Kilauea Volcano
By: Jeremy Dodson
Located in the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii and the Hawaiian Islands are the cone-shaped tops of gigantic ocean volcanoes.
Located in the southeast region of the Island of Hawaii, Kilauea sits on the flank (or the side) of the active Mauna Loa volcano, and is one of five shield volcanoes that together form the Island of Hawaii.
Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and it is the youngest. Kilauea stands just under 4,200 feet tall above sea level at its highest point.
The staff of the U.S. Geological Survey at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory currently lists Kilauea’s Volcano Alert Level as WATCH and its Aviation Color Code as ORANGE. Kilauea is studied and
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This smog affects many areas of the Hawaiian Islands, including Oahu and Honolulu whenever winds come out of the south or southeast.
The estimated age of the earliest above ground (subaerial) eruptions of Kilauea is between 50,000-100,000 years.
The last eruption began on January 3, 1983 to the present. During this time, the lava flows have unfortunately caused destruction of nearly 200 houses, resurfaced over 13km of highway with lava, destroyed the National Park visitor center, and a 700 year-old Hawaiian Temple. It has also added new coastline to the island. There are no signs that the current eruption is slowing or will end anytime soon. Kilauea has little vegetation.
Kilauea has the volcano status of Historical. Kilauea has had 61 historical eruptions, not counting the continuous lava-lake activity in the crater. The oldest dated rocks from Kilauea are 23,000 years old.
The Island of Hawaii sits on (almost in the middle of) the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate is a giant jigsaw piece of the Earth’s crust that is slowly moving in a northwesterly direction. It moves about four inches a year. There is a basically stationary hot spot deep within the Earth’s mantle. Heat from this hot spot makes molten lava and rock (magma) that rises through the Pacific Plate and erupts continuously on the ocean floor. After thousands of eruptions and over many many years, an island forms a rocky
Kilauea is a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands it is one of the five shield volcanoes in the Hawaiian language Kilauea means spewing or spreading. Mt St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Washington it is named after British diplomat lord st Helens.
The blast was preceded by two months of intense activity that included over 10,000 earthquakes, hundreds of small phreatic (steam blasts) , explosions and the north side bulge. A magnitude 5.1 earthquake below the volcano at 8:32 am started the eruption. MSH is still a potentially dangerous and active volcano even though it has been quiet since 1995. In the last 515 years there have been four major eruptions and dozens of lesser eruptions. Two of the eruptions were only two years apart. In 1480, the eruption was about five times larger than the one in May 1980. There have been even larger eruptions during MSH' 50,000 year lifetime. After the May 18, 1980 eruption, there have been five smaller explosive eruptions over a five month period. Since then, there have been 16 dome building eruptions through October 1986 when the new dome in the crater was formed. As the mountain was torn open, the pressure in inside was suddenly relieved. The rock shattered inside the mountain was exploded out the top at speeds over 200 miles per hour. The blast was so strong that it leveled whole forest of fir trees. Geologist call this a "stone wind" since the winds carried the rocks form the blast with them. The rocks gave the winds extra force that let them flatten the trees. 150 square miles of land was leveled. The edges of this area also lost their forested areas from the heat of the blast and the fires it caused. The original blast of the
Volcanoes are one of the most intimidating natural processes that occur on this planet. Usually they are associated with danger and chaos. Volcanoes are characterized by both their composition and eruption types. In this paper we will be exploring the similarities and differences between three infamous volcanoes, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Kileaue, and the currently relevant Mt. Agung.
One of the many ocean floor features is Mauna Kea.The Mauna Kea Summit is over half a mile taller from the base to its summit then Mt.Everest.Mauna Kea is about Six miles tall from the base(Ocean floor),The summit is two miles above the surface of the Pacific Ocean.The Hawaiian mountain is only one of the many features the are found in the ocean floor.So being the base of the islands,that means that there can still be continental shelves and slopes, Oceanic ridges, fracture zones, trenches, abyssal hills, abyssal plains, Volcanoes and seamounts.These events at the location of it is an exotic ecosystem that has rarely been seen or
As the youngest and most southeastern volcano on Hawaii 's big island, Kilauea has been suggested to be the world’s most active volcano; having recorded 61 historical eruptions, not including the continuous lava-lake activity in Halema 'uma 'u Crater (Life Stages of Hawaiian Volcanoes). Kilauea is at it 's shield-forming stage referencing volcanology. During this stage the excretion systems within the volcanoes are the most efficient at transporting magma to the surface since over 95% of lava gets erupted. As well as the constant eruption, the magma chamber of the volcano fully develops to serve as a station for older, less dense magma. The magma chamber migrates upwards as a volcano grows and the Kilauea volcano magma chamber
The Kilauea Volcano is the youngest and most active Hawaiian shield volcano. This volcano is located on Hawaii’s Big Island. The volcano is part of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea is 300,000 to 600,000 years old. The native people from the Polynesian Islands discovered Kilauea. The other four volcanoes of Hawaii are Kohala, Mauna Loa, and Mauna Kea.
