The East Molokai Volcano, sometimes also known as Wailau for the
Wailau
Wailau is an isolated valley on the North Shore of the island of Molokai, Hawaii, It can be reached by boat (only in the summer), helicopter or by Wailau Trail from the southeast shore of the island which is heavily overgrown and virtually impass ...
valley on its north side,
[ is an extinct ]shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
comprising the eastern two-thirds of the island of Molokai
Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...
in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Description
The East Molokai has a width of and a length of . It is overlapped by the West Molokai
West Molokai Volcano, sometimes called Mauna Loa for the Maunaloa, Hawaii, 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 phase ...
, Lanai
Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...
and Haleakalā shield volcanoes. Its shield formation began two million years ago and ended 1.5 million years ago whereas its postshield eruptions occurred 1.5 to 1.3 million years ago. The pahoehoe shield volcano of the Kalaupapa Peninsula postdates the main shield volcano of East Molokai and is considered to represent the last volcanic phase of East Molokai.East Maui
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
, Penguin Bank
Penguin Bank is the name given to a now-submerged shield volcano of the Hawaiian Islands. Its coral-capped remains lie immediately west of the island of Molokai, under relatively shallow water (see bathymetric map at the right).
Geology
The ...
and Kahoolawe, that formerly constituted the island of Maui Nui.
The highest point is the peak called Kamakou on the southern rim, at . The Pēpēōpae bog is just below the rim.
The northern flank of the volcano has been truncated by enormous cliffs rising from the sea. The sea cliffs were formed when the northern third of the East Molokai Volcano suddenly collapsed and slid off into the sea, about 1.4 million years ago. The landslide was so fast and powerful that it extended into the sea, and generated a -high megatsunami that inundated the rest of Molokai and severely damaged the surrounding Hawaiian Islands before eventually reaching the coastlines of California and Mexico.
See also
* Kalaupapa, Hawaii
References
External links
*
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{{Hawaiian volcanism
Volcanoes of Maui Nui
Landforms of Molokai
Geography of Kalawao County, Hawaii
Geography of Maui County, Hawaii
Shield volcanoes of the United States
Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
Extinct volcanoes
Hotspot volcanoes
Pleistocene shield volcanoes
Pleistocene Oceania
Cenozoic Hawaii