Mount Tantalus (Puʻu ʻōhiʻa)Edward B. Scott, "The Saga of the Sandwich Islands". Nevada: Sierra-Tahoe Publishing Co., 1968. is an extinct

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

in the southern Koolau Range on the Hawaiian Island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. It also has a

summit crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an und ...

, Tantalus Crater. The cinder cone formed after the demise of Koolau Volcano, during a time of rejuvenated-stage volcanism in southeastern Oahu that also formed

Punchbowl Crater Punchbowl Crater is an extinct volcanic tuff cone located in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the location of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Geological history The crater was formed some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago durin ...

, Diamond Head and

Koko Head Koko Head is the headland that defines the eastern side of Maunalua Bay along the southeastern side of the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. On its western slope is the community of Portlock, a part of Hawaii Kai. Koko Head (at 642 ft or 196 m) is ...

as part of the Honolulu Volcanics. Tantalus overlooks the modern city of

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, which is built on top of Tantalus cinders.

History

The Tantalus Loop was a popular wagon trail from the late 1800s for views and picnic parties. It had "rugged canyons, wooded valleys, aromatic

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

giants, stag-horn fern, pungent

guava Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...

", monkeypod, shower cassias, and myrtle, with a two-room, corrugated-roofed "Half-Way House", managed by 1900s forester David Haugh, offering a welcome stop for trekkers. Many immigrant families of note settled there "in cool picturesque seclusion", including the Waterhouses, Giffords, Wilders, Dickeys, Davies, Isenbergs, Browns, and Alexanders. A cliff of pitch-black volcanic sand was an attraction on Tantalus until it was mined for

blacktop Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac or bitumen macadam in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, ...

ping paths and yards. As part of the U.S. Army's

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

defense system, a fire-control station was built on Tantalus. In conjunction with the fire-control station at Diamond Head, the two positions were used to control coast artillery batteries: at Fort DeRussey and Fort Ruger. The southern slope of Tantalus was bombed in

Operation K was a Japanese naval operation in World War II, intended as reconnaissance of Pearl Harbor and disruption of repair and salvage operations following the surprise attack on 7 December 1941. It culminated on 4 March 1942, with an unsuccessf ...

, Japan's unsuccessful second attack on Oahu, which took place March 4, 1942. Today, Tantalus is a popular destination for hikers, road bicyclists, and skateboarders as well as one of the most frequented tourist spots on Oahu. Starting in 1974, The Tantalus Time Trial, a bicycle race from the bottom to the top of the loop, is the longest continuously running cycling race in Hawai‘i.

Etymology

Tantalus was named in the 19th century by students from Honolulu's

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. The school was established by P ...

for

Tantalus Tantalus ( ), also called Atys, was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: for either revealing many secrets of the gods, for stealing ambrosia from them, or for trying to trick them into eating his son, he ...

, the mythological Greek whose eternal punishment in Hades was to be frustrated and tempted by food and water receding out of his reach, unable to quench his thirst or hunger. "Perhaps similarly, as the students climbed, the peak seemed always to recede." This group of students also named other Hawaiian summits like

Olympus Olympus or Olympos () may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Lesbos * Mount Olympus (Euboea) ...

Round Top Round Top or Roundtop may refer to: Communities * Kirkwood, California, formerly Roundtop, a census-designated place * Round Top, Pennsylvania, a community adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park * Round Top, Texas, a town * Roundtop, Wes ...

and

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, ...

.Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert, and Esther T. Mookini, "Place Names of Hawaii". Hawaii: The University Press of Hawaii, 1974, p. 213.

Popular culture

Tantalus Crater is a setting in the novel ''

Micro Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer * Chii Tomiya (都宮 � ...

'' by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston.

References

{{Quaternary Footer Volcanoes of Oahu Cinder cones of the United States Mountains of Hawaii Landforms of Oahu Extinct volcanoes of the United States Pleistocene cinder cones Pleistocene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii Tourist attractions in Honolulu County, Hawaii