Page 428 - Hawaii: Diving, Surfing, Pearl Harbor, Volcanoes and More

n 2004, an additional 115,788 acres Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Mauna Loa has an formations, lava partially filled the canyons
I (468.58 km2) of Kahuku Ranch were add- elevation of 13,680 feet (4,170 m) and a and built up the slopes of Mauna Loa. The
ed to the park, making it 56% larger. This 70-mile (110 km) long, 30-mile (48 km) wide third formation, Ka’u, created younger
was an area west of the town of Waiōhinu shield-shaped dome. It is the world’s largest lavas that covered the older lavas. Through
and east of Ocean View, the largest land active volcano, encompassing 10,000 cubic these three formation periods, Mauna Loa
acquisition in Hawaii’s history. The land miles.[14] Similarly, Kilauea also has a shield reached its current height at the end of the
was bought for US $21.9 million from the shaped dome, which is 50 miles (80 km) Pleistocene Epoch. The development of the
Samuel Mills Damon Estate, with financing long and 14 miles (23 km) wide. Both vol- Hawaii islands is due to the five shield vol-
from the Nature Conservancy. canoes release more fluid and less gaseous canoes that erupted during the Pleistocene
eruptions, which produce “fiery fountains Period. They are part of a volcanic chain
eologic History: Hawaii Volcanoes and rivers of molten lava”. Due to these located along the crest of the Hawaiian-
G National Park is located on the island eruptions, a desert-like volcanic landscape Emperor seamount chain. Similarly, glacia-
of Hawaii, at the young end of the 1700- has resulted amidst the National Park. tion and changes in sea level have affected
mile stretch of islands. The islands are fairly the geologic formation of the Volcanoes
young, from less than 1 million years at the pecifically, Mauna Loa has come to in the National Park. A small icecap that
youngest to nearly 6 million at the oldest; S be the largest mountain on earth once existed on the volcano of Mauna Kea
new formations continue to be formed because of the multiple formations that during the Pleistocene Epoch that resulted
today. The islands are located on the top took place during the Pleistocene Epoch. in glaciers, and has led to snow falls on
of the Pacific plate, the largest tectonic The Ninole Formation, which has left the both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes.
plate on earth. Due to sea floor spread- oldest exposed lavas make up the core of Additionally, changes in the sea level have
ing, the plate continues to expand which the mountain. As a result, there are deep resulted in land submergence and shore-
has directly influenced the growth of the canyons that were made by lavas during lines decreasing
islands. The two main active volcanoes in the erosional period preceding the Kahuki
the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are Formation . During this second stage of