West Molokai Volcano

West Molokai Volcano
Mauna Loa
Highest point
Elevation 421 m (1,381 ft)
Coordinates 21°08′N 157°12′W / 21.13°N 157.20°W / 21.13; -157.20Coordinates: 21°08′N 157°12′W / 21.13°N 157.20°W / 21.13; -157.20
Geography
Location Molokai, Hawaii,
United States
Parent range Hawaiian Islands
Geology
Age of rock Pleistocene epoch
Mountain type Shield volcano
Volcanic arc/belt Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain

West Molokai Volcano, sometimes called Mauna Loa for the census-designated place, is an extinct shield volcano comprising the western half of Molokai island in the U.S. state of Hawaii.

Geology

It was formed in two volcanic phases during the Pleistocene epoch of the Quaternary period in the Cenozoic Era.

The first formed the broad tholeiitic shield volcano of West Molokai that ended 1.89 million years ago. The second volcanic phase produced postshield alkalic volcanics 1.76 million years ago.[1]

West Molokai overlaps the western flank of East Molokai Volcano, a much larger shield volcano comprising two-thirds of Molokai.

References

  1. Wood, Charles A.; Kienle, Jürgen (2001). Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-521-43811-7. OCLC 27910629.
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