Decisions to interfere with the natural path of lava are constrained by geological, engineering a... more Decisions to interfere with the natural path of lava are constrained by geological, engineering and logistical factors; and legal, environmental and socio-cultural considerations. Lava flows erupted from several volcanoes around the world have threatened people and their property, motivating them to take actions to prevent or slow its advance by diverting the flow direction using channels, berms and explosives or obstructing the lava by quenching with water or armoring. Property to be protected has included government, public, commercial and private property ranging from cities and harbors to personal property. The earliest known attempt to influence the path of lava occurred in 1669 on Mount Etna, Italy, but more recent experience there occurred in the 1980s-90s. Several eruptions at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawai‘i also provided abundant experience (1881, 1935, 1942, 1955, 1960 and several times during the on-going 1983- present eruption of Kīlauea). Additional experience relates to experimental tests and an untested berm on Mauna Loa. Most recently though, local businessmen on Kīlauea constructed earthen berms to protect their property and the local utility authority constructed novel protective structures around electric utility poles. Decisions to use mitigation strategies may be based on expert scientific opinion, but public opposition has been reported to alone be able to prevent lava mitigation. In 2014, public opinions about the use of traditional mitigation strategies (diversion by berms or bombing) to protect commercial and residential areas of Puna were mixed among residents, but there appeared to be no opposition to a new mitigation strategy that protected key areas of the electrical infrastructure and supply of electricity. To help understand public opinion about this and various mitigation strategies and people’s acceptance of additional risk to personal property to help protect important elements of their community, we conductied questionnaire surveys among residents on Kīlauea and Mauna Loa as part of a multi-university NSF Hazards SEES project. We evaluated crisis experience, hazard zonation, and community bondedness, in addition to socio-demographic and cultural factors, with beliefs concerning mitigation, including effectiveness of mitigation strategies for lava flows and others hazards; financial and legal considerations; and requirements for specialized knowledge, skills and cooperation
Fontana Tephra, one of only 4 well-documented basaltic plinian eruptions, was erupted from Masaya... more Fontana Tephra, one of only 4 well-documented basaltic plinian eruptions, was erupted from Masaya in late Pleistocene. Basaltic explosive volcanism is typically characterized by an open-system magma ascent and degassing that produces lava effusion or weakly explosive eruptions. Fontana Tephra shows instead several plinian pulses involving basaltic-andesite ejecta (SiO2 ~ 53 wt%) and a pre-eruptive volatile content of approximately 2-3
Improving the response capacity of coastal communities at risk to tsunami presents an on-going ch... more Improving the response capacity of coastal communities at risk to tsunami presents an on-going challenge. To meet this challenge Washington State Emergency Management has supported the development of an evaluation program since 2001 to monitor and continually improve its tsunami education and preparedness programs. An initial survey of resident and non-resident visitor perceptions of and preparedness for tsunami hazards (n=300) was conducted along the west coast of Washington during August and September 2001. A second and third phase of evaluation began in February 2003, consisting of a series of focus groups and a school survey which examined beliefs regarding preparedness and warnings. Data from these surveys provide baseline data against which subsequent intervention activities are being assessed. The overall conclusion of the first three studies was that the hazard education program up to that time had been successful in terms of promoting awareness of and access to information about tsunami hazard among the residents. However, despite success in disseminating hazard information, levels of preparedness were recorded at low to moderate levels. The findings emphasized the importance of accommodating how pre-existing cognitive biases and social interpretive processes influence the translation of beliefs into actions, and the need for additional community engagement strategies to engage people with the risk management process to facilitate their enacting their beliefs in ways that increase sustained preparedness. Following the initial evaluation a range of educational materials and outreach initiatives were developed to address the key research findings. In 2005, another survey was undertaken in Ocean Shores, Washington to assess the level of tsunami hazard knowledge and response planning within the tourism sector. This study set out to evaluate staff training for emergencies, emergency management exercises, and hazard signage within motels and hotels. The study found levels of staff training and preparedness for [...]
