tell me what you know about mount kilauea?

Answer 1

Kīlauea is an active volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five shield volcanoes that together form the Island of Hawaiʻi. In Hawaiian, the word kīlauea means "spewing" or "much spreading", in reference to the mountain's frequent outpouring of lava. It is presently the most active volcano and one of the most visited active volcanoes on the planet. Kīlauea is just the most recent of a long series of volcanoes that created the Hawaiian Archipelago, as the Pacific Plate moves over a more or less fixed hotspot in the Earth's mantle

Kīlauea's absolute location is 19.452 North, 155.292 West. It lies against the southeast flank of much larger Mauna Loa volcano. Mauna Loa's massive size and elevation (13,677 feet or 4,169 m) is a stark contrast to Kīlauea, which rises only 4,091 feet (1,247 m) above sea level, and thus from the summit caldera appears as a broad shelf of uplands well beneath the long profile of occasionally snow-capped Mauna Loa, 15 miles (24 km) distant.

First-time visitors to Kīlauea, not familiar with how different the profile of a shield volcano can be compared with stratovolcanoes like Mt. Fuji, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens, are usually unaware they are approaching the summit of an active volcano as they make the drive up through the cloud forest on State Rte. 11 to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park from Hilo—or coming from Kailua-Kona via South Point across the Kaʻū Desert. From Hilo, the highway heads south to Keaʻau, then turns abruptly westward to begin the climb to the Kīlauea caldera. For some 20 miles (32 km) the road runs relatively straight, making a 4,000 ft (1,200 m) ascent. However, most of this climb is actually on the heavily vegetated flank of Mauna Loa; the crossing onto lava flows issued from Kīlauea is about 1 mile west of Glenwood, 18 miles (29 km) from Hilo. The Mauna Loa flows are several thousand years old; the lightly vegetated Kīlauea flows are only 350 to 500 years old.


Glowing ʻaʻā flow front advancing over pāhoehoe on the coastal plain of Kīlauea in Hawaiʻi.Driving from the Kona Coast, the immense size of the Big Island becomes apparent: from Kailua-Kona it is 98 miles (158 km) on the Māmalahoa Highway (State Rte. 11) to Kīlauea. After passing around the southern end of Mauna Loa, the highway turns northeastward towards Kīlauea once past the town of Nāʻālehu. Yet, as from the Hilo side, the long climb from near sea level to the summit is all on the flank of Mauna Loa. Not until the Sulfur Bank scarp (the northwestern edge of Kīlauea Caldera), near the intersection of Crater Rim Drive in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, does the road cross over onto Kīlauea. However, the highway parallels the line of contact between the two volcanoes—always less than 1 mile to the southeast—from the vicinity of Punaluʻu at the coast to the caldera at the summit.

Answer 2

"Kilauea is the youngest and southeastern most volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i. Topographically Kilauea appears as only a bulge on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, and so for many years Kilauea was thought to be a mere satellite of its giant neighbor, not a separate volcano. However, research over the past few decades shows clearly that Kilauea has its own magma-plumbing system, extending to the surface from more than 60 km deep in the earth.

In fact, the summit of Kilauea lies on a curving line of volcanoes that includes Mauna Kea and Kohala and excludes Mauna Loa. In other words, Kilauea is to Mauna Kea as Lo`ihi is to Mauna Loa. Hawaiians used the word Kilauea only for the summit caldera, but earth scientists and, over time, popular usage have extended the name to include the entire volcano."
For more information:
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/

Answer 3

Kilauea volcano, on the southernmost Island of Hawaii, is one of the most active on Earth. It predominantly erupts basaltic lava in effusive eruptions, although occasionally it experiences explosive eruptions as well. Kilauea sits on the southeasten side of the Big Island of Hawaii, resting on the flanks of it's larger neighbor volcano Manua Loa . Kilauea stands just under 4200 feet tall at it's highest point. Kilauea has a 165m deep circular caldera at its summit that measures 3x5km (or 6x6 km, including the outermost ring faults). It is said that Kilauea is the home to Pele, the volcano goddess of ancient Hawaiian legends. The current eruption of Kilauea (known as the Pu`u `O`o Eruption) started in Jan. 1983 and as of January 2000, had produced 1.9 km3of lava, had covered 102 km2, and had added 205 hectares to Kilauea's southern shore. In the process, lava flows unfortunately destroyed 181 houses and resurfaced 13 km of highway with as much as 25 m of lava. It has also destroyed a the National Park visitor center and a 700 year-old Hawaiian temple ("Waha'ula heiau"). There are no signs that the current eruption is slowing or will come to an end anytime soon.

Answer 4

Nice answer and I appreciate your correct use of the apostrophe in spelling Hawai'i. Hardly anyone knows about that.