KILAUEA CALDERA, HAWAI’I

- Type: Volcanic Crater
- Diameter: ~1.16 Km
- Elevation: 1,227 m
- Age: ~280,000 years
- Location: Island of Hawai’i, USA – N 19° 24.4’ W 155° 17.0’

Hawaiʻi is the largest and the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean with an area of 10,430 km²,

The island of Hawaiʻi is built from five separate shield volcanoes that erupted somewhat sequentially, one overlapping the other. Because Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are active volcanoes, the island of Hawai’i is still growing. Between January 1983 and September 2002, lava flows added 543 acres (220 ha) to the island. Lava flowing from Kīlauea has destroyed several towns.

Hawaiʻi is said to have been named after Hawaiʻiloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Other accounts attribute the name to the legendary realm of Hawaiki, a place from which some Polynesian people are said to have originated, the place where they transition to in the afterlife, or the realm of the gods and goddesses.

Kīlauea is a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi. Located along the southern shore of the island, the volcano is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.

Older rocks have been recovered from Kīlauea’s submarine slopes and drill cores, providing some clues to the volcano’s origin. Estimates for the age of Kīlauea’s first-erupted lavas continue to evolve as more samples are collected and various dating methods are used. Current research indicates the first alkali-basalt lava flows erupted onto the ocean floor between 210,000 and 280,000 years ago, and the volcano transitioned from its pre-shield to shield-building stage about 155,000 years ago (USGS).

Yours truly at the Kilauea Caldera 2016, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. The lava plume is visable behind me. It is a shield-type volcano that makes up the southeastern side of the Big Island of Hawai’i. The volcano rises 4,190 feet (1,227 meters) above sea level. The summit caldera contains a lava lake known as Halema`uma`u.

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KELAUEA CALDERA