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The
beautiful Hawaiian Islands sit on the
creator of the island chain, the Hawaiian
Hotspot. The hotspot does not move. The
Pacific Plate does. The plate carries the
islands in a northwestwardly direction. As
each island was formed it was carried away
from the hotspot and another formed in its
place.
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Next
to the 4.5 billion-year earth, the Hawaiian Islands
are geologically young. 40 million years ago, the
atolls of Kure and Midway were much bigger than
today. 40 million years ago, Kure and Midway would
be right where the present island of Hawaii is
now.
The
oldest major Hawaiian island, Kauai, was formed
over the hotspot 6 million years ago. The
Pacific plate drifted away from the hotspot, the
Kauai volcanoes died out, and another volcano rose
in its place to create the island of
Oahu.
The
process repeated and created a chain of similar
islands. The volcanoes on the islands of Kauai and
Oahu are extinct. Haleakala, on the island of Maui,
is a dormant volcano. Volcanologists say that it is
"due" for an eruption soon (within 100
years).
The
island of Hawaii has 3 active volcanoes --
Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea at 4,000 feet on
the southern slope of Mauna Loa. Kilauea is the
most active and its crater, Hakema'uma'u, is the
Hawaiian volcano goddess' (Pele) home. South of
Hawaii, the seamount of Loihi is building and will
become another island in 10,000
years.
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