Physical volcanology data and measurements (grain size, grain shape, thickness, maximum clast size, ballistic block size, and componentry) from the May 11–27, 1924 tephra deposits of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, Kīlauea volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi

Over 16 days from May 11–27, 1924, there were more than 50 explosions from Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea volcano on the Island of Hawaiʻi. These explosions ejected blocks weighing >12,000 kg, as well as extremely fine ash to lapilli size tephra. The greatest thicknesses of tephra were at the summit region of Kīlauea, but some tephra fell on Wood Valley, Pāhala, and Waiʻōhinu to the southwest, with trace ash falling on Hilo to the northeast, along the Hāmākua coast (at Hakalau) to the north, and disrupted rail service to the east between Pāhoa and Makuʻu. The most intense explosions occurred on May 17–18 with plumes going ~10 km high (although many plumes throughout the explosive sequence were <1 km high). These explosions and the resulting tephra deposits were characterized not long after they occurred in the publications of Jaggar and Finch (1924), Stearns (1925), and compiled in the Monthly Bulletin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for May 1924 (see Jaggar, 1924; Gaddis and Kauahikaua, 2021). The explosions were described as phreatic in nature as groundwater interacted with hot wall rock of the conduit after the lava lake drained in February 1924 (Stearns, 1925). We investigated these same tephra deposits ~100 years after they erupted and characterized those preserved within ~3 km of the 1924 vent. We undertook grain size and shape analyses on 202 samples collected from 34 tephra profiles using dynamic image analysis, with a subset of layers from nine tephra profiles used for componentry (200 grains per layer in the 0.5–1 mm size fraction). Additionally, we characterize the average diameters (using the five largest clasts) at 216 locations and measure the average diameters of 2,291 ballistics (largest per ~100 m2 area). Gaddis, B., and Kauahikaua, J., 2021, Views of a century of activity at Kīlauea Caldera—A visual essay, chap. B of Patrick, M., Orr, T., Swanson, D., and Houghton, B., eds., The 2008–2018 summit lava lake at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1867, 23 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1867B. Jaggar, T.A., 1924, Journal May 1924 Halemaumau. In: Monthly Bulletin of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, v. 12, no. 5, p. 39-55. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70268177. Jaggar, T.A., and Finch, R.H., 1924, The explosive eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii, 1924: American Journal of Science, v. 8, p. 353–374, https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s5-8.47.353. Stearns, H.T., 1925, The explosive phase of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, in 1924: Bulletin Volcanologique, v. 2, p. 193–208, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02719505.

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  "010:12"
]

[
  "geospatial"
]