Mt. Kilauea
By:
Joseph Ball
Period 10
Mrs. Zehr
Earth science Report
May 12, 2010
One of the most active volcanoes in the world is a shield volcano. The name of this volcano is Kilauea.
This volcano was explosive but hasn’t exploded recently. No, this volcano just oozes and it has been
oozing for about 27 years. Now that is a long time.
The most active volcano in the Hawaiian Islands is a shield volcano. An interesting fact is that it
has its own magma plumbing system that just keeps pumping the magma up so it can ooze out the top.
Till today Kilauea is the most visited volcano in the world. Kilauea is on of the five shield volcanoes in
Hawaii. Kilauea only rises 1,247 above sea level. But what is really amazing is that most of the surface
of this volcano is hardened lava which ranges to be as old as 600 to 1000 years old. That is pretty old.
The plate tectonics for this volcano is called SIMA-SIMA CONVERGENCE. SIMA stands for
oceanic crust. Convergence means the plate are moving toward each other. The names of the SIMA
plates are the Pacific Plate and the Pacific Plate. In this situation, the older SIMA plate subducts, or
dives, under the younger SIMA plates. Subduction causes friction which melts the rock into magma. The
magma rises to the surface in the form of an EXPLOSIVE COMPOSITE CONE VOLCANO. The friction also
causes earthquakes.
Kilauea is the youngest volcano in the Hawaiian Islands and till today it still remains active.
Kilauea has been erupting the same eruption since 1983. Most of the lava flows to the Pacific Ocean so
it’s not too big of a threat. Kilauea frequently spits out amounts of sulfur and oozes out lava and that is
why they named it Kilauea. Kilauea means “Spreading”. Mt Kilauea has erupted 62 times in 245 years.
There was an eruption in 1790 that killed many people. In 1990 another eruption happened that wiped
out two different towns. Along with all this, Kilauea has been known to create smog which affects all of
the Hawaiian Islands.
Kilauea is really just a big active crater. And not just any crater the largest in the world. This
volcano is the youngest in Hawaii. In the bottom of Kilauea is a fiery pit which is up to 740ft deep. The
reason this volcano doesn’t erupt anymore is because an earthquake happened and caused it to stop
erupting.