An unmanned aerial vehicle provided the high-resolution data that allowed scientists to construct... more An unmanned aerial vehicle provided the high-resolution data that allowed scientists to construct their first detailed map of erupting vents at Stromboli, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Abstract Strata of the Takitimu Group form a 14 km thick homoclinal sequence in the central Takit... more Abstract Strata of the Takitimu Group form a 14 km thick homoclinal sequence in the central Takitimu Mountains. The sequence consists of Lower Permian interbedded marine volcaniclastic sediments and basaltic to rhyodacitic volcanic rocks. The importance of the predominantly mass-flow emplaced sediments which comprise over 75% of the sequence is stressed, and it is suggested that the group accumulated principally as an apron of volcaniclastic detritus in an arc-related basin or basins. Five new formations are proposed and described: Brunei (oldest), Chimney Peaks, Heartbreak, MacLean Peaks, and Elbow (youngest). Basaltic volcanism predominated throughout the period when the Takitimu Group accumulated, but andesite and rhyodacite are locally significant. The latter is recognised here for the first time. dBrunei Formation consists principally of hemipelagic and distal basic volcaniclastic sediments with subordinate basaltic lava flows, hyaloclastites, and rare rhyodacitic lava flows. The Brunei Formation for...
Unusual eruptive conditions during September-October 2002 permitted us to collect clast populatio... more Unusual eruptive conditions during September-October 2002 permitted us to collect clast populations ejected during single explosions and closely spaced series of explosions at Stromboli volcano. The clast populations have a range of textures and vesicularites suggesting melt resident in the shallow conduit was a mixture of rising, actively vesiculating magma, and material that had stagnated and partially outgassed in this environment. Explosions ejected clasts composed of either type of melt independently, in addition to clasts formed from mingling of both the freshly arrived and long resident magmas. We use measurements of vesicle size and shape to constrain the vesiculation and degassing processes, and to look at the influence of the long resident melt on the eruption process.
Decisions to interfere with the natural path of lava are constrained by geological, engineering a... more Decisions to interfere with the natural path of lava are constrained by geological, engineering and logistical factors; and legal, environmental and socio-cultural considerations. Lava flows erupted from several volcanoes around the world have threatened people and their property, motivating them to take actions to prevent or slow its advance by diverting the flow direction using channels, berms and explosives or obstructing the lava by quenching with water or armoring. Property to be protected has included government, public, commercial and private property ranging from cities and harbors to personal property. The earliest known attempt to influence the path of lava occurred in 1669 on Mount Etna, Italy, but more recent experience there occurred in the 1980s-90s. Several eruptions at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawai‘i also provided abundant experience (1881, 1935, 1942, 1955, 1960 and several times during the on-going 1983- present eruption of Kīlauea). Additional experience relates to experimental tests and an untested berm on Mauna Loa. Most recently though, local businessmen on Kīlauea constructed earthen berms to protect their property and the local utility authority constructed novel protective structures around electric utility poles. Decisions to use mitigation strategies may be based on expert scientific opinion, but public opposition has been reported to alone be able to prevent lava mitigation. In 2014, public opinions about the use of traditional mitigation strategies (diversion by berms or bombing) to protect commercial and residential areas of Puna were mixed among residents, but there appeared to be no opposition to a new mitigation strategy that protected key areas of the electrical infrastructure and supply of electricity. To help understand public opinion about this and various mitigation strategies and people’s acceptance of additional risk to personal property to help protect important elements of their community, we conductied questionnaire surveys among residents on Kīlauea and Mauna Loa as part of a multi-university NSF Hazards SEES project. We evaluated crisis experience, hazard zonation, and community bondedness, in addition to socio-demographic and cultural factors, with beliefs concerning mitigation, including effectiveness of mitigation strategies for lava flows and others hazards; financial and legal considerations; and requirements for specialized knowledge, skills and cooperation
