The Creation of
Hawaii
The birth of an island. The
volcano only recently broke the ocean's surface. It is fueled by a "hot spot"
(a plume of hot magma that begins 50 miles below the earth's surface.) This is
the newest island in a chain of islands that spreads like a string of pearls,
1600 miles out across the mid-Pacific. The whole island chain is moving slowly
toward the north west at a rate of about 50 miles per million years. 400,000
years form this date the volcano will become the weather worn Kohala Mountains
on the north end of the island of Hawaii.
- Time Travel: Click on a
time line date to move to a different time period in
history.
"Conception",
volcanism and the ocean. A photograph by Brad Lewis.
