Episodic deflation-inflation events at Kīlauea Volcano and implications for the shallow magma system

Episodic variations in magma pressures and flow rates at Kīlauea Volcano, defined by a characteristic temporal evolution and termed deflation-inflation (DI) events, have been observed since at least the 1990s. DI events consist of transient, days-long deflations and subsequent reinflations of the summit region, accompanied since 2008 by fluctuations in the surface height of Kīlauea's summit lava lake. After a delay of minutes to hours, these events also often appear along the volcano's East Rift Zone in ground deformation data and as temporary reductions in eruption rate (sometimes followed by brief surges). Notable pauses in DI activity have preceded many eruptive events at Kīlauea. We analyzed more than 500 DI events recorded by borehole tiltmeters at the summit during 2000–2013. Inverse modeling suggests that DI-related ground deformation at the summit is generated by pressure transients in a shallow magma reservoir located beneath the east margin of Halema‘uma‘u Crater and that this reservoir has remained remarkably stable for more than a decade. Utilizing tilt data and variation in the level of the summit lava lake during a large DI event, we estimate a reservoir volume of approximately 1 km³ (0.2–5.5 km³ at 95% confidence).