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HAWAII
GEOLOGY AND CREATION
The Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated
land mass on earth. The entire Hawaiian island chain stretches
some 1500 miles, from the furthest northwest island, Kure
Atoll, to the Big Island of Hawai`i, at the southwest end
of the chain. Ni`ihau and Kauai were the first of the eight
main Hawaiian Islands to emerged from a volcanic hotspot
on the sea floor approximately 5 million years ago. Interestingly
Kauai emerged before Ni`ihau. As the Pacific plate moves
northwest, the hot spot has subsequently created the rest
of the main Hawaiian Island chain, Oahu, Moloka`i, Kaho`olawe,
Lana`i, Maui and Hawai`i.
The northwest Hawaiian island chain stretches
to the northwest and was recently declared a National Monument
by President Bush. It consists of seamounts, small island
remains and atolls. The Big Island of Hawai`i is the most
recently created island of the Hawaiian island chain and
still has active volcanoes. At 13,796 feet above sea level,
and extending 17,000 feet to the Pacific floor, Mauna Kea,
on the Big Island, is truly the largest mountain on earth.
The heights of mountains are generally given by their elevation
above a datum, such as sea level. The highest point on Mauna
Loa is 4,170 m (13,680 ft) above sea level. But the flanks
of Mauna Loa continue another 5,000 m (16,400 ft) below
sea level to the sea floor. The massive central portion
of the volcano has depressed the sea floor another 8,000
m (26,000 ft) in the shape of an inverted cone, reflecting
the profile of the volcano above it. Thus, the total relief
of Mauna Loa, from its true base to its summit, is about
17,170 m (56,000 ft). (From: How High is Mauna Loa?)
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1998/98_08_20.html
The newest Hawaiian volcano, Lo`ihi, still
about 3180 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean,
will not make the surface for an estimated 10,000 years.
The Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamount range stretches 3600
miles from the Aleutian Trench to the Lo`ihi seamount and
is considered the longest mountain range on earth.
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