compositionof thenext lava to be erupted in Halemaumau is expected tobe distinctfrom that of the 1967 eruption, and this compositionwill presumablybe identified in rift eruptions occurring between1967 and thetime of its appearance in Halemaumau.
7. Differentiates of prehistoricage also were apparently formedin the same way as those ofhistoric age, but the mixing cannotbe described quantitativelybecause of poor control on the stratigraphyand the compositionsof erupted lavas. One lava in the Koaegroup, that from YellowCone, appears to be a mixture of a picriticmagma (12 per centMgO) with a differentiated liquid with lessthan 2·5per cent MgO and nearly 60 per cent SiO₂.