How Old Is Hawaii? Updated on: September 14, How old are the Hawaiian islands? When and how did Hawaii and Maui form? How Old is Hawaii — ages of each island Here are the approximate ages of the largest and youngest Hawaiian islands, all on the eastern end of the chain.
The hot spot remains stationary, while the Pacific plate moves in a northwesterly direction at a rate of approximately 2 to 4 inches per year. The movement carries the volcanic islands away from the hot spot, making them dormant.
Meanwhile new, active volcanoes form at the hot spot, which today is underneath the Big Island. The main Hawaiian Islands visited by tourists are just six of a chain of islands, atolls and seamounts stretching over 1, miles from the Big Island to Kure Atoll. Islands beyond Kauai range from nearby Necker, at around 10 million years old; to the Midway Atoll, at A new Hawaiian island, Loihi, is currently rising from the sea floor to the southeast of Kilauea.
Its peak is now about 3, feet below the ocean's surface, and it's expected to rise above sea level within the next 10, to , years. All the islands in the Hawaiian chain are formed around at least one primary volcano. Over time, the islands moved away from the volcano's hot spot and were shaped by a combination of slow-acting forces, such as erosion by waves and rainfall, and sudden occurrences like landslides.
Kauai's age is evident in its dense vegetation; the rugged sea cliffs on the Napali coast; deep valleys carved over millions of years, including the mile-long, 3,feet-deep Waimea Canyon; and the only navigable rivers in Hawaii. Wherever plates meet or slide against each other—at the San Andreas Fault in California, for example—earthquake activity can be particularly intense. This theory of plate tectonics accounts for many previously unexplained geological features.
For example, other hotspots beneath the. The Loihi Seamount off the coast of the Big Island is now above the hot spot beneath the Pacific Plate and is steadily growing. Diagram adapted from drawing by Joel E. Robinson, U. Geological Survey. As both individuals and societies, we are making decisions today that will have profound consequences for future generations. From preserving Earth's plants and animals to altering our use of fossil fuels, none of these decisions can be made wisely without a thorough understanding of life's history on our planet through biological evolution.
Companion to the best selling title Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, Evolution in Hawaii examines evolution and the nature of science by looking at a specific part of the world. Tracing the evolutionary pathways in Hawaii, we are able to draw powerful conclusions about evolution's occurrence, mechanisms, and courses.
This practical book has been specifically designed to give teachers and their students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of evolution using exercises with real genetic data to explore and investigate speciation and the probable order in which speciation occurred based on the ages of the Hawaiian Islands.
By focusing on one set of islands, this book illuminates the general principles of evolutionary biology and demonstrate how ongoing research will continue to expand our knowledge of the natural world. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website. Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one.
Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book. Switch between the Original Pages , where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text. To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter. Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available. Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free?
Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released. Get This Book. Visit NAP. Looking for other ways to read this? No thanks. Page 6 Share Cite. The ocean off the Kona coast is clear and great for both snorkeling and diving. To the north of Kona is the Gold Coast of Kohala. While drier and more barren than Kona, the region offers amazing beaches, great weather conditions, and several luxury accommodations to choose from.
On the other side of the island, you'll discover Hilo and the Puna region. These are good locations to base from if you're interested in exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This part of the island receives an abundance of rainfall that creates the lush and green surroundings. Accommodations are harder to find, but a few hotels, small inns, and private rentals can be found, especially in the Volcano Town area. The volcano area, which is located at a crisp 4, ft.
This area, too, serves as a great place to stay if you're mainly interested in exploring HVNP. And speaking of the park, most visitors would be wise to forget anything they've seen or heard about the volcano long before they visit the island. The erupting volcano photos, the videos, and all the hype about lava everywhere are just that The media and the park create impossible expectations as they try to draw in the public.
Most visitors will be surprised that Kilauea is nothing more than a smoking caldera with no visible lava. The only way to get up close and personal with the volcano is to take a helicopter tour that will take you over the current eruption location. Occasionally, visitors may also be lucky enough to catch a surface pahoehoe lava flow near the end of the road; but all of these things can change in an instant.
Those who have an appreciation for geography or geology will love the park, though. Despite Kilauea being the most active volcano on the planet, the volcanoes of Hawaii are nothing like their cousins on the West Coast of the U. Mainland Mt. Helens or Mt. They are not explosive and pose little threat to visitors on the island. Plus, the lava flow moves at a turtle-like speed that you could outwalk if necessary; no running required. To fully appreciate and explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you'll want to give yourself at least one full day, preferably two if possible.
There are many great hikes within the park and several stops which offer informative displays about the history of the region.
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