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The Eruption of August 1963 and the 

Formation of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii 

By DALLAS L. PECK and W. T. KINOSHITA 

SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 935-A 

A detailed description of the forrnation 

and surface features of a thin) po.nded 

basalt flow 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1976 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

THOMAS S. KLEPPE, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Peck, Dallas Lynn, 1929-

The eruption of August 1963 and the formation of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii. 

(Solidification of Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii) (Geological Survey professional paper 935-A) 

Bibliography: p. 

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16 :935-A 

1. Kilauea. 2. Alae Lava Lake, Hawaii. I. Kinoshita, W. T., joint author. II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: 

United States. Geological Survey. Professional paper ; 935-A. 

QE523.K5P4 557.3'08s [551.2'1] 76...,608005 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 

Stock No. 024-001-02848-4/Catalog No. I 19.16:935 A 
CONTENTS 

Metric-English equivalents _______________________ _ 

~bstract ----------------------------------------- Introduction _____________________________________ _ 

~cknowledgrnents --------------------------------- Geologic setting _________________________________ _ 

Pre-eruption uplift of the summit region and seismic 

activity _______________________________________ _ 

Description of the ~ugus.t 21-23, 1963, eruption ____ _ 

Page 

IV 

~1 

1 

2 

3 

5 

6 

Page 

Temperature measurements ------------------------ ~13 

Deflation of the summit region and seismic activity 

during and after the eruption -------------------- 14 

Physical features of the lake ------------------------ 15 

Surface features other than joint cracks -------- 15 

Inferred circulation of lava during the eruption __ 22 

Development of joint cracks ------------------ 24 

Referenc·es cited ---------------------------------- 32 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE 1. Map showing the five volcanoes constiPage 

tuting the island of Hawaii ________ ~3 

2. Index map of the summit and upper east 

rift zone of Kilauea Volcano as it appeared in 1963 -------------------- 4 

3. Map of ~lae Crater showing distribution 

of volcanic rocks from the ~ ugust 

1963 eruption --------------------- 5 

4. East-west ground tilting of the Kilauea 

summit area from Dec. 1962 to Sept. 

1963 ----------------------------- 5 

5. Chronology of events during the ~ugust 

1963 eruption of Kilauea ----------- 6 

6. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 19h20m, ~ugust 21, 1963 --------------------- 7 

7. Volume of lava in ~lae lava lake during 

the ~ugust 1963 eruption ---------- 7 

8. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 11h10m, ~ugust 22 --------------------------- 8 

9. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 15\ ~ugust 

22 ------------------------------- 9 

10. Fountain in ~lae Crater at 17h45m, ~ugust 22 --------------------------- 10 

11. Eruption in ~lae Crater at about 18h, 

~ugust 22 ------------------------ 11 

12. Eruption in ~lae Crater at about 2th, 

~ugust 22 ------------------------ 12 

13. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 22h45m, ~ugust 22 --------------------------- 12 

14. Eruption in ~lae Crater at 23h16m, ~ugust 22 --------------------------- 12 

15. Northwest part of ~lae lava lake on 

~ugust 31 ------------------------ 13 

16. Changes in altitude of benchmarks along 

the Chain of Craters Highway between mid-July and early Septembe.r 

1963 ----------------------------- 14 

17. Map and cross sections of ~lae lava 

lake, show.ing contours at the base and 

margin of the lake ---------------- 16 

Page 

FIGURE 18. ~erial photograph of ~ugust 1963 lake__ ~17 

19. Pressure dome in moat at south edge· 

of lake --------------------------- 18 

20. Panorama of ~lae lava lake ---------- 19 

21. Map of surface features of ~lae· lava 

lake exclusive of joint cracks ______ 20 

22. Pressure dome of jumbled slabs near 

northwest edge of the lake -------- 21 

23. Twisted-ribbon bomb on the. surface. of 

~lae lava lake -------------------- 21 

24. Cross sections of the surface of the lake 21 

25. Pressure ridge formed from the: crust 

of a linear oozeup ---------------- 22 

26. Surface features exclusive of joint 

c.racks of a c.entral part of ~lae lava 

lake ----------------------------- 23 

27. Filamented surface ----------------- 24 

28. Outer margins of active lava circulation, 

shear zones, and inferred directions of 

lava flowage during the even~ng of 

~ugust 2.2, 1963 ------------------ 25 

29. Cross section along the major axis of 

~lae lava lake during the evening of 

~ ugust 22 showing inferred lava circulation -------------------------- 26 

30. Open joint cracks at the surface of the 

lava lake ------------------------- 26 

31. Map of open joint cracks on the lava 

lake .that formed during drainback 

ne•ar the close of the eruption ------ 27 

32. Map showing cracks on part of the ~lae 

lava lake ------------------------- 28 

33. Troughs and crests on part of ~lae lava 

lake ------------------------------ 29 

34. ~lae lava lake on October 21, 1963 ___ 30 

35. ~lae lava lake on ~ugus.t 25, 1964 ____ 31 

36. ~reas bared of :filamented surface layer 

near joint cracks in the lake -------

37. ~lae lava lake on ~ugust 18, 1965 

III 

31 

32 
IV 

Metric unit 

millimetre (mm) metre (m) 

kilometre (km) 

square metre (m2) 

square kilometre (km2) 

hectare (ha) 

cubic centimetre (cm3) 

litre (l) 

cubic metre (m3) 

cubic metre cubic hectometre (hms) 

litre 

litre 

litre 

cubic metre 

cubic metre 

gram (g) 

gram 

tonne (t) tonne 

CONTENTS 

METRIC-ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS 

English equivalent 

Length 

0.03937 inch (in) 

3.28 feet (ft) 

.62 mile (mi) 

Area 

10.76 

.386 

2.47 

Volume 

0.061 

61.03 

35.31 

.00081 

=810.7 

2.113 

1.06 

.26 

.00026 

6.290 

Weight 

o.o:m 

.0022 

1.1 

.98 

square feet (ft2) 

square mile (mi2) acres 

cubic inch (ins) 

cubic inches 

cubic feet (ft3) 

acre-foot (acre-ft) 

acre-feet 

pints (pt) 

quarts (qt) gallon (gal) 

million gallons (Mgal or 106 gal) barrels ( bbl) ( 1 bbl = 42 gal) 

ounce, avoirdupois ( oz avdp) pound, avoirdupois (lb avdp) 

tons, short (2,000 lb) 

ton, long ( 2,240 lb) 

Metric unit English equivalent 

Specific combinations-Continued 

litre per second (1/s) 

cubic metre per second 

per square kilometre 

[ (ms;s) /km2] 

metre per day (m/d) 

metre per kilometre 

(m/km) 

kilometre per hour 

(km/h) metre per second (m/s) metre squared per day 

(m2/d) 

cubic metre per second 

(ms;s) 

cubic metre per minute 

(ma;min) 

litre per second (1/s) 

litre per second per metre [ (l/s) /m] 

kilometre per hour 

(km/h) 

.0353 

!!1.47 

3.28 

G.28 

.9113 

3.28 

10.764 

= 22.826 

=264.2 

15.85 

4.83 

.62 

2.237 

62.43 

cubic foot per second 

cubic feet per second per 

square mile [ (fts;s) ;mi2] 

feet per day (hydraulic 

conductivity) (ft/d) 

feet per mile (ft/mi) 

foot per second (ft/s) 

feet per second 

feet squared per day (ft2/d) 

(transmissivity) 

million gallons per day 

(Mgal/d) 

gallons per minute (gal/min) 

gallons per minute 

gallons per minute per foot 

[(gal/min) /ft] 

mile per hour (mi/h) 

miles per hour 

Specific combinations 

metre per second (m/s) 

gram per cubic 

centimetre (g/cms) 

gram per square centimetre (g/cm2) 

gram per square 

centimetre 

2.048 

.0142 

pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft3) 

pounds per square foot (lb/ft2) 

pound per square inch (lb/in2) 

kilogram per square 

centimetre (kg/cm2) kilogram per square 

centimetre 

cubic metre per second 

(m3/s) 

0.96 

.98 

35.3 

atmosphere (atm) 

bar (0.9869 atm) 

cubic feet per second (ft3/s) 

degree Celsius (°C) 

degrees Celsius 

(temperature) 

Temperature 

1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) 

= [ ( 1.8 X •c) + 32] degrees Fahrenheit 
SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

THE ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND THE FORMATION OF 

ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

By DALLAS L. PECK and W. T. KINOSHITA 

ABSTRACT 

After the seismic episodes and summit collapses of May, 

July, and early August 1963, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, 

erupted along the east rift zone in and near Alae Crater 

from August 21 to 23, only 8lh months after the December 

1962 eruption in nearby Aloi Crater. The eruption started at 

18hlom, August 21, after nearly 4lh hours of summit deflation, low-amplitude tremor, and many small earthquakes. 

Fountains on the floor and north wall of Alae Crater fed 

lava, at rates as high as 2.3 X 105m3 per hour and at maximum 

temperatures of about 1,160°C, into a growing lava lake in 

the southeast pit of the crater. During the last 12 hours of 

the eruption, a decrease in the rate of extrusion to near zero, 

accompanied by a decrease in temperature to 1,140°C, led 

to stagnation of the lava lake at its maximum volume of 

8.4X10~ • Near the end of the eruption at 08h10m, August 

23, 1.8X105m3 of lava drained back into the vents leaving a 

stagnant lake 305 m long, 245 m wide, and as much as 15 m 

deep, composed of homogeneous tholeiitic basalt containing 

3.5 percent olivine. A low spatter ridge partially covered and 

bordered the northwest side of the lake and continued as 

coalescing spatter cones on the north wall of the crarter. The 

flat central floor of the lake was 14.0 m deep, but the northern 

part thinned to 11.3 m over a buried spatter ridge. 

The surfac'e of the lake was complex in detail and showed 

a variety of flow features, which are a record of the many 

events that took place during and after the eruption. A 30 .. 

m wide levee of discontinuous slabs and pressure ridges bordered all but the northwest margin of the lake and was in turn 

bounded for most of its length by a moat as deep as 5 m. 

