Steven Lundblad, Professor of Geology

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Professor Lundblad is a geochemist who studies the chemical composition of Hawaiian stone tools and active lava flows on Hawaiʻi Island.

At left is image of erupting volcano, bright red hot lava shooting up. At right is profile photo of Steve Lundblad.
Professor of Geology Steve Lundblad. At left is fluid basalt erupting from fissure 20 on May 20, 2018, at the lower east rift zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. The real-time analysis of the lava by Prof. Lundblad and research team was of immense benefit to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff and other federal and county officials in their decision making processes during the eruption. (Courtesy photos)

Posted Aug. 2, 2024

Steven Lundblad is a professor of geology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. His area of expertise and research is in geochemistry, notably in investigating the chemical composition of Hawaiian stone tools (without any damage to the artifacts) and of active lava flows on Hawaiʻi Island.

“I originally examined sedimentary rocks, but transitioned to investigating volcanic rocks after moving to Hawaiʻi 21 years ago,” he says.

Lundblad went to a variety of institutions for his training; all his degrees are in geology. He received his bachelor’s in science from Harvard in 1985, his master of science from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988 where he did a project mapping sedimentary rocks near Glacier National Park, and his doctor of philosophy from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1994. For his dissertation he investigated isotopic geochemistry of limestones in Central Italy to determine the relationship between sedimentation and faulting.

The geochemist arrived at UH Hilo in 2003 in a temporary position. He was hired as an assistant professor in 2007.

Lundblad’s geochemical research on Hawaiʻi Island has two themes. He studies Hawaiian tools primarily from the Maunakea adze quarry complex, the largest-known prehistoric quarry in the Pacific Basin, and he studies the geochemistry of rocks from the island’s volcanoes, notably from active lava flows.

For both types of research, Lundblad conducts his geochemical analyses with the non-destructive Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer housed at the UH Hilo Geoarchaeology Laboratory. Lundblad and Professor of Anthropology Peter Mills have operated the lab as inter-departmental collaborators for almost two decades, conducting their research and training undergraduates and graduate students in EDXRF technology.

Groundbreaking work in non-destructive study of artifacts

Lundblad and Mills’s use of the EDXRF in their research is groundbreaking. Former studies of Hawaiian adze distribution were limited in scope, and conventionally relied on destructive means for analyses. This type of study was universally accepted, considered the norm when conducting Western science techniques even in culturally sensitive contexts.

But Lundblad and Mills expanded the traditional use of EDXRF, which was being used primarily for obsidian analyses, to include non-destructive analyses of more heterogeneous artifacts made of basalt, trachyte, and andesite. This means the geochemical analysis of artifacts found on Maunakea (and elsewhere) — which allows archeologists and geologists to track sources, historical trade movement, and so forth — can be done without destroying the artifact.

Lundblad’s artifact research specifically tracks how Hawaiian stone tools were exchanged, with much of the field work conducted in the Maunakea adze quarries. To do the tracking, he uses the geochemical fingerprint of source areas and the lithic material left behind. This is where the innovative use of the EDXRF comes in.

“Peter Mills and I have done a lot to change the way in which our field of geoarchaeology is conducted,” says Lundblad. “We’ve demonstrated that we can accurately determine the source of artifactual material non-destructively, and therefore in a more culturally sensitive way. We are also able to address different types of questions due to the number of samples that we can analyze relative to other techniques.”

See published studies on this research, a few selected here:

Real-time analysis of volcanic rock

Lundblad and Mills’s innovative use of the EDXRF technology has also changed the standard for how geochemical monitoring is done on active lava flows.

“We have sped up the process to the point where we can identify the whole-rock geochemistry, and therefore some of the characteristics of the lava, on the same day it was erupted,” says Lundblad. “This allows for more interaction between scientists and decision makers to minimize the risk from eruptions and better forecast what the volcanic hazard will be with a given eruption.”

This new use of EDXRF analytical technology also re-introduced its value to the world-wide geological community, especially in areas where rapid analyses of fresh eruptive material can be of great benefit.

Lundblad’s work in analyzing changes in chemical composition of lava flows from new eruptions as they are happening has proven to be of immense benefit to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff and other federal and county officials in their decision making processes during eruptions.

“This was particularly useful in 2018 in Puna,” says Lundblad about the eruption that commenced on May 3 of that year in Kīlauea Volcano’s lower east rift zone and eventually destroyed hundreds of structures caught in the path of lava flows and triggered a collapse at the summit.

In real time, the research team developed an analytical procedure to characterize the geochemistry of the lava within a few hours of sample collection, allowing them to identify specific elements that track lava compositions and estimate lava temperatures through chemical geothermometers, invaluable information to crisis response teams on the ground.

Graphic of the eruption showing layers of the rift. And two images of the eruption.
The 2018 lower east rift zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano with inferred magma sources and pathways. At top, a simplified model of Kīlauea’s magma system feeding the 2018 lower east rift zone eruption and locations of hypothesized magma end-members below sea level. Lower left, fluid basalt erupting from fissure 20 on May 20, 2018. Lower right, fissure 17 erupting andesite more explosively 800 meters away. (Photos by U.S. Geological Survey via Science)

The analytical work provided a valuable and unexpected find for geologists as well: the research team discovered andesites (higher silica) were present.

“These types of lavas have not been found in Hawaiʻi before, and it was a surprise to see them during the eruption,” says Lundblad. “This pointed to small pockets of old magma stored in the rift zone that changed composition while they cooled, and were then forced to erupt from the new magma injecting into the Lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea.”

This was a significant find and the team published an article about the geochemistry they discovered in the journal Science: The tangled tale of Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption as told by geochemical monitoring (Dec. 6, 2019).

Prof. Lundblad and research colleague Cheryl Gansecki (lead author of the 2019 paper) were awarded the 2019 Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi Award for Excellence and Innovation at UH Hilo for their work developing and implementing the rapid-analysis protocol.

More recently, Lundblad, his students, and colleague Assistant Professor of Geology Lis Gallant are studying deformation in the area south of the summit caldera of Kīlauea to track how magma moves and interacts with the faults, and vice versa, using kinematic global positioning system (GPS) and other traditional geodetic techniques.

“These studies provide detailed information to augment the existing extensive monitoring network operated by HVO,” says Lundblad.

Three people in a lab looking at a computer screen.
In the UH Hilo geology lab, Professor Steve Lundblad, at right, views the solid matter spewed from the 2022 Maunaloa eruption with Johanne Schmith, center, a U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory post-doc, and Julie Chang, at left. The matter includes beautiful Pele’s Hair and Limu o Pele. Microscope images are projected onto the computer screen and archived. (Darcy Bevens/CSAV)

Recent publications on Prof. Lundblad’s active volcano work:

Students gain the advantage

Professors Lundblad encourages his students to be part of his research projects and has worked with them to be co-authors on publications and conference presentations.

“They are a joy to work with and it is a great experience for us all to be part of the discovery process,” says the professor. “One of the great things about being a student at UH Hilo is the opportunity to be part of authentic research projects and gain real experience for the next step in our students’ lives, whether it is graduate school or employment.”

“Our students, both in geology and anthropology have a real advantage when they are looking for opportunities after graduation,” says Lundblad.

Two students take measurements near large crevasse.
Two of Prof. Lundblad’s students take measurements in the field. (Courtesy photo/Steve Lundblad)

By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of Keaohou and UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.