Earth Science: Evidence Of Volcanoes Occurring Centerplate In The Last 50 Years

Research Question

Is there any evidence of volcanoes occurring centerplate, in the last 50 years?

Rationale

Volcanoes are one of the most dangerous geomorphic hazards because of their destructive potential. Volcanoes occur when there is a rupture in the earth’s crust, with the potential for all active volcanoes to erupt lava, destructive volcanic ash and gases. These eruptions take place when there is an extreme build-up of pressure from the friction of the plate tectonics (7 different plates on the lithosphere) in the earth’s core; volcanoes act as a passage for the magma to erupt from. Lava acts as the primary source of destruction; hot molten rock runs out of the craters or vents of volcanoes, with the opportunity to destroy surrounding infrastructure and create loss of life. Additionally, before and after an eruption has occurred usually, a large ash cloud transpires, resulting in the volcano causing further health issues and possibly death for locals agriculture and infrastructure, subsequently resulting in mass destruction.

Volcanoes are generally situated around the boundaries of tectonic plates, and are formed due to movement and friction at the plate borders (converging, diverging and transforming movements). However, there have been some cases of volcanoes occurring far away from the plate boarders. Therefore, we can ask the question, “Is there any evidence of volcanoes occurring in the centerplate, in the last 50 years?” There is one notable centerplate volcano called ‘Kilauea’, located in Hawaii. This volcano was formed by mantle plumes, which is where abnormally, hot rock beneath the earth’s crust, rises resulting in the lighter and hotter magma rising due to convention (where hotter fluid becomes less dense, therefore rising to the top). As the magma rises through the lithosphere, the mantle creates a mushroom shape (volcano) protruding from the earth’s mantle and the lithosphere, followed by a plume tail (hot chimney for volcanoes). As the plume continues to rise the pressure decreases, however, the temperature remains the same. Causing decompression of the mantle (makes a lot of magma). Which can be referred back to Figure 1.

Evidence

Kilauea, located on the main island of Hawaii, is currently one of the most destructive and large centerplate volcanoes in history, and has been erupting for 36 years straight (ref). Since 1983, the volcano has caused major physical, social and economic damage. An example of the volcanoes’ significant damaging power is the immense height the lava spewed into the sky during the 2018 eruption. The lava reached a high 549 meters. Consequentially, because of the large lava expulsion, an overall estimate showed that 1 billion cubic yards of lava was expelled from Kilauea, which is remarkably enough to fill at least 320,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Also spreading lava 54kms around, being approximately 25-55 meters in depth, which can be seen in figure 2. This was spread predominantly around a 60 – 30 kilometre radius of the summit, a place being the near town of Kalapana, which can be seen in figure 4. As a result of the large and dense spread of lava, it created a catastrophic event of destroying 200 buildings, 700 houses and caused 14, 000 homes to lose power for over a week. As well as the damage done to homes and infrastructure, the lava had also affected the royal gardens subdivision, and most of the national parks in the city of Kalapana, which can be seen in figure 3.

The social impacts of Kilauea include the death toll of over 85 people, it had left 70 people homeless and injured 12 people, some were in critical care. Additionally, the economic factors on the Kilauea eruption equated to a loss of $28 million dollars on the city of Kalapana, and an overall $800 million in damage repairs, which can be referred back to figure 5.

A first-person account from a local survivor, Darryl Clinton, describes the terrorising horror he and the locals experienced. “The initial wave knocked me and my neighbours violently over”; “soon after we had made the decision not to evacuate and instead anxiously spend the next five days hosing down our homes and other areas of destruction, alongside the local firefighters.” “A couple days later, I was struck on my left ankle with a chunk of hot molten rock”. Clinton described the impact to a group of reporters from his hospital bed, “it was the most powerful hit I have ever experienced; I fell onto an alit couch. Not long after my friend frantically ran to wrap my ankle were the rock hit with a bandage, my bone was protruding from my awkwardly hanging ankle and blood was spurting out”.

Finally, evidence supporting Kilauea’s destruction shows that during the couple weeks long eruption, the lava had spread and paved across many rock pools and had managed to boil and dry up a 400-year-old lake, killing hundreds of sea creatures and wildlife along the way. David Damby, one of USGS highly regarded volcanologist, estimates that the forests decimated by the lava, will take as long as 100 years to grow back, and 150 years to resemble the forest before 2018’s eruption. As well as the physical destruction, one of the most damaging affects is that the volcano is always erupting, and mass destruction like 2018, can happen at any time, and can be even worse.

Evaluation

The sources used in this investigation are considered reliable, with all authors being qualified in the study of volcanoes. David Damby, one of the primary researchers, is a volcanologist for the government agency; USGS, with a PHD in Earth Sciences. Christina Heliker, another applicable author, obtains a Bachelor’s Degree, and a Master’s thesis on the lava dome, of Mt. Saint Helens, and worked in the Geologic Observatory for Kilauea. Another reputable author is Jim Kauahikaua; he acquires a PHD, Bachelor of Science and a Master’s degree for the earth sciences and geology. All sources are relatively recent; however, Jim Kauahikaua’s research is slightly dated from 1984, although it is a primary source that sits within the 50-year mark.

From the sources, one of the limitations show that the research conducted was only based off one volcano, Kilauea, which makes it difficult to find information to answer the research question in depth. Additionally, the second limitation highlights that because there are very few destructive centerplate volcanoes, it results in less research being gathered, restricting information and causing difficulty when trying to create evidence support the research question. Finally, the third limitation represents older information. This is because there is very minor research gathered on Kilauea, the majority was conducted less than 50 years ago, which still fits the research question, however, older than the ideal time.

Conclusion

The question, ‘Is there any evidence of volcanoes occurring centerplate, in the last 50 years?’ Is supported by the evidence provided. This is because Kilauea had caused mass physical, social and economic damage, such as the 85 people killed by the eruption in 2018. However, the claim “Destructive volcanic activity and earthquakes are only generated by interactions at the plate boundaries” is not supported. This is because not all destructive volcanoes and earthquakes occur at the plate boundaries. Suggestions to improve the research investigation, through the limitations, is to research more than one destructive volcano, therefore following the second limitation, which will result in more information and a wide research scope, and finally, some of the research from the newly studied volcano may contain earlier recorded information. Because only destructive centerplate volcanoes were researched, therefore, the claim cannot be rejected, as earthquakes have not be explored, so that would be a further extension.