Week 4- Mt. Haleakala-Tim Pester

 

                                               Vacationers to the Hawaiian Island of Maui look on to see the sun rise on the extinct volcano Mt. Haleakala (Hawaiian, 2018)

 

I was fascinated by my trip to the Hawaiian Islands in 2015, where I was able to watch the sun rise over the cloud on Mt. Haleakala. Haleakala is a shield volcano that formed approximately 750K-1Mil years ago. Unlike most volcanos that hover around the plate tectonics, the Hawaiian Islands’ volcanos are located in the middle of Pacific tectonic plate. The theory of how the volcanos were formed is the Hawaiian Hotspot Theory.  Where a “Hotspot” of magma burns through the earth crust and erupts lava at the given point (Tilling, 2005).  The reason why Mt. Haleakala is a shield volcano is that when the lava was erupting or flowing from the volcano, the lave flow has a low viscosity. This low viscosity allowed the lava to flow great distances to form the “shield” shape of the volcano (Shield Volcano, 2019). These past lava flows are evidence by the surrounding area covered in basalt which is cooled and hardened lava. While Mt. Haleakala was once thought of as being extinct, scientists now believe the volcano is just dormant and may erupt in the next 500 years (Hawaiian, 2018).  

Works Cited

Hawaiian. (2018, 04 10). A Brief History of Haleakala. Retrieved from Hawaii Ocean Project: https://hawaiioceanproject.com/a-brief-history-of-haleakala/#:~:text=Emerging%20from%20two%20large%20shield,10%2C023%20feet%20above%20ocean%20level.

Shield Volcano. (2019). Retrieved from Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/shield_volcano.htm#:~:text=Shield%20volcanoes%20are%20formed%20by,the%20surface%20of%20the%20volcano.

Tilling, R. (2005). Plate Tectonics and the Hawaiian Hot Spot. Retrieved from Geology.com: https://geology.com/usgs/hawaiian-hot-spot/