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.

This massive volcano, which formed 75% of the island of Maui, is dormant, but not extinct. The last eruption didn't happen that long ago – some time in the late 1700s. Geologists believe Haleakala was one time not only joined to the west of Maui, but also constituted a single landmass with Lanai, Molokai, and Kahoolawe – known as Greater Maui (Maui Nui). That landmass' submergence resulted in the volcanic body moving away from the Hawaiian hot spot, with large portions of the Big Island disappearing in the Pacific. The result is the four major islands we see today.