The main part of the lake was crossed by pressure ridges 

and linear oozeups, which marked the position of glowing 

cracks during the eruption. Shear zones marked the boundaries between crust formed on relatively static lava and crust 

formed on lava flowing out from the vent area. Observation 

during the eruption and later mapping of the surface feature's indicated that during the later part of the eruption, the 

lava lake consisted of an outer stagnant part and an inner 

part marked by active lava circulation; lava flowing outward 

from the vent rafted crust against the stagnant margin, shoving up piles of broken slabs and buckling the crust along 

lines of weakness. 

The surface of the lake was broken by cracks formed largely as the result of stresses induced by thermal contraction of 

the cooling lava. Cracks that developed near the end of the 

eruption formed a random, orthogonal network outlining 

0.3- to 0.7-m-high hummocks, which were divided by orthogonal cracks into 3- to 6-sided polygons averaging 1% m in 

diameter. Many new cracks, mostly short ones near the 

crests of hummocks, opened during a period of heavy rainfall 5 to 9 months after the eruption. Most of these cracks 

were sites of deposition of sublimates of sulfur and calcium · 

sulfate. Between 1 and 2 years! after the eruption, when the 

lake had completely solidified, the surface was broken by long 

swarms of short cracks that originated in the zone of maximum cooling at depths of 5 to 10 m in the lake and propagated upward to the surface. 

Field stud,ies of the August 1963 lake ended in February 

1969, when the lake was covered by 72 m of new lava. 

INTRODUCTION 

Kilauea Volcano erupted in and near Alae Crater 

from August 21 to 23, 1963, 81;2 months after the 

eruption in nearby Aloi Crater. The eruption left in 

Alae Crater a lava lake about 15 m deep of tholeiitic basalt, which solidified during the following 

10 months and cooled to less than 90°C by August 

1967, 4 years after the eruption. This report describes the eruption and surface features of the 

lava lake. 

Three eruptions of Kilauea Volcano during the 

last 2 decades ponded flows in accessible pit craters, 

forming stagnant lakes of molten lava that have 

been intensively studied-the 1959 eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater, the August 1963 eruption in Alae 

Crater, and the March 1965 eruption in Makaopuhi 

Crater. These lava lakes are natural laboratories 

that have provided unique opportunities to learn 

more about the properties of basaltic lava and the 

cooling processes of ponded flows. They have been 

the target of a major continuing effort by the U.S. 

Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

Studies begun in the 111-m-deep lava lake in 

Kilauea Iki Crater included precise-level measurements, core drilling, temperature measurements, 

chemical and petrographic study of drill core, 

A1 
A2 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

ground magnetic studies, and field electromagnetic 

surveys. These have been described by Ault and others (1961, 1962), Maedonald and Katsura (1961), 

Decker (1963), Rawson and Bennett (1964), and 

Richter and Moore ( 1966) . 

When the August 1963 eruption produced a shallow ponded flow in Alae Crater, a variety of similar 

studies were begun. Drilling equipment was lowered 

to the lake surface by an aerial tram, and the first 

of many drill holes through the crust was started on 

August 29, 6 days after the end of the eruption. 

Temperature measurements in the drill hole were 

begun on the following day. During the following 

months many different studies were started, some of 

which were continued until August 1967, when the 

lake had approached ambient temperature. These included the following: repeated core drilling through 

the crust and into melt; sampling of gases and melt, 

and measurement of temperatures in the drill holes; 

study of drill core, including examination by binocular microscope, measurement of density, petrographic study, chemical analysis, mineral separation, and 

measurement of magnetic susceptibility; installation 

of a grid of stations on the lake surface and repeated 

measurement of the altitude and intensity of the 

magnetic field at the stations; recording of rainfall 

at the rim of the crater; and mapping of surface features and joint cracks. 

Previous reports on Alae lava lake include: a preliminary description of the eruption and of temperatures in the lake (Peck and others, 1964) ; analysis of volcanic tremor associated with the eruption 

( Shimozuru and others, 1966;) descriptions of crystallization of basalt in the lake (Peck and others, 

1966) ; magnetic properties and oxidation of irontitanium oxide- minerals ( Gromme and others, 

1969) ; the formation of joint cracks (Peck and Minakami, 1968) ; sulfide~ rich blebs in an ooze sample 

from the lake (Skinner and Peck, 1969) ; lava coils 

on the surface (Peck, 1966) ; and a report on infrared radiation from the lake (Decker and Peck, 1967). 

In March 1965, an eruption of Kilauea Volcano 

produced a new lava lake 83 m deep in Makaopuhi 

Crater (Wright and others, 1968). Studies of this 

lake, which have been carried out under the direction of T. L. Wright, include microprobe study of 

core samples (Hakli and Wright, 1967; Wright and 

Weiblen, 1968), measurement of oxygen fugacity in 

drill holes (Sato and Wright, 1966), collection of 

molten lava samples from beneath the crust (Wright 

and others, 1968), collection of gas samples from 

drill holes (Finlayson and others, 1968), and the 

measurement of viscosity in molten lava beneath the 

crust (Shaw and others, 1968). The prehistoric lava 

lake that was exposed in section on the mezzanine 

cliff face of Makaopuhi Crater has also been studied 

in detail (Moore and Evans, 1967; Evans and Moore, 

1968). Some of the interpretations of the present 

series of papers on Alae lava lake have benefited 

from these later studies. The studies of all three 

recent lava lakes have been summarized by Peck 

(1974) and Wright, Peck, and Shaw (1976). 

Later eruptions of Kilauea Volcano, starting in 

February 1969, have buried the lakes in Alae and 

Makaopuhi Craters with new lava (Swanson and 

others, 1971), bringing field studies of these lakes 

to a close. Alae Crater was later completely filled 

with lava during a series of episodic and complex 

eruptive events (Swanson and others, 1973; Swanson and Peterson, 1972), and by 1972 the site was 

covered by a broad, 100-m-high, basaltic dome, satellitic to the new shield, Mauna Ulu. In this report, 

accordingly, we refer to the crater and its 1963 lava 

lake in the past tense. As of 197 4, studies including 

level measurements and core drilling of the still 

partly molten lake in Kilauea Iki Crater were 

continuing. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

We are indebted to many who helped observe the 

eruption in Alae Crater, and carry out the program 

of studies of the lava lake. These included a visiting 

group of Japanese scientists under the direction of 

Prof. T. Minakami of the Earthquake Research Institute, Tokyo University. Other members of the 

group were Profs. D. Shimozuru, S. Aramaki, and 

K. Kamo and Messrs. T. Miyasaki and S. Hiraga. 

The work reported here was a team effort of the 

staff of the observatory under the general guidance 

of the successive Scientists-in-Charge, J. G. Moore 

and H. A. Powers. Directly concerned with the studies are the following: T. L. Wright, B. J. Loucks, W. 

H. Francis, J. C. Forbes, E. T. Endo, R. T. Okamura, 

R. Y. Koyanagi, and G. Kojima. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Alae Crater are in Hawaii 

Volcanoes National Park; the Park Superintendent 

at the time of the study, F. T. Johnston, and other 

personnel of the Park Service helped facilitate the 

studies. The U.S. Weather Bureau supplied the continuously recording rain gauge for the study. Major 

P. K. Nakamura, Commander of the Air National 

Guard unit in Hilo, made aircraft available for 

photographing the eruption area. Many of the problems encountered in the study have been clarified as 

the result of discussions with our colleagues of the 

Geological Survey, particularly H. R. Shaw, D. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A3 

B. Stewart, R. S. Fiske, M. Sato, and A. H. 

Lachenbruch. 

GEOLOGIC SETTING 

The basaltic shield volcano Kilauea is one of five 

volcanoes on the island of Hawaii (fig. 1), at the 

southeast end of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Kilauea 

has erupted repeatedly in historic time in its summit 

caldera and along the two rift zones that stretch 

from the summit to the east and southwest. 

After nearly 18 years of quiescence, Kilauea began 

the current series of eruptions in June 1952 (Macdonald, 1955), with activity in Halemaumau Crater, 

in the summit caldera (fig. 2). In each of the next 

ISLAND OF HAWAII 

+ 

+ 

156'W 

i 

0 10 

10 

20 

20 MILES 

I 

30 KILOMETRES 

FIGURE 1.-Map showing the five volcanoes constituting the island of Hawaii. 
155°20' 

19°25' 

~,<Y.-<.. 

~ 

~<v'? 

.;)~~ 

'?0 

PUU 

KOAE 

EXPLANATION 

!:::. Seismometer 

A Ahua 

M Makaopuhi 

WP West Pit 

U Uwekahuna 

KILAUEA 

CALDERA 

~p..\)\. ... ~ 

0 1 2 3 MILES 

155.15' 

~.,<;) 'l155°10' 

').?<;)<;) 

NAPAU ) CRATER I 

/I 

19°20'L-------~----~----~~----~~~~~~----------~~~--_j------------~~----------------------_L~:::::: ______ ==~--L_ ____________ _L~~~~------ t--~--~--~~~--~ 

0 1 2 3 4 KILOMETRES 

'J.'~-"Q 

FIGURE 2.-Index map of the summit and upper east rift zone of Kilauea Volcano as it appeared in 1963. Boundaries of craters and Kilauea caldera are 

shown as heavy lines. 

> 

~ 

rn 

0 

t-t 

-tj 

-

"%j 

l.l 

-

> 

t-3 

-

0 

z 

0 

"%j 

> t-t 

> 

t?=.:l 

t-t 

> 

< 

> 

t-t 

> p::: 

~t?=.:l 

~ 

> 

~ 

> 

--
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A5 

three pairs of eruptions, a summit phase was followed by a flank eruption along the east rift-in 

1954-55 (Macdonald and Eaton, 1957, 1964), 1959-

60 (Richter and Eaton, 1960), and in 1961 (Richter 

and others, 1964). During the next 5 years, all eruptions were from fissures along the east rift zone 

with no intervening summit phases: in Aloi Crater 

in December 1962 (Moore and Krivoy, 1964), in Alae 

Crater in August 1963 (this report), in Napau 

Crater and along the middle part of the east rift in 

October 1963 (Moore and Koyanagi, 1969), in Makaopuhi Crater and along the middle part of the east 

rift in March 1965 (Wright and others, 1968), and 

in Aloi Crater again in December 1965 (Fiske and 

Koyanagi, 1968). Lava also moved into the east rift 

zone from the summit reservoir, but without attendant eruptions during three seismic episodes in 1963 

(Kinoshita, 1967). Since 1965, Kilauea has erupted 

'repeatedly, both at the summit and along the two rift 

zones. The week-long eruption in February 1969 fed 

flows into Alae Crater (Swanson and others, 1973) 

covering the August 1963 lava. lake. 

