Rain that lit the ground- Magma eruption

Hawaii, an archipelago of 8 islands is home to enormous volcanic activities. Among the volcanoes in its Hawai’i Volcanoes Nation Park, Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It had periodically shown its eruption from 1983 and for all these years it has been erupting the magma from its upper East rift zone.

But in May 2018, a new set of eruptions began in the lower East rift zone destroying the southeastern side of the park. Reason? Though they are not sure about that, they do have a theory. Farquharson and Amelung tell that it was the extensive rainfall that pulled out this magma from the ground. The rainfall received in early 2018 was comparatively high to previous years leading to an unusual rise in the groundwater reserve, producing more pressure on the land around it.

The rocks in volcanic regions are very permeable which means they can let a huge amount of water pass through them in a short time. These rundown water can reach deeper, almost above the rocks where magma is stored. This increase in water pressure accompanied by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that happened that year could have broken the rocks easily leading to this eruption.

What supports their claim on Magma?

This theory can be quite misleading considering the fact that water at such a closer level to magma would turn it into a supercritical fluid, making this Rock failure less possible. Because at the supercritical stage the pressure exerted by water would reduce the change in pressure expected by Farquharson and Amelung’s model.

But when taken a peek at the history of rainfall and eruptions happened at Kīlauea since 1790, they show that all the eruptions occurred had been on the wettest time of the year. This theory has given a new possibility for scientists to look at and never before seen insight into the geographical studies. Who would have thought that the crust deep down could talk up above the sky?