Kilauea volcano, on the Big Island of Hawai`i, is among the world’s most active, best studied, and most visited volcanoes, with near constant eruptive activity occurring since 1983. In the summer of 2018, Kilauea began a new eruption that included the greatest flux of magma ever recorded at Kilauea, the collapse of the volcano’s summit region, and ultimately the termination of 35 years of continuous eruptive activity. While the effects of the 2018 eruption on the island are obvious—over 700 homes were destroyed in the event—less well understood is how the addition of new material impacted the submarine portion of the volcano. Mapping of offshore deposits suggests that over 60% of the material erupted during the 2018 event was emplaced below the sea. This presentation focuses on the earthquakes and sounds generated by lava-water interactions at Kilauea’s coast. Sounds generated by lava flows, explosions, and landslide provide insight into the growth and evolution of the volcano’s slopes.

Jackie Caplan-Auerbach is a professor of Geology and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Western Washington University. Jackie’s undergraduate years were spent at Yale University where she earned degrees in both Physics and English. She then spent six years as a high school physics teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, before moving to Honolulu to pursue graduate study. In 2001 Jackie earned her Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, after which she spent five years working for the Alaska Volcano Observatory during a period of remarkable volcanic quiescence. Jackie’s research focuses on the seismic and acoustic signals generated by volcanoes and landslides. Most of the volcanoes she studies are in the undersea domain, and she is happiest when on the water.