NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Formation of perched lava ponds on basaltic volcanoes: Interaction between cooling rate and flow geometry allows estimation of lava effusion ratesPerched lava ponds are infrequent but distinctive topographic features formed during some basaltic eruptions. Two such ponds, each approximately 150 m in diameter, formed during the 1968 eruption at Napau Crater and the 1974 eruption of Mauna Ulu, both on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Each one formed where a channelized, high volume flux lava flow encountered a sharp reduction of slope: the flow spread out radially and stalled, forming a well-defined terminal levee enclosing a nearly circular lava pond. We describe a model of how cooling limits the motion of lava spreading radially into a pond and compare this with the case of a channelized flow. The difference in geometry has a major effect, such that the size of a pond is a good indicator of the volume flux of the lava forming it. Lateral spreading on distal shallow slopes is a major factor limiting the lengths of lava flows.
Document ID
19940016405
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Wilson, L.
(Brown Univ. Providence, RI, United States)
Parfitt, E. A.
(Brown Univ. Providence, RI, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
94N20878
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available