Abstract
Terminal lobes of sheet flows of pahoehoe lava sometimes form three-dimensional nests, initially separated by partitions consisting of accreted "skins” of each lobe. Melting breaks down these partitions, forming a uniform flow unit. In Kilauea Caldera we have found and mapped sizable drained cavities in low-slope sheet flows. Their general pattern includes three-dimensional nests, with partially melted septa evident in some examples. Christmas Cave is the most extensive found to date, with 632 meters surveyed on two levels. It is located at the lower end of an inflated sheet flow tongue which underwent local deflation as a result of drainage through the cave after its parameters were partially fixed. Small conduit remnants persist in its boundary ridges. The major part of the cave consists of wide, low nestled chambers. Meltdown of such partitions is one of the few emplacement mechanisms of thermal erosion which may not involve any mechanical element. Additional caves in this caldera are being identified and studied.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.27.1.11
Recommended Citation
Halliday, William R..
1998.
Sheet flow caves of Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii County, Hawaii.
International Journal of Speleology,
27: 107-112.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ijs/vol27/iss1/11
