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USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program

37. Investigating the Active Plumbing System of Kilauea with Ambient Seismic Noise

In a series of groundbreaking studies (Brenguier and others, 2007; Brenguier and others, 2008a; Duputel and others, 2008), scientists studying the volcano Piton de la Fournaise on the island of Reunion used ambient noise to probe the volcanic interior. They were able to resolve small (0.1 %), edifice-wide decreases in seismic velocity prior to eruptions. Moreover, they were able to map spatial and temporal changes in velocity, which they used as a real-time tool to monitor the volcano and forecast activity.

This demonstration has led to something of a revolution within seismology in recent years. The field of ambient noise seismology, which is based on the observation that the cross-correlation of noise recorded at two different stations reproduces an experiment in which one of the stations acts as a source and the other a receiver, has emerged and rapidly grown. With continuous and widespread seismic noise arising from the coupling of the oceans to the solid Earth, studies based on ambient seismic noise are now revealing new subsurface structures and processes worldwide. Applications have followed in tomography of the shallow crust (Brenguier and others, 2007), seismic hazard analysis (Prieto and Beroza, 2008), volcano deformation, and temporal monitoring of active volcanoes and fault zones (Brenguier and others, 2008a; Brenguier and others, 2008b).

The fact that ambient noise has been so successfully exploited at Piton de la Fournaise volcano motivates the application of the method at Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii. Piton de la Fournaise and Kilauea are similar in character, and they are often referred to in the literature as “sister volcanoes” (Decker and Decker, 1981). An area of focus for research under this opportunity is the active summit caldera region of Kilauea, where the first explosion from the Halemaumau crater since 1924 occurred in 2008 (Wilson and others, 2008).

Beneath Kilauea summit reside at least two shallow magma reservoirs (Cervelli and Miklius, 2003) that are believed to give rise to cycles of deflation and inflation at the summit. The structure of Kilauea has been mapped previously at both regional and caldera scales using local earthquake tomography (Okubo and others, 1997; Dawson and others, 1999). This mapping supports models of small, shallow magma reservoirs beneath the summit. Recent local earthquake tomography spanning 1997 to 2008 suggests time-varying distributions of seismic velocity that correlate with periods of increased magma supply to Kilauea caldera (Okubo and others, 2009). Deformation within the caldera varies strongly in space and time (Poland, 2007), attesting to the complexity of the subsurface plumbing system there. The precise role of groundwater in the observed deformation and seismic excitation of the caldera remains an open question (Hurwitz and Johnston, 2003; Hutnak and others, 2009). The current dynamic and active state of Kilauea affords an ideal multidisciplinary setting for studying the inner-workings of a volcanic system.

Ambient noise seismology is a new (<6 years old) and rapidly emerging field attracting many new seismologists. This project presents an opportunity to apply a new skill and significantly advance the science and practice of volcano monitoring. Beyond the use of ambient seismic noise to investigate Kilauea, details of the research plan are left to the postdoctoral fellow to formulate with the advisers. Although the project will be informed by the previously mentioned ambient noise studies at Piton de la Fournaise, the research at Kilauea is expected to evolve in different ways uniquely and appropriately suited to the setting and activity there. Owing to long-term monitoring at Kilauea, much is already known about the shallow magma reservoirs and seismic sources beneath the caldera that can guide interpretations of results from ambient noise.

Questions that may be addressed within the course of the project include:

References

Brenguier, F., Shapiro, N.M., Campillo, M., Nercessian, A., and Ferrazzini, V., 2007, 3-D surface wave tomography of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano using seismic noise correlations: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 34, no. 2, p. L02205.

Brenguier, F., Shapiro, N.M., Campillo, M., Ferrazzini, V., Duputel, Z., Coutant, O., and Nercessian, A., 2008a, Toward forecasting volcanic eruptions using seismic noise: Nature Geoscience, v. 1, no. 2, p. 126–130. doi:10.1038/ngeo104.

Brenguier, F., Campillo, M., Hadziioannou, C., Shapiro, N.M., Nadeau, R.M., and Larose, E., 2008b, Postseismic relaxation along the San Andreas Fault at Parkfield from continuous seismological observations: Science, v. 321, no. 5895, p. 1478–1481.

Cervelli, P., and Miklius, A., 2003, The shallow magmatic system of Kilauea Volcano, in Heliker, C., Swanson, D.A., and Takahashi, T.J., eds., The Pu`u `O`o-Kupaianaha eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i: The first 0 years: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1676, p. 149–164.

Dawson, P.B., Chouet, B.A., Okubo, P.G., Villasenor, A., and Benz, H.M., 1999, Three-dimensional velocity structure of the Kilauea caldera, Hawaii: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 26, no. 18, p. 2805–2808.

Decker, R., and Decker, B., 1981, Volcanoes: W. H. Freeman, 320 p.

Duputel, Z., Ferrazzini, V., Brenguier, F., Shapiro, N., Campillo, M., and Nercessian, A., 2008, Real time monitoring of relative velocity changes using ambient seismic noise at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano (La Reunion) from January 2006 to June 2007: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 184, no. 1, p. 164–173doi:10.1016/j.jolgeores.2008.11.024.

Hurwitz, S., and Johnston, M. J. S., 2003, Groundwater level changes in a deep well in response to a magma intrusion event on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 30, no. 22, p. 2173. doi:10.1029/2003GL018676.

Hutnak, M., Hurwitz, S., Ingebritsen, S.E., and Hsieh, P.A., 2009, Numerical models of caldera deformation: Effects of multiphase and multicomponent hydrothermal fluid flow: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 114, no. B04411, doi:10.1029/2008JB006151.

Okubo, P., Benz, H., and Chouet, B.A., 1997, Imaging the crustal magma sources beneath Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes, Hawaii: Geology, v. 25, no. 10, p. 867–870.

Okubo, P.G., Poland, M.P., and Sutton, A.J., 2009, The 2008 Halemaumau eruption at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i: A return to Jaggar’s Volcano Laboratory: Seismological Research Letters, v. 80, no. 2, p. 339.

Poland, M., 2007, Deformation of Kilauea volcano: Insights from InSAR, in Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Cordilleran Section, 103d, Bellingham, Wash., May 4–6, 2007, Paper No. 23-4.

Prieto, G.A., and Beroza, G.C., 2008, Earthquake ground motion prediction using the ambient seismic field: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 35, p. L14304.

Wilson, D., Elias, T., Orr, T., Patrick, M., Sutton, J., and Swanson, D., 2008, Small explosion from new vent at Kilauea’s summit: EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, v. 89, no. 22, p. 203.

Proposed Duty Station: Hawaii National Park, HI; Menlo Park, CA

Areas of Ph.D.: Seismology, geophysics, geology, geodesy (candidates holding a Ph.D. in other disciplines but with knowledge and skills relevant to the Research Opportunity may be considered).

Qualifications: Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: Research Geophysicist, Research Geologist

(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's background, education, and research proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the Human Resources specialist.)

Research Advisor(s): Paul Okubo, (808) 967-8802, pokubo@usgs.gov; Matthew Haney (Boise State University),matt@cgiss.boisestate.edu; Bernard Chouet, (650) 329-4796, chouet@usgs.gov; Shaul Hurwitz, (650) 329-4441, shaulh@usgs.gov

Human Resources Office contact: Candace Azevedo, (916) 278-9393, caazevedo@usgs.gov

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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc/2011/opps/opp37.html
Direct inquiries to Rama K. Kotra at rkotra@usgs.gov
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