A Compilation of Whole-Rock and Glass Major-Element geochemistry of Kïlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, near-vent eruptive products: January 1983 through September 2001

Introduction

This report presents major-element geochemical data from 652 glasses (~6,520 analyses) and 795 whole-rock aliquots from 1,002 fresh samples of olivine-tholeiitic lava collected throughout the near-continuous eruption of Kïlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, from January 1983 through September 2001. The data presented herein provide a unique temporal compilation of lava geochemistry that best reflects variations of pre-eruptive magma compositions during prolonged rift-zone eruption. This document serves as a repository for geochemical data referred to in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1676 (Heliker, Swanson, and Takahashi, eds., 2003) which includes multidisciplinary research papers pertaining to the first twenty years of Puu Oo-Kupaianaha eruption activity. Details of eruption characteristics and nomenclature are provided in the introductory chapter of that volume (Heliker and Mattox, 2003). Geochemical relations among all or portions of this data set are depicted and interpreted by Thornber (2003), Thornber and others (2003) and Thornber (2001). Trace element compositions and Nd, Sr and Pb isotopic analyses of representative samples of this select eruption suite will be provided in a separate and complimentary open file report. From 1983 to October 2001, approximately 2,500 eruption samples were collected and archived by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Geochemical data for 1,002 of these samples are included here. Previous reports present bulk-lava major- element chemistry for eruption samples collected from 1983 to 1986 and from 1990 to 1994 (Neal and others, 1988 and Mangan and others, 1995, respectively). Major element glass chemistry and thermometry data for samples collected from 1983 to 1994 is reported by Helz and Hearn (1998) and whole-rock and glass chemistry for samples collected from September 1994 to October 2001 is provided by Thornber and others (2002). This report is a compilation of previously published data along with unpublished whole-rock data for the 1986–1990 eruptive interval (episode 48, see Heliker and Mattox, 2003). The geochemical data in this report is mostly limited to well-quenched samples collected at or near their respective vents. The samples include tephra and spatter, in addition to lava dipped from lava lakes, lava tubes, and surface lava flows. The details of sample collection techniques as described by Thornber and others (2002) are generally applicable for this entire sampling interval.

Specifically excluded from this database are samples of distal surface flows, many of which were collected for topical studies of emplacement dynamics (for example, Cashman and others, 1999). Samples of sluggish or crystal-laden tube flows collected during eruptive pauses were also excluded, because they bear visual, petrographic and geochemical evidence for crystal accumulation during surface-flow stagnation. In addition, the pre-1992 whole-rock major element data reported here has been corrected to compensate for minor analytical discrepancies between pre- and post-1991 XRF analyses. These discrepancies resulted from a change in instrumentation at the USGS Denver analytical laboratories. This select suite of time-constrained geochemical data is suitable for constructing petrologic models of pre-eruptive magmatic processes associated with prolong rift zone eruption of Hawaiian shield volcanoes.

First posted December 17, 2003