Abstract
Very-long-period (VLP) volcano seismicity often represents subsurface
magma movement, and thus provides insight into magma system geometry and
magma properties. We develop a fully automated signal processing
workflow using wavelet transforms to detect and assess period, decay
rate, and ground motions of resonant VLP signals. We then generate and
analyze a catalog of VLP seismicity over the 2008-2018 open-vent summit
eruptive episode at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii USA. VLP seismicity occurred
throughout this eruption that involved a persistent lava-lake, multiple
intrusions and rift zone eruptions, and a climactic caldera collapse. We
characterize trends in two dominant magma resonances: the fundamental
eigenmode of the shallow magma system is a vertical oscillation of the
magma column in the conduit and lava-lake, and higher frequency
eigenmodes largely consist of lateral lava-lake sloshing. VLP seismicity
was mainly triggered by lava-lake surface perturbations, and less
commonly from depth. Variation in periods and quality factors occurred
on timescales from hours to years. VLP seismicity exhibited varying
correlations over time with other datasets such as ground tilt, SO2
emissions, and lava-lake elevation. Variation in VLP properties also
occurred over days to months preceding and following intrusions and rift
zone eruptions. Changes in VLP ground motions over various timescales
indicate evolution of shallow magma system geometry, which contributed
to the variation in resonance. However much of the variation on
timescales less than months is likely from changing magma density and
viscosity, reflecting a variable shallow magmatic outgassing and
convective regime within the open conduit over the ten year eruption.