Volcano growth and evolution of the island of Hawaii

Abstract

The seven volcanoes comprising the island of Hawaii and its submarine base are, in order of growth, Mahukona, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, Kilauea, and Loihi. The first four have completed their shield-building stage, and the timing of this event can be determined from the depth of the slope break associated with the end of shield building, calibrated using the ages and depths of a series of dated submerged coral reefs off northwest Hawaii. On each volcano, the transition from eruption of tholeiitic to alkalic lava occurs near the end of shield building. The rate of southeastern progression of the end of shield building in the interval from Haleakala to Hualalai is about 13 cm/yr. Based on this rate and an average spacing of volcanoes on each loci line of 40-60km, the volcanoes required about 600 thousand years to grow from the ocean floor to the time of the end of shield building. They arrive at the ocean surface about midway through this period. -from Authors