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Anatomy of a basaltic volcano

Nature volume 363, pages 125–133 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii, may be the best understood basaltic volcano in the world. Magma rises from a depth of 80 km or more and resides temporarily in near-surface reservoirs: eruption begins when the crust above one of these reservoirs splits open in response to a pressure increase. Repeated rift-zone eruptions compress Kilauea's flanks; after decades of accumulation, the stress is relieved in catastrophic earthquakes and southward displacement of the volcano's south flank.

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  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 910, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA

    Robert I. Tilling

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Casacades Volcano Observatory, 5400 MacArthur Boulevard, Vancouver, Washington, 98661, USA

    John J. Dvorak

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Tilling , R., Dvorak, J. Anatomy of a basaltic volcano. Nature 363, 125–133 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/363125a0

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