Stress Control of Deep Rift Intrusion at Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii
Falk Amelung,1*
Sang-Ho Yun,2
Thomas R. Walter,1
Paul Segall,2
Sang-Wan Kim1
Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii, deforms by a combination of shallow
dike intrusions in the rift zones and earthquakes along the
base of the volcano, but it is not known how the spreading is
accommodated in the lower part of the volcanic edifice. We present
evidence from interferometric synthetic aperture radar data
for secular inflation of a dike-like magma body at intermediate
depth in the southwest rift zone during 2002 to 2005. Magma
accumulation occurred in a section of the rift zone that was
unclamped by previous dikes and earthquakes, suggesting that
stress transfer plays an important role in controlling subsurface
magma accumulation.
2 Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Present address: GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam Section 2.1, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: famelung{at}rsmas.miami.edu
