34. Umino, S., Lipman, P.W. and Obata, S., 2000. Formation of Subaqueous Flow Lobes, Observed on KAIKO ROV Dives off Hawaii. Geology, 28, 502 - 506.

ROV KAIKO dives north of Oahu Island and on the lower south rift zone of Loihi Seamount revealed diverse flow morphologies of submarine lava, which correlate with slope of the basement and the rate of lava delivery. Steep to moderate (> 10｡) slopes are covered with elongate pillows and narrow pahoehoe streams, while bulbous pillows and smooth pahoehoe lobes occur on flat areas and gentle slopes. Some gentle slopes are covered by lobate sheet flows that supply pillow flows. Smooth pahoehoe lobes change into lobate sheets, which indicates that the sheets form by coalescence and inflation of successively emplaced flow lobes. Many features of the lobate sheet flows resemble subaerial pahoehoe on gentle slopes of Hawaiian shield cones. Many pahoehoe flows contain hollow lobes that have inflated and collapsed. Thin crusts (4-20 cm) and large volumes (0.7-1050 m³) of such hollow lobes suggest a lava supply rate of 0.03-8 m³/min. These supply rates are one order of magnitude larger than those for subaerial tumuli in Iceland. This is due to thinner viscoelastic layers of subaqueous lobes at the time of inflation, which allowed higher excess pressures and expansion rates.