Alae Crater was on the east rift zone of Kilauea 

Volcano, about 8 km .southeast of the summit caldera 

(fig. 2). The filled crater now underlies the eastern 

flank of Mauna Ulu. Alae was an elliptical pit crater 

elongate in a northwesterly direction, 640 m long and 

460 m wide (fig. 3). Most of the observations and 

measurements of the 1963 eruption were made from 

a turnout and observation point on the Chain of 

Craters Highway at the south edge of the crater. 

Alae Crater was a double crater formed by two 

overlapping collapse pit craters. The first and larger 

pit was filled by a prehistoric lava lake and by an 

overlying 6-m-thick lava flow to within 100m of the 

crater rim. At the time of the 1963 eruption, this 

old crater fill was still preserved as a bench on the 

northwest side of the crater. A second prehistoric 

collapse of the southeast part of the first crater dropped the original crater fill at least 60 m, producing 

an approximately circular pit 160m deep and 300m 

in diameter. In 1840, lava erupted from fissures in 

the crater (Dana, 1849, p. 188), formed a spatter 

rampart on the mezzanine and floor of the southeast 

pit, spread as thin shelly flows over parts of the 

floor and cliff face of the mezzanine, and ponded in a 

shallow flow on the floor of the southeast pit. 

PRE-ERUPTION UPLIFT OF THE SUMMIT 

REGION AND SEISMIC ACTIVITY 

Uplift of the summit region of Kilauea Volcano 

resumed almost immediately after the collapse as19°22' 0 200 400 FEET 

I 1

1 1

1 I I 

0 100 METRES 

CONTOUR INTERVAL 100 FEET 

EXPLANATION 

[] Lava lake 

Spatter, thin flows, and pumice 

'-!~ Eruptive vents 

Letters refer to vents described in text and shown in figure 6 

FIGURE 3.-Map .of Alae Crater showing distribution of volcanic rocks from the August 1963 eruption. Location of 

crater is shown in figure 2. 

sociated with the small flank eruption of December 

1962 (fig. 4) and continued until May 9, 1963, when 

about 8 million m3 of lava moved from the summit 

reservoir into the southwest rift zone, accompanied 

by harmonic tremor and many shallow earthquakes 

(Kinoshita, 1967). The intrusion of lava produced 

extensive new cracking along a zone extending 5 km 

from Puu Koae to a point 3 km south of Halemaumau. Collapse of the summit ceased on May 12, and 

rapid reinflation began. This continued until July 1, 

when about 8 million m3 of magma moved from the 

• E VOLCANIC ACTIVITY 

E, eruption 

C, collapse 

• c 

w~ 

• c • • C E 

FIGURE 4.-East-west ground tilting of the Kilauea summit 

area as indicated by daily readings of the short base waterlevel tiltmeter at Uwekahuna from December 1962 to September 1963. Periods of eruption (E) and collapse (C) are 

.shown at top. 
A6 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LA VA LAKE, HA WAil 

summit reservoir into the eastern part of the Koae 

fault zone. The intrusion produced extensive cracking and deformation along the Koae fault near 

its junction with the east rift zone. Uplift began 

again on July 2 and continued until August 

3, when nearly continuous tremor and earthquakes were recorded at Kilauea as about 2 million 

m3 of magma moved from the summit reservoir into 

the upper east rift zone near the junction with the 

Koae fault zone. If the volume calculations are even 

approximately valid, we can infer that most, perhaps 

all, of the lava erupted into Alae Crater from August 

21 to 23 was derived from lava stored in the rift zone 

after the collapses of May, July, and August 1963. 

After this episode, uplift began again, slowly, and 

continued until August 21. During this period, local 

caldera quakes averaged about 70 per day. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE AUGUST 21-23, 1963, 

ERUPTION 

The first indication of the impending eruption was 

the onset, at *13h46m August 21, 1963, of nearly continuous small-amplitude tremor that recorded more 

strongly on a seismograph near the Makaopuhi Crater than on seismographs near Kilauea Caldera (fig. 

5). Beginning at the same time, many small earthquakes, one to four per minute, were recorded. Many 

of these were from epicenters near Makaopuhi, 

which yielded S minus P intervals of 0.5 and 0.6 

seconds at Makaopuhi. More than 800 distinct earthquakes were recorded from the upper east rift zone 

during the remainder of August 21. At 13h50m, displacement of the traces of the Press-Ewing seismographs in the Uwekahuna vault near the Hawaiian 

Volcano Observatory indicated the beginning of a 

distinct tilt to the east and a less distinct tilt to the 

south. Tremor died down to a low level after 15hOOm, 

but at 18h00m it began to increase again. A sharp increase in tremor amplitude at 18h10m probably marks 

the beginning of the eruption. A swarm of small 

earthquakes began at about 13h50m after three earthquakes of magnitude about 2 on the Richter scale. 

The frequency of earthquakes increased to about 5 

per minute at 14h30m and then decreased to 0 at 

1811 15m. 

When the eruption was first observed, shortly 

after 18h15m, vigorous lava fountains on the floor of 

southeast pit and on the north wall had already 

formed a pool of lava covering most of the floor of 

the southeast pit. At 1911 20m, the fountains on the 

floor formed an almost continuous curtain 5 to 10m 

high extending 80 m N. 65 E. from near the east 

*All times given are in hours and minutes, Hawaiian standard time. 

~ +3~--~--~--~--~--~--~--------~ 

~ ~+2 

- 16 

E 14 

5 12 

~ 10 

::J 8 !::: 

...J 

~ 4 <( 2 

TREMOR AT MAKAOPUHI 

~ 0~~--------~--------------~~----­

al 

::J 

0 

0 

\ 

\ . 

EAST-WEST GROUND TILT UWEKAHUNA 

NORTH-SOUTH GROUND TILT AT UWEKAHUNA 

'_/ -·-------------./·~-~-

0:: 

w 

0.. 

[fl200 

::.:: 

<( 

::J 

0 

~ 100 

0:: 

<( 

w 

HOUR: 12 18 

AUGUST 21 

0 

EARTHQUAKES 

(Short-period se1smograph at Makaopuhil 

6 12 18 0 6 12 

AUGUST 22 AUGUST 23 

18 

FIGURE 5.-Chronology of events du!'ling the August 1963 

eruption of Kilauea. 

edge of the .southeast pit (long eruptive vent, fig. 3). 

Lava was erupting from 11 vents on the north wall 

along a fissure parallel to the fissure on the floor of 

the crater but displaced 30 m to the northwest. This 

lava cascaded down the cliff and plunged beneath 

the surface of the growing lake of lava (fig. 6) . The 

most rapid discharge was obliquely upward and 

westward from one of the vents in the middle of the 

line, about 100m below the north rim (vent H of fig. 

6). The dark crust of the lake was broken by glowing zigzag cracks that splayed outward from the 

curtain of fire and from the base of the lava cascades. 

At this time the lake had an estimated depth of almost 10 m and had completely covered the floor of 

the southeast pit, an area of about 65,000 m2

, with 

almost 400,000 m3 of lava (fig. 7). The level was 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A7 

FIGURE G.-Eruption in Alae Crater at 19.20"' August 21, 

1963, as viewed from overlook at south rim of crater. Letters refer to vents described in text. Fountains extend over 

a vertical distance of 100 m on the north wall of the crater. 

9 

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HOUR018- 0 6 12 18 0 i ----,1,:C2--,J;18:--____l__O --!-6 ---,J12 

AUGUST 21 AUGUST 22 AUGUST 23 AUGUST 24 

FIGURE 7.- Volume of lava in Alae lava lake during the Au_. 

gust 1963 eruption, as determined by transit sightings 

(dots) from the rim during the eruption and by triangulation and level measurements after the eruption. 

rising at an estimated rate of about 2 m per hour, 

indicating a rate of extrusion of approximately 

230,000 m3 of lava an hour (fig. 5). Spatter from a 

150-m-long en echelon line of fountains in the 

jungle, 60 m beyond the north rim, was visible above 

the trees. These fountains died by 1911 45m after sending thin flows of shelly pahoehoe over an area of 

7,000 m2

• 

By 20hQQm, the uppermost vents on the north wall 

(A, B, and C, fig. 6) had died, and the thin lava 

streams that had issued from them were dark. During the remaining 4 hours of August 21, many of 

the other vents on the north wall of the crater died 

-vent D at 21 h and E and F at 22h; vent F emitted 

bluish gases for several hours after it had stopped 

spattering. By midnight only three vents were still 

erupting vigorously. The line of fountains on the 

floor of the crater had become discontinuous; the 

fountains were playing to a height of 8 m over a 

length of 40 m, and an isolated fountain at the 

southwest end of the original line was bubbling 

weakly. As determined by transit sightings from 

the overlook, the surface was rising at a decreasing 

rate-----.,1.5 m per hour at 211', 1 m per hour at 2211, 

and 0.6 m per hour at 23h. The rate of extrusion had 

dropped from about 200,000 m3 per hour at 20h to 

45,000 m3 per hour at 23h. As the rate of extrusion 

from the vents on the north wall decreased, the 

apparent viscosity of the lava increased (probably 

because of a decrease in temperature), and lava 

cascading down from the fountains formed a noticeable delta at the edge of the lake. At 011'40m on 

August 22, surges in the fountain on the floor of the 

crater produced waves in the lake with a frequency 

of 22 cycles per minute; these broke like surf on the 

shore northwest of the fountain and traveled 70 to 

100 m to the southwest in the lake before dying out . 

Through the night, the lake had been broken by 

glowing zigzag cracks that radiated out from the 

vents. Photographs taken at 10-minute intervals 

between OP50m and 02h1Qm show correspondence in 

the crack pattern between successive photographs, 

indicating that the crust of the lake was being rafted 

outwards on lava flowing from the vents at a rate of 

about 200 m per hour, to be piled in a narrow slabby 

levee at the edge of the southeast end of the lake. 

By 0311 00m, the line of fountains on the floor of the 

crater had become erratic, momentarily dying back 

to a length of 15 m, and then lengthening to 35 m. 

