Deep origins to the behavior of Hawaiian volcanoes

Kīlauea volcano, on the Big Island of Hawai'i, typically has effusive eruptions, wherein magma flows to create ropy pāhoehoe lava, for example. However, Kīlauea less frequently erupts more violently, showering scoria and blocks over much of the surface of the island. To explain the variability in Kīlauea's eruption styles, a team including Bruce Houghton, the Gordon Macdonald Professor of Volcanology in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UHM) School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and colleagues from the University of Cambridge (UC) and Don Swanson from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) of the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed 25 eruptions that have taken place over the past 600 years.

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