How old is hawaii

How did the Hawaiian islands form? How long ago did it happen? There are about Hawaiian islands, in a chain archipelago miles long. They were all formed by volcanoes. The oldest islands are small because they are eroded, and are on the northwest end of the chain, which formed 65 million years ago.

The youngest and largest island is the Big Island of Hawaii, on the east end of the chain, and it is still forming today still enlarging as new lava pours into the ocean. The next island to form will be Loihi, southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii, still feet underwater, and estimated to grow to the surface in around 50, years. A final source of supporting evidence was the observation that island building is still underway.

A new underwater volcano was discovered about 32 kilometers 20 miles off the shoreline of the Big Island see Figure 7. Known as the Loihi Seamount, it already rises more than 3, meters 9, feet above the floor of the Pacific and is currently within about 1, meters 3, feet of the ocean surface. Sometime in the next , years, it could rise above the waves to produce the newest addition to the Hawaiian islands.

Wherever plates meet or slide against each other—at the San Andreas Fault in California, for example—earthquake activity can be particularly intense. This theory of plate tectonics accounts for many previously unexplained geological features.

For example, other hotspots beneath the. The Loihi Seamount off the coast of the Big Island is now above the hot spot beneath the Pacific Plate and is steadily growing. Diagram adapted from drawing by Joel E. Robinson, U. Geological Survey. As both individuals and societies, we are making decisions today that will have profound consequences for future generations.

From preserving Earth's plants and animals to altering our use of fossil fuels, none of these decisions can be made wisely without a thorough understanding of life's history on our planet through biological evolution.

Companion to the best selling title Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, Evolution in Hawaii examines evolution and the nature of science by looking at a specific part of the world. Tracing the evolutionary pathways in Hawaii, we are able to draw powerful conclusions about evolution's occurrence, mechanisms, and courses.

This practical book has been specifically designed to give teachers and their students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of evolution using exercises with real genetic data to explore and investigate speciation and the probable order in which speciation occurred based on the ages of the Hawaiian Islands.

By focusing on one set of islands, this book illuminates the general principles of evolutionary biology and demonstrate how ongoing research will continue to expand our knowledge of the natural world. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

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Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released. Get This Book. Visit NAP. Looking for other ways to read this? No thanks. Page 6 Share Cite. Figure 3 The Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic chain stretches from the Big Island of Hawaii to Kure Atoll and then continues underwater as a series of seamounts.

Figure 4 In J. Page 7 Share Cite. But volcanic rocks also contain a radioactive Figure 5 The Hawaiian islands formed as the Pacific Ocean floor moved over an underlying hot spot in the earth, shown here by a dotted circle.

Page 8 Share Cite. Figure 6 The maximum elevations of the Hawaiian islands gradually diminish from southeast to northwest, with the newest islands being the tallest. Kauai's age is evident in its dense vegetation; the rugged sea cliffs on the Napali coast; deep valleys carved over millions of years, including the mile-long, 3,feet-deep Waimea Canyon; and the only navigable rivers in Hawaii.

Oahu's shape was formed partly by two massive landslides that each eliminated significant sections of the island. What remains is the lush 2. Pearl Harbor on the south coast formed as the island sank during the volcanic shield-building phase. Diamond Head Crater is another tourist attraction created by volcanic explosions, and Hanauma Bay is the eroded remnant of a volcanic cone. Maui, made up of the volcano Haleakala and the West Maui Mountains, along with neighboring Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe, is believed to have once been a single landmass.

The single island, Maui Nui, became submerged as it moved away from the hot spot. The diverse landscapes of the Big Island reflect a range of ages, from vegetation-covered older slopes to stark black lava fields less than 1 million years old with no noticeable plant life.

As the Hawaiian islands move away from the hot spot, their active volcanoes become dormant. Whereas visitors to the Big Island's volcanoes are advised to check current volcanic activity and advisories, anyone heading to Kauai, Oahu and Maui need have no such concerns. Mount Waialeale on Kauai last erupted over 5 million years ago, and Oahu's two primary volcanoes have not erupted for over 1 million years.

Haleakala on Maui last erupted in , and although it could erupt again, scientists do not believe eruption is imminent. Of the Big Island's five volcanoes, Kohala and Mauna Kea are considered dormant, last erupting 60, and 4, years ago, respectively.

Hualalai hasn't erupted since ; Mauna Loa is considered active, but has not erupted since ; and Kilauea is very much active today, offering an incredible spectacle for tourists from all over the world.