The fountains on the north rim continued to diminish in vigor. The lake was about 17m thick and probably was rising at an hourly rate of about 0.3 m 

(15,000 to 20,000 m3 of lava per hour). Transit 

sightings to the foot of the lava cascade on the north 

shore of the lake continued to show a decrease in 

the angle of depression with time, suggesting continued extrusion of 30,000 m3 of lava per hour until 

0511 30m. However, the later increase in the angle of 

depression between 05h30m and 0711, indicating an 
A8 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

apparent subsidence of the lake surface, and observations of the north shore the following morning, 

suggest that the transit sightings were reflecting the 

slow buildup and lowering of the surface of a broad 

lava delta at the foot of the cascades, rather than 

changes in altitude of the surface of the lake. 

By 06hQQm, the lava lake had reached almost its 

maximum depth (18m) and volume (8.4X105 m3 ) . 

The increasing volume of lava in the lake for the rest 

of the eruption was so small that it was not measurable. The vent on the floor of the crater had begun 

to fountain irregularly; instead of throwing up a 

curtain of flowing lava 7 to 10 m as before, it erratically spewed bursts of spatter to heights as great 

as 50 m, accompanied by great booming noises. The 

change in activity of the fountains at this time and 

the lack thereafter of any substantial increa~e in 

volume of the lake, probably recorded a change in 

the type of material being supplied to the fountains 

from the rift zone. Before 06\ this included a significant proportion of lava, the quantity of which 

steadily decreased with time; after 06h, it was mostly gas. The lava thrown up by the fountains may 

largely have been lava from the lake, blown out by 

expanding gases rising upward through the lake 

from the underlying vent. The three remaining fountains on the north wall (H, J, and K of fig . 6) were 

spattering weakly and sending two sluggish rivers 

of aa down to a small low delta on the lake. In the 

morning light, we could see that the vents on the 

north wall had built a row of coalescing spatter 

cones and that spatter and cinders from the fountains on the floor of the crater had accumulated to 

form a low spatter and cinder cone along the northwest side of the lake. 

The eruption continued at a diminishing rate during the morning. At 11h, a party circled around to 

the north side of the crater, where they could look 

down directly into the two remaining active vents on 

the north wall. One, vent K (fig. 6) was spattering 

weakly within its cone and sending a red ribbon of 

lava down to the lake. The other, vent H, was emitting much fume but only a little lava. This lava 

formed a sluggish stream which at times had a 

rough dark aa crust that first formed at the lower 

end and appeared to grow upstream, only to be repeatedly dislodged and carried downstream by the 

red lava. 

Two major fountains and several minor ones 

played on the floor of the crater (fig. 8). The lava 

lake was impounded behind a slab levee, but occasionally it overflowed or undermined the levee, producing festooned flows or tumuli on the lake margin. 

FIGURE 8.-Eruption in Alae Crater at 11h10m, August 22, 

1963, as viewed from the north rim. Incandescent bubbling 

areas (light colored) are about 10 m in diameter. 

The crust of the lake continued to founder locally, 

mostly along cracks near the edge of the lake or 

above the former southwest end of the curtain of 

fire. Pumice that had been erupted during the night 

was collected from the ground near the north rim, 

and samples were gathered from the spatter rampart and shelly pahoehoe flows in the jungle beyond 

the north rim of the crater. 

By 1511, the line of fountains on the floor of the 

crater had shortened to 30 m; they bubbled to an 

average height of 3 m but sent occasional bursts of 

spatter to 50 m. The vents on the north wall were 

almost dead, and lava rivers from them were crusted 

over. The slabby rim of the lake increased in width 

from the new slabs of crust that were continually 

added to it from the lava lake. The crust of the lake 

had a distinctive mosaic appearance (fig. 9) caused 

by patterned differences in surface texture that appeared as alternating light and dark bands parallel 

to the glowing cracks. These textural differences 

are discussed on page 22. 

At 17h, the fountains on the floor of the crater 

were seen from the mezzanine to bubble vigorously 

with whooshing and thundering noises from two 

large and several small intermittent centers along a 

length of 35m (fig. 10). At each center, the activity 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A9 

FIGURE 9.-Eruption in Alae Crater at 15', August 22, 1963, 

as viewed from overlook at the south r im of the crater. 

Behind ·and to the Ieft of the vent is a 50-m cliff at the end 

of the forested mezzanine. The degassing vents on the far 

wall are almost dead, but the inconspicuous line of fountains on the far floor are bubbling to an average height 

of 3 m. The lake surface looks like a mosaic because of 

patterned differences in surface ~exture parallel to glowing 

cracks. 

resembled the bubbling of a mud pot; a bubble of 

lava 1m or so in diameter would appear, grow rapidly larger as the gas inside expanded, and then break 

into long ribbons of lava that were cast as high as 

50 m. Gases rising from below the lake apparently 

provided the driving force for the fountaining. Spatter was not thrown evenly in all directions ; more 

than half fell to the west on the lakeshore behind the 

fountains, forming a spatter and cinder cone that 

was about 2 m high at this stage. Possibly this unevenness reflected only the prevailing wind direction, which is typically a counter-trade wind direction on the floor of the crater; from the mezzanine, 

however, the fountaining appeared to be inclined in 

that direction, perhaps because lava in the lake impinged on the breaking lava bubbles. 

The dark surface of the lake was broken by glowing cracks; these consisted of two sets, one of concentric cracks near the fountains and the other of 

thin cracks that radiated out from the fountains. 

The latter cracks diverged farther away and divided 

the lake surface into distinctive lobate areas (fig. 

11). The outer margins of the lobate areas were bor:.. 

dered by wider glowing cracks, which were the sites 

of foundering at many localities. 

We scrambled down the talus to the southwest 

edge of the lake and found that the lake was brim 

full behind a 15-m-wide levee of folded and faulted 

pahoehoe slabs. The surface of the lake was not flat; 

it rose as much as 0.5 m from the edge of the lake to 

the site of the fountains, reflecting the hydraulic 

gradient of the viscous fluid. Small outflows and 

foundering took place at the distal end of the lobate 

areas, which were commonly about 0.3 m higher 

than the lake surface at its margin. Foundering was 

related to outflows of fresh lava from these cracks. 

The weight of the outflowing lava would cause a 

slab of crust to bend down and break off. This slab 

would glide inward and tilt down toward the center 

of the lake until the leading edge would sink and the 

trailing edge rise up in the air-looking for all the 

world like a sinking surfboard. Crustal foundering 

on a much larger scale was observed during the formation of Makaopuhi lava lake (Wright and others, 

1968, fig. 10). 

The levee was separated from talus mantling the 

crater walls by a moat 15 m wide and about 3 m 

deep. Inside the moat were several small tumuli 

about 8 m long and 2 m high; the medial crack of 

each was filled by a snakelike mass of lava, still 

glowing red in marginal cracks. At many places the 

levee had been breached and overflowed by small 

festooned flows of pahoehoe. We marked the level of 

the lake surface on the talus mantling the walls of 

the crater by sighting with a compass level. Later 

surveying with a transit from the floor of the lake 

fixed this level at 785.5 m (2,577 feet), 3.0 m above 

the present floor of the lake and 18.0 m above the 

base of the crater before the eruption. 

Beginning at about 21\ the glowing cracks at the 

south and east edges of the lake began to darken 

(fig. 12) as the actively circulating part of the lake 

shrank because of diminished vigor of fountaining. 

By 2211 45m (fig. 13), the southeast half of the lake 

was dark; by 23h16m (fig. 14), only two small lobate 

areas were left; and by 231155m, the lake was dark 

except for the fountain. The position in plan of the 

glowing cracks was later determined by examination 

of photographs taken during and after the eruption 

and by mapping the surface features of the lake. 

These studies provide clues to the pattern of lava 

circulation in the lake during the evening of August 

22, as discussed on pages 22-24. 

The activity of the line of fountains on the floor 

of the crater decreased through the evening of the 
AlO SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HA WAil 

FIGURE 10.-Fountain in Alae Crater at 17h45m, August 22, 1963, as viewed from the mezzanine. Height of fountain about 5 m. Ribbon spatter on top was produced by bursting of a bubble of lava an instant before the photograph was taken (compare with fig. 23). Photograph by S. Aramaki. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE All 

FIGURE 11.-Eruption in Alae Crater at about 18', August 22, 1963, as viewed from overlook. Two sets of glowing cracks 

break the dark crust, one near to and concentric with the fountain, which was about 35 m long, and another radial to 

the fountain which outlines lobate areas of crust. Crustal foundering (light spots) occurs at the distal ends of the lobes." 

A marginal levee of slabs and small festooned flows can be dimly seen in the left foreground. Photograph by T. Miyasaki. 

22d and the early morning hours of the 23d. By 

23h3Qm of the 22d, fountaining was taking place at 5 

centers along a length of 25 m. By midnight, the 

fountains became more erratic and died completely 

for a second or two before resuming again. By 

02h1Qm of the 23d, only three areas were bubbling, 

and the periods of quiet had increased to 5 seconds. 

By daylight, at 05h3Qm, only one bubbling area was 

left; it burst slowly about every 5 seconds. At this 

time the lake surface was at the same level as at 19h 

the previous evening, when the level of the lake surface had been marked with a sample bag on the 

talus mantling the lower crater walls after sighting 

on the lake surface with a brunton compass level. By 

07h3Qm, the vent was still bubbling every 5 to 7 

seconds; drain back had lowered a semicircular area 

about 30 m (100 ft) in diameter around the vent. 

By 08h10m, the bubbling at the vent had stopped. The 

eruption was over. Slow drainback into the orifice 

beneath the lake at the vent, however, apparently 

continued for several hours. 

Vertical-angle transit sights from the rim of the 

crater on August 24 showed that the surface of the 

flow had been lowered about 3 m by drainback since 

the end of the eruption. Later, precise level measurements from the flow surface to the marker on the 

talus and more precise triangulation from the rim 
A12 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

FIGURE 12.-Eruption in Alae Crater at about 21", August 22, as viewed from 

the overlook. Stagnation of the lava lake in the foreground has resulted in the 

nearly complete darkening of glowing cracks visible earlier there (fig. 11) . 

FIGURE 13.-Eruption in Alae Crater at 22"45'" , August 22, 

as viewed from the overlook. Glowing cracks in the entire 

outer part of the lake have darkened because of continued 

stagnation of the lake. 

