Seismic Source Mechanism of Gas-Piston Activity at Kilauea Inferred from Inversion of Broadband Waveforms

Abstract:

Among the broad range of magmatic processes observed in the Overlook pit crater in Kilauea Caldera are recurring episodes of gas-piston activity. This activity is accompanied by repetitive seismic signals recorded by a broadband network deployed in the summit caldera. We use the seismic data to model the source mechanism of representative gas-piston events in a sequence that occurred on 20-25 August 2011 during a gentle inflation of the Kilauea summit. We apply a new waveform inversion method that accounts for the contributions from both translation and tilt in horizontal seismograms through the use of Green’s functions representing the seismometer response to translation and tilt ground motions. This method enables a robust description of the source mechanism over the period range of 1 – 10,000 s. Most of the seismic wave field produced by gas-pistoning originates in a source region ~1 km below the eastern perimeter of Halema’uma’u pit crater. The observed waveforms are well explained by a simple volumetric source with geometry composed of two intersecting cracks featuring an east-striking crack (dike) dipping 80° to the north, intersecting a north-striking crack (inclined sheet) dipping 65° to the east. Each gas-piston event is characterized by a rapid inflation lasting a few minutes trailed by a slower deflation ramp extending up to 15 minutes, attributed to the efficient coupling at the source centroid location of the pressure and momentum changes accompanying the growth and collapse of a layer of foam at the top of the magma column. Assuming a simple lumped parameter representation of the shallow magmatic system, the observed pressure and volume variations can be modeled with the following attributes: foam thickness (10 – 50 m), foam cell diameter (0.04 – 0.10 m), and gas-injection velocity (0.01 – 0.06 m s^-1). Based on the change in the period of very-long-period oscillations accompanying the onset of the gas-piston signal and tilt evidence, the height of the magma column is inferred to have risen by up to ~23 m by the end of the 5-day-long sequence.