Volcanoes In Hawaii Research Paper

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Hawaiian legends tell the stories of Pele, a beautiful and uncontrollable Goddess. Pele was the Goddess of volcanoes, and could easily cause a volcanic eruption by her anger. Her strong power and many adventures can be found in ancient Hawaiian songs and chants. She was known to be able to cause earthquakes by stomping her feet and volcanic eruptions by digging with her Pa’oe, magic stick. A legend describes the long and bitter fight and love affair between Pele and her older sister Namakokahai, that led to the creation of the chain of volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian islands (Volcanoes Mythology, 2014). No disregard to Pele, but science has provided an alternative to how the creation of volcanoes really take place. A volcano is “a vent…show more content…
The islands of Hawaii are also located almost exactly in the center of the Pacific Plate, which is moving slowly, about four inches per year, in the northwest direction. The plate moving over the hot spot has created a succession of islands in the Hawaiian Ridge that extends all the way to Midway and Kure, more than 1,500 miles from where it began 30 to 35 million years ago (Hawaii Volcanoes, 2013). As Janet Babb explains in Hawai'i Volcanoes—The Story Behind the Scenery, "Heat from a relatively stationary hot spot deep within the Earth's mantle creates magma (molten rock) that rises through the overlying Pacific plate and erupts on the ocean floor. After thousands of eruptions, an island builds a rocky mass above sea level." Most of the volcanoes that make up Hawaii today are shield volcanoes. Shield volcanoes generally produce fluid lava flows that form sloping shield like mountains. Their lava viscocity is low, making it thinner and contain more fluid. This in turn makes eruptions less volatile since pressure does not build up as much. Today, there are about 13 volcanoes that make up the islands of Hawaii, with 5 still active (Hawaii Volcanoes,
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