Volcanoes in Hawaii

High Tech Crew Members

Leader
Aaron Connelly
Members
Janei Isaacs
Amirah low
Yisreal Belle

Members
Farisa Douglas
Neshon Ng
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
Most of the volcanic eruptions in Hawaii have
occurred within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
One of these volcanoes, Kilauea, has been
erupting since 1983 and visitors to the National
Park can drive on two roads to see lava tubes,
steam vents and plants returning to the barren
landscape.
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
Kilauea is the youngest and most active Hawaiian
shield volcano, located on the southern part of the
Island of Hawaii, known as Big Island. Hawaii is the
southernmost and largest of the island chain.
Kilauea volcano is near-constantly erupting from vents
either on its summit (caldera) or on the rift zones. At
present, Kilauea volcano is still having one of the most
long-lived eruptions known on earth, which started in
1983 on the eastern rift zone and has mainly been
concentrated at the Pu'u 'O'o vent.
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
Its eruptions are prominent in Hawaiian
Polynesian legends and written
documentation about its activity go back
to only 1820s when it started to attract
interested visitor from all over the world
and became one of volcanology's hot
spots. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed
in several stages about 1500 years ago.
About 90% of the surface of the basaltic
shield volcano is formed of lava flows less
than about 1100 years old; 70% of the
volcano's surface is younger than 600
years. The long-term eruption from the
East rift zone that began in 1983 has
produced lava flows covering more than
100 sq km, destroying nearly 200 houses
and adding new coastline to the island.
Kilauea volcano, a youthful shield
volcano, sitting on the south east
flank of the massive Mauna Loa
shield volcano, is the youngest
volcano (on land) of the Hawaiian
hot spot and not only the most
active volcano of Hawaii but at the
same time also the world's active
volcano. It has been in near-constant
activity since there is oral or written
history and it is having an
uninterrupted eruption since 1983
(at present at the Pu'u 'O'o vent on
the East rift zone). 
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
• To the casual observer, Kilauea appears to be part of the larger volcano Mauna
Loa, but geological data indicates that it is a separate volcano with its own vent
and conduit system. Kilauea has had 61 recorded eruptions in the current cycle,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and has been erupting on a continuous
basis since 1983.
• The long-lasting eruption has destroyed more than 200 structures, including the
Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park visitor center, the Royal Gardens subdivision
and many homes and buildings in the town of Kalapana. For the last few years,
lava from P’u O’O crater mostly streamed south toward the ocean. But on June
27, 2014, flow erupted from a vent on the northeast flank of the crater.
• The new lava headed northeast into rough ground rumpled by deep cracks and
depressions, and then disappeared underground for a few weeks into one of
these cracks. On Sept. 2, lava welled up out of the crack and surfaced again, less
than a mile (1.3 km) from the closest homes in Kaohe Homesteads.
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
Scientists have two theories about the formation of
the Hawaiian Islands. Unlike most volcanoes, the
Hawaiian chain sits squarely in the middle of the
Pacific plate rather than on a tectonic boundary. In
1963, J. Tuzo Wilson proposed the “hotspot theory”
to explain this unusual placement. Wilson proposed
that the linear geography of the Hawaiian Islands is
due to the movement of the Pacific plate over a
stationary point of great heat from deep within the
Earth.
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
Heat from this localized hotspot melts
the Pacific plate above the hotspot as
the rocky crust is pushed over it by the
spreading seafloor along the plate
boundary. The melting rock of the
Pacific plate produces magma. Less
dense than the solid rock of the plate,
the magma rises through the mantle
and the crust as a thin thermal plume,
erupting beneath the ocean to form an
active seamount. Over time, the
countless eruptions increase the height
of the seamount until it breaks the
ocean surface and becomes an island
volcano.
As the Pacific plate continues to
move northward over time, the
island is pushed away from the
hotspot and a new island begins
to form over the hotspot. In
2009, Cecily Wolfe of the
University of Hawaii used sea
bottom sensors to identify how
seismic waves propagate through
the pliable mantle layer beneath
the Earth’s crust. She believes her
evidence has pinpointed the
location of the hotspot.
 Volcanoes in Hawaii
In contrast, a new study done by geologists from MIT and Purdue
University in 2011, mapped rock layers within the crust. They could
find no evidence of a single thermal plume. Instead, they found a
“pancake shaped” layer of abnormally hot rock in the crust only about
403 miles beneath the surface, well above the mantle. Temperatures
were 300 to 400 degrees C (572 to 752 F) hotter than expected at that
depth. This data suggests that hotspots may not be as deep as
previously thought and may not be permanently fixed in one spot.
Wolfe acknowledges the importance of the new find, but believes it
will take much more work to truly explain how her thermal plume and
the “pancake” of hot rocks are related and how they provide the heat
source for Kilauea and the other active volcanoes of the Hawaiian
Islands.
Volcanoes in Hawaii
Lava
Stored

Volcano
Fully in the Build up of
Process of Magma
Erupting

Volcano
Tremors
Starting to
Being Felt
Erupt