HR: 1600h
AN: V14A-01 INVITED [Abstracts]
TI: Assessing Lava Flow Hazards from Mauna Loa: A Natural Laboratory
AU: * Trusdell, F A
EM: trusdell@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, PO Box 51, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718, United States
AB:
The primary goal of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is to
provide scientific information that can be used to reduce risks from volcanic activity. With detailed geologic
mapping, we are using GIS to assess lava flow hazards for Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa makes up 51 percent of the
surface area of the island of Hawai"i. Its lava flows extend 50 km or more from source vents and
have reached the sea in less than 24 hours. Mauna Loa has been showing signs of inflation and will
undoubtedly erupt again. Anything in the path of a flow will be buried, crushed, or ignited. Emergency managers
need to know the areas threatened with inundation, the frequency of inundation, and the people, property, and
facilities at risk. We have prepared several different types of analyses: topographic, inundation, economic, and
recurrence, to assess the potential hazards that lava flows present to communities on the island of Hawaii. GIS
has greatly facilitated our ability to provide hazards analysis which should serve as a guide for planning by
emergency managers and the public. It has enabled us to quantify volcanic risk on Mauna Loa in ways never
before attempted for any volcano.
DE: 8425 Effusive volcanism
DE: 8486 Field relationships (1090, 3690)
DE: 8488 Volcanic hazards and risks
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting