How was volcano hualalai formed?

Answer 1

The Hawaiian Islands are volcanic in origin. Each island is made up of at least one primary volcano, although many islands are composites of more than one. The Big Island, for instance, is constructed of 5 major volcanoes: Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Hualalai and Kohala. Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth. Kilauea is presently one of the most productive volcanoes on Earth (in terms of how much lava it produces each year).

In general, when you move along the island chain from East to West, the volcanoes become older and older. The two primary volcanoes that make up Oahu (where Honolulu is) have not erupted for well over a million years! The age trend of the volcanoes is thought to be due to the way in which the islands are built on the moving sea floor of the North Pacific Ocean: the Pacific Ocean is mostly floored by a single tectonic plate that is moving over the layer in the Earth known as the Asthenosphere. This movement takes it to the northwest compared to the layers below it at a rate of 5 to 10 cm/yr (the rate depends on where you are on it). As the plate moves over a fixed spot deeper in the Earth where magma (molten lava) forms, a new volcano can punch through this plate and create an island. The Hawaiian Islands are believed to be formed from one such 'hot spot'. As the plate moves away, the volcano stops erupting and a new one is formed in its place. With time, the volcanoes keep drifting westward and getting older relative to the one active volcano that is over the hot spot.

For more information, ask yor public librarian for a copy of "Volcanoes in the Sea: The Geology of Hawaii" by Macdonald, Abbott and Peterson (2nd ed.) Univ. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu (1983).

Answer 2

Maui is actually made up of two volcanoes.

The oldest (and wettest) is on the northwest side of Maui and is commonly called the West Maui Mountains, and Hawaiians have called it Mauna Kahalawai meaning mountain that is source of water. It is considered an extinct volcano.

The largest (10,023 ft elevation) is southeast of the West Maui Mountains and is called Haleakala meaning house of the sun. It has not erupted for over 200 years, but is not yet considered extinct, meaning there is a possibility it could erupt again.

Answer 3

Kilauea