The Underwater Geology Of The Hawaii Islands Is Just Astonishing

The Pacific Plate is moving northwestward at a significant rate – several centimeters per year. This constant plate movement over a local volcanic “hot spot,” or plume, has produced a chain of volcanic islands, one after another in assembly-line fashion. They go (really) by the name Hawaii.

The Big Island's other volcanic mountains are Hualalai in Kailua-Kona on the west side of the island and Kohala on the northwest tip of the island. Kohala, the oldest mountain on the island, shows much more geological wear than its younger counterparts. The amazing sea cliffs you can see today were likely caused by a giant landslide some 200,000 years ago. As previously mentioned, just 18 miles off Hawai'i's southeast coast is the undersea volcano known as Lo'ihi. Lying approximately 3,178 feet below the surface of the ocean, Lo'ihi is an actively erupting seamount. When Lo'ihi eventually emerges from the sea, it will likely join with Kilauea (which, in theory, will be much larger by that time) and become the sixth peak in what is now Hawai'i's largest island. That won't happen overnight though – it will most likely take a good 50,000 years or more before that happens. So don't book your hotel room just yet.