considering the size, location, and depth of the ocean surrounding the volcanoes that exist there..........how long did the formation of the Hawaian Island take? This could be looked at by the age of the rocks of course, or when they were discovered were they fully formed or just a few of them?

-- george welch (gwelch@oswego.edu), April 23, 2001

Answers

When Kilauea began to form is not known, but various estimates are 300,000-600,000 years ago. The volcano has been active ever since, with no prolonged periods of quiescence known. Geologic studies of surface exposures, and examination of drillhole samples, show that Kilauea is made mostly of lava flows, locally interbedded with deposits of explosive eruptions. Probably what we have seen happen in the past 200 years is a good guide to what has happened ever since Kilauea emerged from the sea as an island perhaps 50,000-100,000 years ago.

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/main.html

-- Mike Porter (mikeporter25@hotmail.com), April 24, 2001.