Kilauea Magnetotelluric Dataset

In 2002 and 2003 a collaborative effort was undertaken between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the USGS Menlo Park, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and Electromagnetic Instruments Inc. to study the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii using the magnetotelluric (MT) technique. The work was motivated by a desire to improve understanding of the magma reservoirs and conduits within Kilauea and the East and Southwest Rift zones, which has implications for understanding Kilaueas plumbing system. An improved understanding of the rift zones has implications in understanding large-scale landslides that are generated in the Hilina Slump, which produce significant impacts on coastal communities. Up to eight stations operated simultaneously, with multiple remote reference sites, and data were processed using multi-station robust processing techniques. In total, data were acquired at 70 sites over the Southwest and East rift zones. Good to excellent quality data were obtained even in the harshest conditions, such as those encountered on the fresh lava flows of the East Rift Zone (ERZ), where electrical contact resistances are on the order of 100 kOhm. This data supports the continuing efforts to increase geothermal power on the island of Hawaii. Each of the 70 EDI files are the MT impedance tensors for 1 site. There is also a description of the processing of the data and a site map showing the locations of each site.