FIGURE 14.-Eruption in Alae Crater at 23"16m, August 22, 

as viewed from the overlook. The actively circulating part 

of the lake has become restricted to an area less than 100 

m long adjacent to the fountains. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A13 

showed that the average elevation of the surface 

had fallen 3.0 m below the marker-a loss of 180,000 

m3 of lava. The lake was left with a volume of 

660,000 m3

• An additional 30,000 m3 of flows, spatter, 

and pumice had accumulated in the jungle beyond 

the north rim of the crater and in the low spatter 

ridge that covered and bordered the northwest side 

of the lake and continued as coalescing spatter cones 

up the north wall of the crater (fig. 15) . 

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS 

Temperatures were estimated during the eruption 

with a glowing-filament optical pyrometer. These 

estimates have been supplemented by temperatures 

deduced from a study of pumice from the eruption 

and by temperatures measured with thermocouples 

later in the Alae lava lakes. 

Heavy fume obscured the view of the fountains 

during much of the eruption, making pyrometer 

measurements of little value. When the fume was 

moderate to light, repeated pyrometer measurements 

of the fountains were made from the overlook at the 

south rim of the crater-a distance of 350 to 400 m 

from the fountains. During the evening of August 

21, from 20 11 to 2311 , maximum readings were repeatedly found to be 1,090° to 1,100°C The actual 

maximum temperatures of the fountains were probably substantially higher. Pumice from this fountaining, which was collected August 22 from the north 

rim of the crater, contains only 7 percent crystals2.0 percent olivine, 4.1 percent augite, and 0.9 percent plagioclase (sample H 186, T. L. Wright and 

D. L. Peck, unpub. data). Laboratory melting studies of drill core from Alae lava lake (Tilley and others, 1967) and data from the 1965 eruption in Makaopuhi Crater (Wright and others, 1968) indicate 

that the temperature of first appearance of plagioclase in these lavas is 1,160 ±5° C. The scarcity of 

plagioclase (and other crystals) in pumice from the 

early stage of the Alae eruption, accordingly, suggests a maximum eruption temperature of about 

1,160°C. 

During the evening of August 22d, maximum temperature measurements showed a steady increase, 

from 1,085°C at 1911 30m to 1,115°C at 2011 15m and 

finally to 1,140°C at 21h20m. This increase very likely 

resulted from a decrease in radiation-absorbing fume 

between the fountain and the observers (as a result 

of the decrease in activity), allowing more accurate 

temperature measurements, rather than an actual 

increase in temperature of the dying fountains. 

Pumice from this late fountaining, which was colFIGURE 15.-Northwest part of Alae lava lake as viewed from 

overlook on August 31, 1963, showing low spatter ridge near 

former vent on floor of crater and coalescing spatter cones 

marking positions of former vents on north wall. Forested 

mezzanine atop a 50-m-high cliff can he seen to the left 

of the spatter cones on the north wall of the crater. 

lected near the vent after the eruption (sample 

DPH-77, T. L. Wright and D. L. Peck, unpub. data), 

contains 13 percent crystals-2 percent olivine, 8.5 

percent augite, and 2.5 percent plagioclase. Comparison of this abundance of crystals with the abundance in samples of known temperature from the 

1965 Makaopuhi lava lake (Wright and others, 1968) 

indicates a temperature of about 1,140°C; this is in 

excellent agreement with the maximum pyrometer 

readings. 1 

The maximum initial temperature of the lava lake 

at the end of the eruption can be inferred from temperature data collected with thermocouples in drill 

holes in the lake after the eruption (Peck and others, 

1964). The highest temperature ~easured in the 

lake was 1,136°C. This value was obtained on November 8, 1963, 21;2 months after the eruption, at a depth 

of 5.46 m, 2.2 m below the base of the crust. Extrapolation of the temperature gradient downward 2 m 

to the estimated depth of the maximum temperature 

in the lake suggests a temperature of about 1,140oC. 

Maximum temperatures in the central part of the 

lake were measured starting July 2, 1964, and contact temperatures at the base of the central part of 

1 On the basis of the Mg0/MgO+FeO+Fe203 content of analyzed glass from sample DPH- 77 and the calibration of Tilley and_ others ( 1964. fi~. 

23) the temperature of the later stage of the eruptmn has been estl- mated to be 1 065'C (W.right and others. 1968. table 5) . We favor a lower temperat'ure that is. more in a~cord with the temperature and crystallinity measurements m Makaopuh1 lava lake. 
A14 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

the lake were obtained beginning on December 8 

from drill holes that pierced the lake. These values 

were, respectively, 1,050° and 700°C. Analysis of 

these and later values using the heat-conduction 

theory (J. C. Jaeger, written commun., 1967) indicates initial maximum temperatures in the lake of 

1,140°C, 

Thus we conclude that during the early vigorous 

part of the August 1963 eruption, the maximum temperature of the fountains was 1,160°C. During the 

waning stages of the eruption, the maximum temperature fell to 1,140°C. By the end of the eruption, 

the maximum temperature of the resulting lava lake 

was 1,140°C. 

DEFLATION OF THE SUMMIT REGION AND 

SEISMIC ACTIVITY DURING AND 

AFTER THE ERUPTION 

The sharp collapse of the Kilauea summit area 

that began at 13h50111 on August 21 was completed 

by about 19\ August 21 (fig. 5) ; thereafter the 

summit subsided slightly until 1511 , August 22, when 

renewed inflation took place. 

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Precise level measurements of benchmarks along 

the Chain of Craters Highway after the August 21 

to 23 eruption (fig. 16) showed inflation of the rift 

zone between Aloi and Makaopuhi Craters since midJuly. The maximum uplift measured was 0.131 mat 

the overlook at Alae Crater, relative to the YY22 

benchmark at the junction of the Kilauea Crater rim 

and the Chain of Craters Highway. The level measurements also showed deflation of the rift zone near 

Hiiaka Crater, at the intersection of the Koae fault 

zone and the east rift. Several lines of evidence indicate, however, that this subsidence took place during 

the August 3 collapse and not during the August 21 

to 23 eruption: ( 1) measurements of the altitude of 

about one-half the benchmarks after the August 3 

collapse but before the eruption in Alae crater; (2) 

the location, during the August collapse, of epicenters of shallow earthquakes that cluster near Hiiaka 

crater; and (3) the distribution of cracks formed 

during the collapse. 

After the outbreak of lava at about 1811 10m on 

August 21, earthquake activity at Alae Crater and 

beneath the summit and upper east rift zone of 

Kilauea decreased to a very low level. Later, at 

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EXPLANATION 

----+--- Altitudes of stations in mid-Jul y 1963 set equal to zero 

o - ---o--- Changes in altitude mid-July to mid-August 1963, relative to station 25 

x- - x -- .Changes in altitude mid-July to early September 1963, relative to station 22 

FIGURE 16.-Changes in altitude of benchmarks along the Chain of Craters Highway between mid-July and early September 1963 on the basis of second- and third-order leveling. Location of craters is shown in figure 2. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A15 

about 0211 00m on August 22, earthquake activity increased, centered mostly beneath Kilauea caldera. 

From August 24, the day after the eruption was over, 

to September 1, only 10 earthquakes occurred along 

the upper east rift. The number of Kilauea caldera 

earthquakes during the rest of August averaged 

about 65 per day. 

Harmonic tremor recorded during the August 

1963 Alae eruption was unusual in its attenuation 

pattern and maximum amplitude. The highest amplitudes were recorded by the seismometer at Makaopuhi Crater, only 21!::! km from the site of the eruption. The tremor attenuated rapidly as distance increased, however, and was never recorded at the 

Desert and Mauna Loa seismometers, which were 21 

km west and 24 km northwest, respectively, of the 

eruption. This attenuation pattern is similar to that 

of shallow-focus earthquakes beneath the summit of 

Kilauea. The maximum amplitude of tremor recorded by the Makaopuhi seismometer was one-third 

to one-fourth of that recorded during the October 

1963 and March 1965 upper east rift eruptions, even 

though the eruptive vents were closer to the Makaopuhi seismometer during the Alae eruption than 

were some of the vents of the October 1963 eruption 

(Shimozuru and others, 1966). A possible explanation for this observation is that the amplitude of 

tremor recorded at seismometers within 3 km of a 

vent is an indication of the rate of extrusion at that 

vent. Thus, the amplitude of tremor recorded by the 

Makaopuhi seismometer was much higher during 

the October 1963 eruption (Moore and Koyanagi, 

1969) and the March 1965 eruption (Wright and 

others, 1968), when the rates of extrusion at the 

vents near Makaopuhi Crater were much higher. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE LAKE 

SURFACE FEATURES OTHER THAN JOINT CRACKS 

The lava lake in Alae Crater, formed from August 

21 to 23, 1963, was an elliptical lens 305 m long, 245 

m wide, and as much as 15 m thick. The lake was 

composed of homogeneous tholeiitic basalt containing 3.5 percent olivine (Peck and others, 1966). The 

outline of the lake and the location of surveying stations and a study area are shown in figure 17, together with cross sections along the major and minor 

axes of the lake. The pre-1963-eruption topography 

of the bottom of the crater (fig. 17) was prepared by 

photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs 

taken February 1963 by the U.S. Geological Survey 

and supplied to us by William A. Fischer. The lake 

deepened inward from the edge to an average maximum thickness of 14.0 m. The floor of the lake was 

nearly flat but sloped at a small angle to a low area 

beneath the northcentral part of the lake. The northern part of the lake thinned to 11.3 m over a buried 

spatter ridge formed during the eruption of 1840. 

The surface of the lake was surprisingly complex 

and showed a great variety of features recording 

events that took place during and after the eruption. 

Many of the features which were observed forming, 

as described earlier in this paper, were studied in 

detail because they are potentially important in 

understanding the physical regimes of flowing lava 

and cooling basalt flows. Similar features on wellpreserved flows formed elsewhere during eruptions 

that were not observed, may provide clues to the 

temperatures, viscosities, and flow patterns of the 

erupting lava, the relative chronology of eruption, 

and the conditions under which the flows cooled. 

