preview

How Erosion Has Changed The Structure Of The Hawaiian Islands

Decent Essays

The Hawaiian Islands were created from volcanoes over the millions of years. The Islands sit on the Pacific Ocean plate and the way these islands were formed was from the hotspots in the earth’s crust and from the underwater volcanoes that soon rise to make land. There is roughly eight islands and I believe there will be more islands created in the future and they will keep shifting northwest. The first island is the oldest and roughly near 5 million years old, while the younger ones aren’t as old. Erosion is a common thing throughout the earth but for the Hawaiian Islands it’s changed the way the structure of the volcanoes and the island as a whole. The main reason why the islands are growing is from the lava the pours out of the volcanoes and builds layers upon layers and expands which expands the land. There is enough supply of lava that comes from the mantle since it’s still an active hot spot and will always be a hotspot.

The creation of the Hawaiian Islands:
The Earth’s outer crust is made up many tectonic plates that move over the surface of the planet. When the plates come collide, volcanoes will form sometime (National Ocean Service). Volcanoes can also form in the middle of a plate, where magma rises upward until it erupts on the sea floor, at what is called a “hot spot” (National Ocean Service). A hot spot is a plume of magma or molten rock that rises from within the Earth then reaches the surface forming underwater volcanoes which may grow tall enough to

Get Access