:: EXPLORATIONS MAGAZINE : SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UCSD : FEATURES ::

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Subterranean Cracks

Meanwhile, on the Big Island of Hawaii, hot magma is blazing new trails beneath Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Scripps professor David Sandwell is using the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), launched in 2006 by the Japanese Space Agency, to closely monitor this subterranean volcanic activity.

On Father's Day 2007, the eastern portion of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island woke up after more than 30 years. The east rift of the volcano, part of a complex subterranean plumbing system, is exhibiting new motion that could affect residents living on the volcanically active island.

Sandwell along with Scripps graduate student David Meyer analyzed data collected by the synthetic aperture radar aboard the ALOS spacecraft in an effort to both examine the accuracy of the satellite's instrumentation and analyze subtle changes to the structure of the volcano system.

"Kilauea started rifting so we decided to look at the data, said Sandwell. "It ended up being pretty spectacular."

Kilauea's caldera, the mouth of the crater, deflated about 10 cm (4 inches) as the magma chamber emptied. The rift, which is directly connected to the underlying dike system, opened 2 meters (6.5 feet). Meanwhile underground, the Pu`u `O`o crater stopped delivering magma to the ocean and started erupting toward the northeast. Observing these minute changes, a capability only available in the last decade, is valuable to understanding the opening of new lava flows and possible future eruptions.

"Before 1995 we would not have detected this movement," said Sandwell.

The tiny cracks that appeared on the well-worn road would have gone undetected by volcanologists if satellites hadn't given them a heads-up.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) monitors this region very closely. Any change in lava flow direction, such as this one to the northeast occurring at Kilauea, could devastate another densely populated area of the island. Continued satellite observations will be vital to protect lives and property as the volcano actively transforms the landscape of this popular island destination.

In the coming months, Sandwell and colleagues will analyze data captured at Scripps's Pi on Flat Observatory located south of Palm Springs to study what has been occurring beneath the San Andreas fault system in California.

"In the next few years we're going to learn a lot from this satellite," said Sandwell. "It provides much better coverage than any other observation system, allowing us to zoom in on the fault to see changes in the earth's crust at the millimeter level."

Scientists are confident that more and better satellite observations in the future will transform our understanding of the earth's system. These observations can help to minimize the effects of nature's fury and help reduce the human footprint on the natural environment.

Next page: The Future of Satellite Science

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