Many of the surface characteristics of Alae lava 

lake are shown in an aerial photograph (fig. 18) 

taken 1 month after the eruption. The southeast half 

of the lake was separated from talus flanking the 

crater walls by a moat (cross-section A-A'; fig. 17) 

of August 1963 lava. The moat was 8 to 15 m wide 

and about 2 m deep for most of its length, and the 

base sloped irregularly southeast to a maximum 

depth of 5 m below the levee at the southeast end of 

the lake. In many places it was partially filled by 

small festooned flows that broke through or over the 

levee. Judging from the altitude of the base of the 

moat at the southeast end of the lake [778.8 m 

(2,555 ft) ], the moat was formed within the first 

few hours of the eruption. Two pressure domes, or 

tumuli, rose from the floor of the moat (fig. 19) ; 

each was about 10 m long, 5 m wide, and 2 to 3 m 

high and had an axial crack partly filled with bulbous 

lava. These domes were formed by lava forced along 

channels beneath the levee by hydrostatic pressure 

from the lake inside the levee. After the eruption, 

the crests of the domes were at or above the present 

surface of the main body of the lake; when the 

domes formed, however, the crests were below the 

surface of the lake. 

The main body of the lake was separated from the 

moat and from the talus flanking the crater walls by 

a levee about 30 m wide that borders all but the 

northwest end of the lake. Figure 20 shows the levee 

and moat as viewed from the talus at the south edge 

of the lake, and they are indicated on the map (fig. 

21), which shows all major features of the lake surface except for joint cracks. The map was prepared 

using an aerial photograph (fig. 18) and pace and 

compass methods from a grid of stations on the lake 
A16 

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100 200 

25 50 

SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

I 

75 METRES 

16 

Area of f1g ures 

26, 32 and 33 

• 

0 

• 

A' 

METRES 

::c:;_id-ge------------------------21:: 

B B' FEET METRES 

2600 t -- ~778900 2550 ~ -

~--------- ---------- 770 

2500 ~------------- --------------------

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

FIGURE 17.-Map of Alae lava lake showing contours (in feet above sea level) at the base and margin of the lake. Shaded 

area was studied in detail. Cross sections along the major axis (A- A ') and the minor axis (B-B' ) of lake have the 

same horizontal and vertical scales. Topography prepared by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs 

taken F ebruary 15, 1963, . by the U.S. Geological Survey. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A17 

FIGURE 18.-Aerial photograph of Alae lava lake taken September 25, 1963, from an altitude about 900 m above the east rim 

of the crater. Letters designate features as follows: a, moat; b, levee; c, spatter cone formed by fountains on floor of 

crater; d, spatter ridge formed by vents (A-K) on north wall of crater; e, shear zones; f, landslide block thrown down 

by an earthquake on September 21, 1963. . 

surface, which were laid out by means of a transit 

and steel tape. The panorama of figure 20 was photographeq from near point A of figure 21. The levee 

was made up of discontinuous pressure ridgesmostly symmetrical anticlinal folds, but also folds 

overturned away from the center of the lake, faults 

overthrust toward the edge of the lake, a~1d jumbled 

piles of broken slabs of crust. The average height of 

the levee rose and the width narrowed as the levee 

was traced from near point A around ,'tri·e 'west side 

of the lake toward the vent. In the same distance, 

the pressure ridge between the levee and the main 
A18 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

FIGURE 19.-Pressure dome in the moat at the south edge 

of Alae lava lake. 

body of the lake changed northwestward from an 

anticlinal fold to a fault with a scarp as high as 2 m 

facing inward toward the center of the lake. This 

change probably resulted from a greater and more 

abrupt withdrawal of lava from the lake near the 

vent during drainback at the end of the eruption. 

Lava in the lake farther from the vent had stagnated 

earlier (p. 8) and hence was colder and more viscous. The levee was formed from slabs rafted across 

the lake by lava flowing from the vent beneath the 

crust during the eruption. When first noted at 

02h30m, August 22, the levee was 6 to 10m wide. The 

pressure ridges and thrust faults were formed by 

the push of lava-rafted crust against the static crust 

of the levee, which yielded by folding and faulting 

along lines of weakness. 

The central part of the lake had a hummocky filamented surface that sloped almost imperceptibly toward the vent. Along the north side of the lake were 

several domes which consisted of jumbled piles of 

slabs of crust and were as high as 2 m (fig. 22). 

These domes are similar in origin to the levee rather 

than to the pressure domes in the moat formed by 

hydrostatic pressure. They were formed at the intersection of convergent streams of flowing lava, mostly where lava flowing from vents on the floor of the 

crater converged with lava from vents on the north 

wall of the crater. 

Near the former position of the vent on the floor 

of the crater was an asymmetrical spatter ridge 

(cross section A-A', fig. 17) that mantled the northwest end of the lake and the adjacent talus and continued as coalescing spatter cones up the north wall 

of the crater. Below the vents, the wall of the crater 

was mantled by drapery, which led downward to 

rough aa flows of oxidized cindery blocks overlying 

the talus. Beyond the spatter cone (which on fig. 21 

is arbitrarily bounded where the spatter cover is 

less than 30 em thick), the lake was mantled by a 

thin layer of spatter, which consisted mostly of 

cowdung bombs and twisted-ribbon bombs (fig. 23). 

Formation of ribbon bombs such as that shown in 

the figure is captured in the photograph of the fountains on the evening of August 22 (fig. 10). Still 

farther from the vent the spatter cover was discontinuous. The greater the distance from the vent, the 

smaller the proportion of surface covered. The quarter of the lake farthest from the vent had almost no 

spatter. Because all the crust formed near the vent 

was covered by spatter, the decreasing proportion 

of spatter on the lake at greater distances from the 

vent recorded the decreasing proportion of original 

crust. By the time the crust was rafted three-fourths 

of the way across the lake, all of it had either foundered or been covered by thin flows of lava that 

spread through cracks from beneath the crust. 

The surface of the central part of the lake was 

crossed by pressure ridges and linear oozeups that 

marked the position of glowing cracks during the 

eruption. These are shown on the map of the lake 

(fig. 21) and also on the cross sections of figure 24. 

The undisturbed oozeups had a thin shell of crust, 

usually less than 2 em in thickness, enclosing a central gas cavity. When they formed, gas exsolved 

from the underlying molten lava was escaping 

through cracks in the crust; when the incandescent 

lava filling a crack crusted over, some of the gas was 

trapped, forming the central cavity. The pressure 

ridges rose as much as 1 m above the surface of the 

surrounding lava and ranged from faulted anticlinal 

folds to piles of broken slabs of crust formed from 

the thin crust of oozeups (fig. 25). During the eruption, many overflows and squeezeups could be seen 

forming along glowing cracks at the distal ends of 

the lobate areas of dark crust (fig. 11). When the 

cracks darkened as a result of stagnation of the underlying molten lava, the oozeups formed lines of 

weakness because of the thinness of their crust. 

Most of them were soon folded and faulted as a 

result of the pressure of lava-rafted crust nearer 
FIGURE 20.-Panorama of Alae lava lake from the talus at the south edge of the lake. Photograph taken August 31, 1963, from near point A of figure 21. 

Lettered features are as follows: a, floor of moat; b, levee; c, festooned pahoehoe flows partially enclosing slabs of crust; d, spatter cone formed by 

fountains on floor of crater. 

trj 

::0 

c:: 

"d 

~ ...... 

0 

z 

0 

"l:j 

> c:: 

c;J 

c:: 

rn 

~ 

.... 

"' cr> 

c.> 

> z 

t:J 

"l:j 

0 

::0 

~ 

> 

~ 

...... 

0 

z 

0 

"l:j 

> t" 

> trj 

t" 

> 

< 

> 

t" 

> p::: 

trj 

> ... 

tO 
A20 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

0 300 FEET 

r-----,-~---.--~-------J 

100 

0 25 50 75 METRES 

Mapped October and November, 1963 

EXPLANATION 

[/.'.!}:/.::] Spatter cone; spatte r m ore t han 30 em thick 

:. · ;:'_,. oJ Thin spatter, spatter less than 30 em thick 

D Central part of lava lake 

Lake levee ; surface marked by abundant pre ssure ridges 

and faulted s labs of crust D M oat (part of rim below level o f ce ntral part of lake) 

~ Pressure dome 

~ Pressure dome; crest broken by crack fill e d with linear ooze-up of lava 

Pressure ridge 

- ---- Linear ooze-up of lava 

~ Shearzone 

-nrrrn,... Scarp; hachures on downthrown side 

~ Lava coil ; clockwise coi l 

8 La va coil; counterclockwise coil 

FIGURE 21.- Map of the surface features exclusive of joint cracks of Alae lava lake. 

the vent against the crust of the stagnant part of the 

lake. 

The lake surface was also broken by shears (Peck, 

1966, fig. 3), which were formed at the contact between relatively static crust and crust moving above 

a flowing stream of lava. Voluted strips of lava 

(lava coils, Peck 1966, fig. 2), as high as 30 em, 

were found along the shears together with irregular 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A21 

FIGURE 22.-Pressure dome of jumbled slabs near the northwest ·edge of the lava lake. 

FIGURE 23.-Twisted ribbon bomb (1 m long) on the surface 

of Alae lava lake. 

A 

FEET 

2590 

2570 

2560 

A' 

METRES 

785 

780 

2550 -L------------------~--------------------L~ DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

B 

FEET 

2580 

2570 

0 100 200 FEET 

0 25 50 METRES 

B' 

METRES 

785 

FIGURE 24.-Cross .sections of the surface of Alae lava lake. Vertical scale exaggerated 10 times. Section 

A-A' is along the major axis of the lake, and section B- B' is along the minor axis of the lake, as shown 

in figure 17. Short cracks shown as light lines; long cracks as heavy lines. 
A22 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

FIGURE 25.-Pressure ridge formed from the crust of a linear 

oozeup on Alae lava lake. 

clots and strips of lava and indicated the relative 

direction of movement of the lava. Coils that spiral 

inward in a clockwise direction record right-lateral 

shear ; coils that spiral inward in a counterclockwise 

direction indicate left-lateral shear. Other coils, 

mostly broad coplanar forms as large as 1 m in diameter, do not occur along recognizable shear zones. 

The surface features of the lake were studied in 

more detail in an area approximately 30m (100 ft) 

square near the center of the lake (fig. 17). The features were mapped at a scale of 10 feet to the inch 

(1: 120). Nails were driven into the lake surface at 

3-m (10ft) intervals along two opposite sides; steel 

tapes were stretched between the nails, and the features mapped by inspection. Figure 26 shows the 

distribution of the surface features except for joint 

cracks. The area was bisected by a northwest-trending shear zone consisting of two offset segments. 

This zone marked the position of a glowing crack 

that, during the eruption, was the source of many 

small flows of slightly different age on each side of 

the zone. The northwest side of the area intercepted 

a major zone of pressure ridges and linear oozeups 

formed from lava in the glowing crack at the margin 

of the active part of the lake at 23h16m on August 22. 

The northeast edge cut across the flank of a low 

pressure dome. Several different ages of crust were 

present; the oldest crust, which had a thin spatter 

cover, was at the north corner. The area was crossed 

by many narrow linear oozeups, which occupied 

cracks formed near the end of the eruption. 

Several minor features are shown in figure 26. 

Fine lines over most of the map indicate the trend 

of filaments of the surface crust. The surface of the 

lake consisted of 1-cm-thick layer of highly vesicular froth made up of intertwined filaments or threads 

of glassy lava (fig. 27). The filaments on each small 

flow were generally alined parallel to the direction 

of flowage or stretching of the crust; this was particularly clear on the crust of linear oozeups. The 

filaments appear to have formed by the drawing out 

during flowage of vesicles in the still-plastic glassy 

crust until only threads of glass were left between 

vesicles. A filamented surface is characteristic of 

many Kilauea flows extruded at moderate temperatures (1,150 °C ±);at higher temperatures (1,175° 

to 1,200°C), a smooth or sharkskin surface is 

formed, such as that on the lava lakes in Kilauea Iki 

and Makaopuhi craters. The filamented surface bent 

near the medial shear zone in the area of detailed 

study, particularly at the south end of the north segment, indicating a left-lateral displacement along 

the shear. The sense of lava coiling along the shear 

suggested the same relative displacement. The filamented surface was also offset by fractions of 1 em 

or sharply bent along obscure lines ( marked by long 

dashes on the map), which indicated the same sense 

of movement. Apparently these lines were minor 

shears marking interruptions in the extrusion of the 

small flows. These discontinuities, together with 

shears and the fronts of small flows, outlined bands 

parallel to the cracks from which the flows issued. 

The bands were obscure after the eruption, except 

when viewed under oblique illumination early and 

late in the day, but were conspicuous during the 

eruption (fig.9). 

INFERRED CIRCULATION OF LAVA DURING 

THE ERUPTION 

Clues to the pattern of lava circulation in the Alae 

lava lake during the latter part of the August 1963 

eruption are provided by observations made and 

photographs taken, particularly during the evening 

of August 22 (figs. 11 to 14), and by the distribution 

of pressure ridges, linear oozeups, shears, and lava 

coils on the lake (fig. 21). Early in the evening of 

the 22d, lava was circulating beneath most of the 

surface of the lake. The lava flowed from the fountains to the inner margin of the levee along a surface 

that sloped gently outward at a gradient of 1 or 2 

to 1,000. The rafted crust above the circulating lava 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A23 

10 

0 

EXPLANATION 

-+-- Margin of flow; cross ti c shows relative age (straight segment on side of older flow , cu rved on younger) 

C~-:S...J Shear zone. showing sense of movement 

~ Pressure ridge 

C11Jliliiiiiiit L i near ooze up 

IV 

I 

20 FEET 

5 METRES 

<:_ Clockwise lava coil, indicating right-lateral shear 

.9 Counterclockw ise lava coil, indicating left-lateral shear 

_ ~ -_ Trend of filaments of flow surface 

Wfr.W Discontinuities in filamented surface, showing relative 

direction of offset of fi laments 

- c:.::;- ( :'p_ Q) Spatter-covered areas 

FIGURE 26.-Surface features exclusive of joint cracks on a part of the central part of Alae lava lake. Area of map and 

location of numbered surveying stations are shown in figure 17. 

was so newly formed and thin that cracks in it ex- overflows in its passage across the lake to be reposed hot incandescent lava. Crust formed near the placed by still newer thinner crust. Lava from the 

vent was destroyed by foundering and covered by fountains moved outward in diverging streams, 
A24 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

FIGURE 27.- Filamented surface of Alae lava lake. Knife in 

center of photograph is 10 em long. 

which were bordered at the surface by glowing shear 

fractures. 

The outer margin of the active part of the lake 

was bounded by breaks where the lake surface stepped down to the lower level of the outer stagnant 

part of the lake, exposing red-hot lava. These breaks 

formed conspicuous glowing lines, along which many 

small flows were extruded, and much foundering of 

the crust took place. 

The crust of the outer stagnant part of the lake 

was dark. Because the surface had not been renewed 

by overflows and foundering·, the crust had become 

thicker with time, and cracks no longer penetrated 

hot, brightly glowing lava. The outward push of 

lava-rafted crust at the margins of the inner part of 

the lake caused the crust of the outer part to buckle 

along lines of weakness, mostly the thin-crusted linear oozeups that occupied cracks along former margins of the inner lake. 

The inferred pattern of lava circulation during the 

evening of August 22 and the margin of the inner 

active part of the lake at three different times are 

shown in figure 28, adapted from figure 7 of Peck 

(1966). Early in the evening, the strongest flow of 

lava from the fountains was in a stream under the 

crust northeast of the long axis of the lake. Between 

1711 45m and 2211 45m, the .stream decreased in length 

and shifted to a position southwest of the major 

axis. The stream continued to d·ecrease in length, 

and by 23 11 16m it extended only 100 m from the vent. 

The flow of lava was deflected each time at the 

southeast end of the lake, probably by a buttress of 

static viscous lava. Subsidiary currents split off 

from the stream towards the margin of the lake, 

diminishing in vigor with greater distance from the 

vents. 

Because the surface of the lake rose only imperceptibly during the last 26 hours of the eruption, we 

conclude that the outward flow of lava near the surface was compensated by slow flowage of relatively 

dense degassed lava downward and backward toward the vents in the main body of the lake, as 

shown in the cro.ss section in figure 29. Presumedly, 

this lava was either recirculated in the lake or 

seeped back down inactive parts of the feeding 

fissUJre. 

DEVELOPMENT OF JOINT CRACKS 

When first traversed 4 days after the eruption, the 

lake surface was found to be broken by a network of 

cracks outlining irregular polygons of crust. Some 

of these cracks had been widened, forming gaping 

crevasses as much as 30 em wide and 2 m deep (fig. 

30) . Many were still glowing red at the bottom on 

August 30 and yielded temperatures as high as 960° 

C. The cracks more than 2.5 em wide at the surface 

formed an open network in the central part of the 

lake that radiated outward towards the edge (fig. 

31). The pattern is reminiscent of the network of 

faults over a piercement dome. Presumedly, cracks 

formed as a result of thermal contraction in the thin 

crust of the lake during the latter part of the eruption were widened at the end of the eruption because 

the .surface crust was extended by downsagging during drainback of the underlying molten lava. 

The formation of joint cracks by thermal contraction of the cooling crust of the lake was studied in 

detail for 2 years by repeated mapping (~t 10 ft to 

the inch, 1 : 120) of new cracks and deposits of sublimates in an area approximately 30 m (100 ft) on 

a side near the center of the lake (fig. 17). Observations and conclusions derived from this study and 

from studies of Makaopuhi and Kilauea Iki lava 

lake.s have been summarized by Peck and Minakami 

(1968). Surface features in the area, other than 

cracks and sublimates, are shown in figure 26. 

The cracks were first mapped during late October, 

November, and early December 1963, when the crust 

was 3 to 4 m thick. The area was found to be divided 

by a random orthogonal network (Lachenbruch, 
0 

ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE 

25 50 75 METR ES 

Levee and m oat 

D Interior part of lake 

~ Shea r zon e 

EXPLANATION 

@ Cloc kwise coil 

9 Counterc lockwi se coil 

.J ?h42_m_ Outer margin of active lava circulation . d ashed wh ere approx imatel y located , at 17h45m . 22h45m . and 23hl6 m 

on Au g ust 22. 1963. during a late stage of th e e ruption . 

Margins are loci of pressure ridges and l in ear s qu eeze 

ups 

- In ferred direction of subcrustal lava flowage 

A25 

FIGURE 28.-0uter margins of active lava circulation, shear zones, and inferred directions of lava flowage on August 22, 

1963. 

1962, p. 48) of straight to gently curving contraction cracks, which ranged from hairline fractures to 

gaping cracks as wide as 20 em (fig. 32). The cracks 

outlined irregular polygons of crust 1.5 to 6 m wide, 

most of which had 3 to 6 sides. Less abundant were 

short cracks near the centers of crack polygons and 

branching off from longer cracks. Many of the 

cracks follow preexisting flaws in the lava lake, such 
A26 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

A FEET 

Outward flow progressively d im inished by lateral flow 

2580 

2570 

2560 

J 

2550 / I 

2540 

.. ---

I I 

/ 

2530 

2520 0 100 

0 25 

I 

I 

200 FEET 

50 METRES 

A' M ETRES 

- 785 

780 

775 

770 

2510 ~---------------------------------------------------- 765 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

FIGURE 29.- Cross section along the major axis of Alae lava lake (see fig. 17) during the evening of August 

22, showing inferred lava circulation. Ve·rtical exaggeration, X 10. 

as the fronts of small flows and shear cracks. Where 

irregularities in the walls of the cracks or features 

such as shear zones on the adjacent lake surface 

permitted correlation across the cracks, no horizontal 

offset along the crack could be identified. In most 

places, only displacement normal to the plane of the 

crack surface was present, although, in a very few 

areas, one side was displaced vertically as much as 

5 em with respect to the other. More than 90 percent 

of the crack intersections for which the angle of 

intersection could be determined were orthogonal 

(marked by solid dots in fig. 32). In many places, 

orthogonal intersection was achieved by curvature 

of one or both of the cracks close to the point of 

intersection. 

FIGURE 30.-Joint cracks at the surface of Alae lava lake 

formed during drainback near the close of the eruption. 

Photograph taken August 11, 1965. Map case for scale. 

Many of the cracks in the area were very inconspicuous, particularly during this early stage of the 

cooling history of the lake, when few cracks were 

marked by incrustations of sublimates. Some could 

be found only by scraping away the filamented surface layer and following the course of the crack on 

hands and knees. In parts of the area, the cracks 

were concealed by thin surface flows, in the cracks at 

the fronts of small flows, or in shallow surface 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A27 

/ 

/ 

I 

I I 

I / 

I / 

( I 

I \ 

I 

I I \ I 

\ \ If 

'\ .. ~ 

0 

' \ 

25 50 75 METRES 

/ /"--<::... ---........... / ......... -... 

