Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-dk7s8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T14:19:12.460Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Pleistocene Eolian Sediments Related to Pyroclastic Eruptions of Mauna Kea Volcano, Hawaii

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Porter
Stephen C. Porter*
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, Box 351360, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-1360
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Loess and dune sands that mantle volcanic rocks on the northwest flank of Mauna Kea volcano consist predominantly of fine-grained pyroclasts of the alkalic Laupahoehoe Volcanics produced by explosive eruptions. The loess is divided into lower and upper units, separated by a well-developed paleosol, while older and younger dune sands are separated by loess. Four interstratified tephra marker horizons aid in regional stratigraphic correlation. Radiocarbon ages of charcoal fragments within the loess, U-series ages of rhizoliths in the dune sand, and K/Ar ages and relative stratigraphic positions of lava flows provide a stratigraphic and temporal framework. The lower loess overlies lava flows less than 103,000 ± 10,000 K/Ar yr old, and14C dates from the paleosol developed at its top average ca. 48,000 yr. Loess separating the dune sand units ranges from ca. 38,000 to 25,00014C yr old; the youngest ages from the upper loess are 17,000–18,00014C yr B.P. Dips of sand-dune foreset strata, isopachs on the upper loess, and reconstructed isopachs representing cumulative thickness of tephra associated with late-Pleistocene pyroclastic eruptions suggest that vents upslope (upwind) from the sand dunes were the primary source of the eolian sediments. Average paleowind directions during the eruptive interval (ca. 50,000–15,000 yr B.P.), inferred from cinder-cone asymmetry, distribution of tephra units, orientation of dune foreset strata, and the regional pattern of loess isopachs, suggest that Mauna Kea has remained within the trade-wind belt since before the last glaciation.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , May 1997 , pp. 261 - 276
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bates, R. L., Jackson, J. A., 1980, Glossary of Geology, American Geological Institute, Falls Church.Google Scholar
Cas, R. A. F., Wright, J. V., 1987, Volcanic Successions, Modern and Ancient, Allen and Unwin, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clague, D. A., Dalrymple, G. B., 1987, The Hawaiian-Emperor Volcanic Chain. I. Geologic evolution, Volcanism in Hawaii, p. 5–54.Google Scholar
Science, 241, 1988, 1043–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, R. A., 1911, Magmatic differentiation in Hawaii, Journal of Geology, 19, 289–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Decker, R. W., Christiansen, R. L., 1994, Explosive eruptions of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Explosive Volcanism, National Academy Press, Washington, p. 122–132.Google Scholar
Dorn, R. I., Phillips, F. M., Zreda, M. G., Wolfe, E. W., Jull, A. J. T., Kubik, P. W., Sharma, P., 1991, Glacial chronology of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, as constrained by surface-exposure dating, National Geographic Research.Google Scholar
Dzurisin, D., Lockwood, J. P., Casadevall, T. J., Rubin, M., 1995, The Uwekahuna Ash Member of the Puna Basalt: Product of violent phreatomagmatic eruptions at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, between 2800 and 210014 , Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 66, 163–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbanks, R. G., 1989, A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: Influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation, Nature, 342, 637–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, R. V., Schminke, H. -U., 1984, Pyroclastic Rocks, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gooding, J. L., 1982, Petrology of dune sand derived from basalt on the Ka'u Desert, Hawaii, Journal of Geology, 90, 97–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, H. E., Wentworth, C. K., 1937, General features and glacial geology of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 48, 1719–1742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutzbach, J. E., Guetter, P. J., 1986, The influence of changing orbital parameters and surface boundary conditions on climate simulations for the past 18,000 years, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 43, 1726–1759.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutzbach, J. E., Guetter, P. J., Behling, P. J., Selin, R., 1993, Simulated climatic changes: Results of the COHMAP climate-model experiments, Wright, H. E. Jr., Kutzbach, J. E., Webb III, T., Ruddiman, W. F., Street-Perrott, F. A., Bartlein, P. J., Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum, Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 24–93.Google Scholar
Macdonald, G. A., Abbott, A. T., 1970, Volcanoes in the Sea: The Geology of Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manabe, S., Hahn, D. G., 1977, Simulation of the tropical climate of an ice age, Journal of Geophysical Research, 82, 3889–3911.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1973, Stratigraphy and chronology of late Quaternary tephra along the south rift zone of Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84, 1923–1940.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1975, Late Quaternary glaciation and tephrochronology of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin, 13, 247–251.Google Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1979, Quaternary stratigraphy and chronology of Mauna Kea, Hawaii: A 380,000-yr record of mid-Pacific volcanism and ice-cap glaciation, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 90, 980–1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1979, Hawaiian glacial ages, Quaternary Research, 12, 161–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1979, Geologic map of Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii, Geological Society of America Map and Chart Series, MC-30.. Google Scholar
Porter, S. C., 1987, Pleistocene subglacial eruptions on Mauna Kea, Decker, R., Wright, T. L., Stauffer, P., Volcanism in Hawaii, 587–598.Google Scholar
Porter, S. C., Garcia, M. O., Lockwood, J. P., Wise, W. S., 1987, Hawaii Symposium on How Volcanoes Work (Hilo, Hawaii), Guidebook for Mauna Loa-Mauna Loa-Kohala field trip, Pye, K., 1987, Aeolian Dust and Dust Deposits, Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Pye, K., Tsoar, H., 1990, Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes, Unwin Hyman, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schroeder, T., 1993, Climate controls, Sanderson, M., Prevailing Trade Winds: Climate and Weather in Hawai'i, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 12–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, H. T., Macdonald, G. A., 1946, Geology and groundwater resources of Hawaii, Hawaii Division of Hydrography Bulletin, 9. Google Scholar
Thunell, R. C., Mortyn, P. G., 1995, Glacial climate instability in the northeast Pacific Ocean, Nature, 376, 504–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wentworth, C. K., 1938, Ash Formations of the Island of Hawaii, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.Google Scholar
Wentworth, C. K., Powers, W. E., 1941, Multiple glaciation of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 52, 1193–1218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, E. W., Wise, W. S., Dalrymple, G. B., 1997, Geology and petrology of Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii: A study of postshield volcanism.Google Scholar
Wolfe, E. W., Morris (Compilers), J., 1996, Geologic map of the island of Hawaii.Google Scholar