Fontana Tephra, one of only 4 well-documented basaltic plinian eruptions, was erupted from Masaya... more Fontana Tephra, one of only 4 well-documented basaltic plinian eruptions, was erupted from Masaya in late Pleistocene. Basaltic explosive volcanism is typically characterized by an open-system magma ascent and degassing that produces lava effusion or weakly explosive eruptions. Fontana Tephra shows instead several plinian pulses involving basaltic-andesite ejecta (SiO2 ~ 53 wt%) and a pre-eruptive volatile content of approximately 2-3
Improving the response capacity of coastal communities at risk to tsunami presents an on-going ch... more Improving the response capacity of coastal communities at risk to tsunami presents an on-going challenge. To meet this challenge Washington State Emergency Management has supported the development of an evaluation program since 2001 to monitor and continually improve its tsunami education and preparedness programs. An initial survey of resident and non-resident visitor perceptions of and preparedness for tsunami hazards (n=300) was conducted along the west coast of Washington during August and September 2001. A second and third phase of evaluation began in February 2003, consisting of a series of focus groups and a school survey which examined beliefs regarding preparedness and warnings. Data from these surveys provide baseline data against which subsequent intervention activities are being assessed. The overall conclusion of the first three studies was that the hazard education program up to that time had been successful in terms of promoting awareness of and access to information about tsunami hazard among the residents. However, despite success in disseminating hazard information, levels of preparedness were recorded at low to moderate levels. The findings emphasized the importance of accommodating how pre-existing cognitive biases and social interpretive processes influence the translation of beliefs into actions, and the need for additional community engagement strategies to engage people with the risk management process to facilitate their enacting their beliefs in ways that increase sustained preparedness. Following the initial evaluation a range of educational materials and outreach initiatives were developed to address the key research findings. In 2005, another survey was undertaken in Ocean Shores, Washington to assess the level of tsunami hazard knowledge and response planning within the tourism sector. This study set out to evaluate staff training for emergencies, emergency management exercises, and hazard signage within motels and hotels. The study found levels of staff training and preparedness for [...]
An unmanned aerial vehicle provided the high-resolution data that allowed scientists to construct... more An unmanned aerial vehicle provided the high-resolution data that allowed scientists to construct their first detailed map of erupting vents at Stromboli, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Abstract Strata of the Takitimu Group form a 14 km thick homoclinal sequence in the central Takit... more Abstract Strata of the Takitimu Group form a 14 km thick homoclinal sequence in the central Takitimu Mountains. The sequence consists of Lower Permian interbedded marine volcaniclastic sediments and basaltic to rhyodacitic volcanic rocks. The importance of the predominantly mass-flow emplaced sediments which comprise over 75% of the sequence is stressed, and it is suggested that the group accumulated principally as an apron of volcaniclastic detritus in an arc-related basin or basins. Five new formations are proposed and described: Brunei (oldest), Chimney Peaks, Heartbreak, MacLean Peaks, and Elbow (youngest). Basaltic volcanism predominated throughout the period when the Takitimu Group accumulated, but andesite and rhyodacite are locally significant. The latter is recognised here for the first time. dBrunei Formation consists principally of hemipelagic and distal basic volcaniclastic sediments with subordinate basaltic lava flows, hyaloclastites, and rare rhyodacitic lava flows. The Brunei Formation for...
Unusual eruptive conditions during September-October 2002 permitted us to collect clast populatio... more Unusual eruptive conditions during September-October 2002 permitted us to collect clast populations ejected during single explosions and closely spaced series of explosions at Stromboli volcano. The clast populations have a range of textures and vesicularites suggesting melt resident in the shallow conduit was a mixture of rising, actively vesiculating magma, and material that had stagnated and partially outgassed in this environment. Explosions ejected clasts composed of either type of melt independently, in addition to clasts formed from mingling of both the freshly arrived and long resident magmas. We use measurements of vesicle size and shape to constrain the vesiculation and degassing processes, and to look at the influence of the long resident melt on the eruption process.
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Papers by Bruce Houghton