/ 

I 

I \ I 

\ 

\ 

Mapped October and November, 1963 

EXPLANATION 

Cracks <7.5 em in width 

Cracks ?7.5 em and :;10 em in width 

--- Cracks > 10 em in width 

Shallow cracks <:::2 m in depth 

FIGURE 31.-Map of joint cracks on Alae lava lake that formed during drainback near the close of the eruption. 

cracks formed during the eruption. No doubt some 

cracks were missed during the mapping; radiation 

temperatures in December 1964 along a line near 

the northwest edge of the area (Decker and Peck, 

1967) indicate the presence of several that had been 

overlooked. 

The surface of the area was not flat but was made 

up of broad hummocks separated by sharp troughs. 

The surface of each hummock sloped outward with 

increasing steepness toward the marginal trough, 

somewhat like an inverted saucer, as shown in the 

cross section of figure 32. The relief, excluding pressure ridges and oozeups, had a maximum of about 60 

em but averaged less than 30 em. Each hummock 

was made up of one or more crack polygons and, 

with few exceptions, bounded by cracks on all sides. 
A28 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAWAII 

16 

FEET 

2570 -

-1 \ 

2560 -

c---- 1\ 

( 

l 

Cracks and sublimates. December 1963 

Crack >5 em in width 

\ ~I 

' 

I 

r 1 

\o _j 1:':· v--------\ .. I '--:: . I ·\·..:.: 

\ · .. 

0 10 20 FEET 

0 5 METRES 

_.-----..,_ 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

EXPLANATION 

----- Crack _?2.5 em and s5 em in width; dashed where covered 

----- Crack<2.5 em in width; dashed where covered . . Deposit of sublimates 

ME! RES 

r ) 

- 775 

New cracks and sublimates, May 15, 1964 

New cracks and sublimates, November 16, 1964 

New cracks and sublimates, August 11, 1965 

Crack intersections 90° 

60° or 120° 

FIGURE 32.-Cracks on part of the August 1963 Alae lava lake. Location of area is shown in figure 17; surface features 

other than cracks and sublimates are shown in figure 26. Cross section is along the southeast· edge of the area. Numbers 

at corners of the map area refer to tagged nails marking surveyed stations. 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A29 

Where boundary cracks were not evident, they probably were present at shallow depth but were obscured at the surface by thin overlying flowlets. The 

troughs delimiting hummocks and the crests of the 

hummocks are mapped in figure 33. The hummocks 

ranged from 3 to 6 m in diameter, averaging about 

41/l! m. Most were roughly equant, but a few were 

elongate parallel to the long dimension of the lake. 

Hollow cavities occurred at shallow depths beneath 

the crests of many of the hummocks (fig. 33) and 

36 w----------------,-----------------------.--------------------~------~------~ 

0 0 + 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ -Cf 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

20 FEET 

0 5 MET RES 

EXPLANATION 

Major trough 

Minor trough 

+ Crest of dome 

0 Cavity at sha llow depth 

0 

+ + 

tV 

I 

FIGURE 33.-Map showing troughs and crests on part of Alae lava lake. Location of area is shown in figure 17. Crests of 

domes are marked by crosses. Cavities at shallow depth (located by stamping on the surface and listening for a hollow sound) are marked by circles. Numbers at corners of the map area refer to tagged nails marking surveyed stations. 
A30 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

were encountered in drilling at depths of 0.3 to 1.2 

m. The appearance of similar features in flows exposed on the walls of craters and in roadcuts suggests that the cavities in the Alae lake were lensoid 

openings having convex-upward tops and fiat floors. 

Observations during and after the Makaopuhi eruption indicate that hummocky topography starts 

forming within a few hours after formation of the 

crust and is completed within 1 to 4 days (Peck and 

Minakami, 1968, p. 1154). The uplift of polygon 

centers and the formation there of lensoid cavities 

and vesicular zones apparently is caused by the trapping of gas exsolved from the underlying molten 

lava. Escape of the gas through cracks at polygon 

boundaries, in contrast, leads to downsagging of 

the margins. 

When detailed mapping was first begun in late 

October, very few of the cracks had incrustations of 

sublimates along them. No sublimates are evident on 

a photograph from the overlook taken October 21, 

1963 (fig. 34), and none were noticed during the 

work on the lake until late October. By the time the 

mapping was completed on December 17, 1963, the 

lake surface had cooled sufficiently for sublimates to 

be deposited. Many of the cracks had incrustations, 

FIGURE 34.-Alae lava lake as viewed from the overlook at 

the south rim of crater on October 21, 1963. Few sublimates 

have been deposited on the lake surface as yet because of 

the relatively high temperatures at shallow depth in the 

lake. Compare with figure 35. 

yellow deposits of sulfur and white deposits of gypsum and anhydrite, along them. The sublimates were 

particularly noticeable along the short cracks within 

the polygons, many of which had opened during the 

course of the mapping. During this period, yellow 

sublimate-laden gases could be seen rising along 

some of the cracks. Most of the sublimates were 

washed away by heavy rains during the next several 

months, and the areas of incrustation became 

inconspicuous. 

On almost every day of work on the lake during 

the next several months, cracks could be heard opening in the lake with a sound like that of a sharp distant explosion. New cracks and strips incrusted with 

sublimates were therefore remapped in the study 

area on May 15, 1964 (fig. 32), when the crust was 

7 m thick. The mapping revealed many new cracksmostly short cracks near the crests of hummocks 

but also a few cracks that extended across crack 

polygons and subdivided them into nearly equal 

parts. The short cracks at the crests of hummocks 

probably extended to depths of only a few feet, because of the presence of underlying cavities. 

Almost all of the new and many of the preexisting cracks were by now bordered at the surface by 

incrustations of sublimates. Deposition of sublimates 

at the surface was accelerated during the first few 

months of 1964, as shown by the photograph (fig. 

35) taken on August 25, 1964, because of drastic 

cooling of the uppermost part of the crust by heavy 

rains, which brought 167 em of rainfall between 

January 2 and May 28. In late December, only the 

upper 10 em was below 100°C; by May, this thickness had increased to 1 m. As a result, gases rich in 

sulfur and calcium sulfate that were rising along the 

cracks were cooled sufficiently to deposit the sublimates instead of carrying them into the atmosphere 

to be blown away by the wind. Heavy rainfall is not 

a necessary requirement for such deposits; sublimates were deposited on the cooler margins of Alae 

lava lake and more sparingly on the center before 

the onset of the heavy rain. During the period from 

December to May, sublimates were deposited not 

only along new cracks but also along some preexisting cracks, which suggested renewed downward 

propagation of at least some of the cracks in the 

thickening crust of the lake. 

The thin filamented surface layer of the lake had 

now loosened from the underlying lava over much of 

the lake. This apparently resulted from the widespread formation of small subhorizontal fractures at 

the base of the layer, presumedly the result of devitrification of the glassy filaments and differential 
ERUPTION OF AUGUST 1963 AND FORMATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE A31 

FIGURE 35.-Alae lava lake as viewed from the head of the 

aerial tram at the south end of the crater on August 25, 

1964. Incrustations of sublimates are apparent along some 

of the joint cracks as a result of more than 170 em of 

rainfall during the preceding 8 months. Compare with figure 34. 

thermal contraction of the frothy layer and the relatively dense underlying lava during cooling. Over 

narrow areas adjacent to some cracks, the loose 

pieces had been washed by rainwater and blown by 

wind into the open cracks, leaving a smooth surface 

of nonfilamented lava exposed (fig. 36). 

The rains had chilled the crust of the lake so 

drastically by the end of May that temperatures in 

the upper 2 m of the crust did not fall during the 

following 7 months, but instead stayed approximately constant. When the study area was remapped on 

November 16, 1964, 15 months after the eruption and 

2 months after solidification of the last interstitial 

melt in the lake, few new cracks or areas incrusted 

by sublimates were discovered (fig. 32). 

When the area was mapped again on August 11, 

1965, almost 2 years after the eruption, many new 

cracks were found (fig. 32). The maximum temperature in the lake by this date had fallen to about 680° 

C, 300°C below the solidus temperature. The new 

cracks, which were short and sublimate incrusted, 

occurred in long swarms that crossed major preexisting cracks (Peck and Minakami, 1968, pl. 1, 

fig. 2). Newly deposited sublimates were also found I 

along preexisting cracks crossed by the swarms. The 

FIGURE 36.-Areas bared of the filamented surface layer near 

joint cracks in Alae lava lake. Photograph taken March 1965. 

alinement and continuity of the swarms of short 

cracks indicate that they were the surface expression of major continuous cracks at depth in the 

lake. A few swarms could be seen outside the study 

area in February 1964. More can be seen in the 

August 1964 photograph (fig. 35) and even more in 

the August 1965 photograph (fig. 37). Some of these 

appear to outline large polygons 30 m or so across. 

The mapping shows that these did not correspond to 

preexisting crack polygons but instead cut across 

them. The swarms probably represent new cracks 

that originated at depths of 5 to 15 m in the lake 

and propagated upward to the surface, as suggested 

by the discontinuous nature of the individual cracks 

in each swarm, the length of each swarm and its 

continuity cross major preexisting cracks, and the 

large dimensions of polygons outlined by some of 

the swarms. Between May 1964 and August 1965, 

temperatures in the upper metre of the crust decreased very slightly; thus little stress induced by 

thermal contraction developed near the surface of 

the lake. As a result, the upward-propagating cracks 

feathered out near the surface. In contrast, temperatures deep within the crust continued to fa~J after 

May 1964. The maximum change in temperature 

between May 1964 and August 1965, and hence the 

maximum accumulated stress, was at a depth of 

about 10 m, which was slightly below the middle of 
A32 SOLIDIFICATION OF ALAE LAVA LAKE, HAW All 

FIGURE 37.-Alae lava lake on August 18, 1965, as viewed 

from the head of the aerial tram at the south rim of the 

crater. Swarms of sublimate-incrusted cracks can be seen, 

some of which outline large crack polygons in the lake. 

the lava lake. Apparently the downward growth of 

preexisting cracks did not adequately release the accumulated stress in this zone so that new cracks 

opened at points distant from preexisting cracks and 

propagated upward into the zone of small accumulated stress. 

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