A paper published by NCR (Nature Scientific Reports) states that a lava bubble is expanding inside the Kikai Caldera. The Kikai Caldera a massive underwater volcano. More than 31 cubic kilometers of lava have pushed the seabed up around 2,000 feet, now the volcano’s peak is sitting only 98 feet below the ocean’s surface. The lava bubble is starting to build up large amounts of pressure. Japanese volcanologists say they have found evidence of a massive eruption at Kikai Caldera 7000 years ago, and another one 95,000 years ago. That may mean that their is going to be another one, and soon. Due to monitoring this volcano they have been able to know about when the volcano may erupt. They have also been able to tell what percent the volcano has of erupting, although it is only 1% of a catastrophic eruption it has the potential to kill 100 million people, says Volcanologist Yoshiyuki Tatsumi. Another case of positive volcano
I have the best view of anyone in town," said Olson. Her and her neighbors are building houses by hand with lava rocks, one of her neighbors says "This is heaven on Earth," said Edmund Orian, "Living near a volcano keeps you aware that God is in control. If the lava comes, we can always move." Kilauea’s elevation is 4,091’, it’s an active shield volcano and the most active of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii. The prominence is 60’. Kilauea is the youngest of the volcanoes on the island and it’s sitting on the South East of Mauna Loa. Kilauea is not only the most active volcano of Hawaii but at the same time also the world's active volcano. “According to the U.S. Geological Society, the Kilauea volcano erupted approximately 63 times between 1750 and 1982 and has been continuously erupting since January 3, 1983.” More than 400 people have been killed from Kilauea, it happened in November of 1790. It’s been spilling lava for over 40 percent of the past 2,500
The Hawaiian volcano is a shield volcano; they are the oldest continental regions of earth. They may even be the remains of ancient shield volcanoes. A shield volcano is tall and broad with flat, rounded shape. The Hawaiian volcanoes are built by countless outpourings of lava that advance great distances from a central summit vent or a group of vents. Extensive study of the Hawaiian Islands revealed that they are constructed of a myriad of thin basaltic lava flows averaging a few meters thick intermixed with relatively minor amounts of pyroclastic ejected material. During eruptions these outpourings help keep these volcanoes safe. When these volcanoes erupt lava fountains out form the volcano and is hot liquid lava is thrown into the air but usually not very high. The lava normally flows easily, and does not explode. These volcanoes also only explode if water some how gets into the vent. Mount St. Helens is composite volcano, which are also known as strato- volcanoes. They are tall, symmetrically shaped, with steep sides, sometimes rising 10,000 feet high. They are built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, and cinders. The large and generally cone-shaped volcanoes form along plate boundaries called subduction zones where one of the earths plates melts as it falls back into the earth`s mantle. The eruptions are called explosive, and effusive, because vast amounts of gasses are thrown into the atmosphere, and the lava explodes and is vicious.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory stated that the cloud formed by the eruption ascended till it reached 35,000 ft., and potentially as high as 45,000 ft.,
Some of the history comes from the destructive volcanoes, Mount Vesuvius and Mount St. Helens. First, in 1978 volcanologists, warned that Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, USA , would erupt before the end of the century. On May 18, 1980, there prediction became true with horrifying consequences. The disaster began with a large earthquake at 8:32 that morning with a Richter Scale of 5.1, and triggering a series of explosions that increased in frequency and intensity. The eruption reached its peak with a violent explosion at 3:50 in the afternoon, causing the largest debris avalanche ever to be recorded to power 14 miles west! On top of this a large cloud of ash rose up to 15 miles into the atmosphere. The combined results of the seismic activity rose throughout the day causing the devastation of the landscape. The environmental cost was one thing, but the human cost was to be even more significant. Moments after the main avalanche, an explosive blast ripped through the area destroying everything in its path, killing 57 people. Another historic event of the volcanoes, is Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy and it remains one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, exacerbated by the fact a population of 3,000,000 live in close proximity. The deadly power of Vesuvius was dramatically demonstrated in AD 79, when a monumental eruption wiped out the Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Vesuvius has been showing sign of activity for several years before the great eruption, the most dramatic of which was a powerful and destructive earthquake 17 years previously. Earthquakes and volcanoes commonly occur in tandem, and this phenomenon would not have been lost on the Roman population. On August 24, in AD 79, Vesuvius erupted, spewing a column of ash and pumice high into the atmosphere around the volcano. The column rose more than 15 miles, and carried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum by strong easterly
The three main categories are active, dormant, and extinct. Active volcanoes are volcanoes that have erupted in the past few decades and have a good chance of erupting again. Dormant volcanoes are volcanoes that have not erupted for the past century, even though they have a good chance of erupting in the future. Extinct volcanoes are volcanoes that have not erupted for the past thousands of years, and they have no chance of erupting again. Volcanoes can go through all of these stages. For example, a volcano that used to erupt could have stopped erupting for a while. This would then make it a dormant volcano. If the dormant volcano doesn't erupt and loses its chance of erupting, it becomes an extinct
Laki was formed from a hot spot which is where molten rock reaches into earth's crust. The volcano erupted with over 140 separate volcano vents. Laki is a shield volcano which is created entirely of lava, it is sloped, and large. Laki’s elevation
In the article “Mauna Loa, Hawaii Island” the author states “The western slopes from the Western slopes from Manuka State Park to the entrance to the Kahuka section of the Hawaii volcanoes National State Park feature a forest reserve and broad vistas with sweeping views of the ocean and mountain.This section includes landscape passing over relatively new lava so the traveler can experience transitions from substantially untouched to well vegetated volcanic terrain and rainforest. They say that there are about 50-70 volcanoes that go off every year including the volcano in Italy named Stromboli that has been erupting for over 1,000 years.There are as many as 1500 known and possible volcanoes that have erupted in the past
Volcanos have a big history in the world. They have caused havoc and caused beauty for thousands of years. 20 volcanos are erupting at this very moment! The author said “Some 1300 (and perhaps more than 1500) have erupted in the Holocene (the past 10,000 years).” (Simkin 58). This means that there have been 1500 eruptions that could have caused double that amount of deaths in the last 10,000 years. It might have caused marvelous sights as well.