Essay On Kilauea

Kilauea is between 300,000 to 600,000 years old. The volcano got its name from a hawaiian word that means much spreading or spewing. Kilauea sits on a curved line made up of other volcanoes such as Kohala and Mauna Kea. Geologists found a pancake shaped layer of hot rock in the crust about 403 miles beneath the surface, this provides a heat source for Kilauea. Kilauea has a large summit caldera with a central crater, according to hawaiian legends it’s the home of the fire and volcano goddess Pele. Kilauea built itself up from the seafloor over time, and much of its bulk is underwater. It’s lava flows ranging from 300,000 to 600,000 cubic meters each day. Lava younger than 1,000 years covers 90 percent of the volcano. In 1990 lava flooded Kalapana, and more than 100 homes were destroyed. The most famous eruption was in 1959, the lava was 3 times higher than the Washington Monument.

Kilauea’s eruptive history has been a long and active one. The person that created Kilauea is Pele the fire and volcano goddess, she dug a pit at the summit of the

Kilauea volcano. People still believe that she often comes and puts on lava shows. President Roosevelt was the first president to visit Kilauea. He visited in 1934 and offered ohelo berries to Pele, shortly after that there was a eruption. Kilauea was once thought to be a

However in 1790 a paroxysmal steam explosion killed part of the hawaiian army, as they were marching close by. A eruption in 1975 was followed by a destructive tsunami. Kilauea produced a river of lava that reached sea 10 miles south of the volcano. One of the Kilauea eruptions created a forest fire that lasted for more than a month, and threatened one of Hawaii’s rainforests. Kilauea is coming closer to civilization it is one mile away from grocery stores. It is estimated that Kilauea began forming under the ocean around 500,000 years ago. Kilauea has been constantly active since it first