The island of Hawaii is composed of five volcanoes, three of which have been active within the past two hundred years. Kilauea?s latest eruption still continues as of today. Mauna Loa?s latest activity was in 1984 and Hualalai?s in 1800-1801, but is likely to erupt again within the next one hundred years. East Maui, or Haleakala, one of the oldest volcanoes, has a long eruptive history and recent activity indicates that the volcano will erupt in the near future. Last but not least, the Loihi Seamount, sometimes known as the ?youngest volcano? is an undersea mountain this is still active.

Scientists now believe that the hot spots lie in the ocean, deep beneath the volcanoes. These hot spots spew out of molten rock that rises to the water?s surface and hardens. After doing this for a long time, the hardened lava forms an island, like the Hawaiian Islands.

The U.S. Geological Observatory monitors the daily activities of the volcano, for example-movement of lava flows, earthquakes, surface deformation, and gas production. Kilauea has been monitored ever since, making it one of the better-studied volcanoes. Still there is much we don?t understand about the inner workings of this volcano. Unlike most other volcanoes though, Kilauea is approachable. It has been called the ?drive up? volcano because of the ease of access to many of its volcanic activity. On February 24, 2000, an article came out, which was entitled Breakouts result from tube blockages. It stated: The intrusion of magma into the upper east rift zone of Kilauea on February 23 caused minor but noticeable changes in the opening eruption. Lava continued to enter the tube system at Pu?u?O?o, but blockages in the tube above the pali resulted in many breakouts on the active flow field.

There are many volcanic hazards, which threaten the island of Hawaii. Lava flows are the most common of the direct hazards created by the Hawaiian eruptions and pose the greatest threat to property. Flows may endanger people?s property, livelihood, and peace of mind, but seldom their lives. In addition to destroying homes, the flows cover highways and some residents are forced to move from their homes. The speed of lava flow is determined not only by the steepness of the terrain, but also by the volume of the lava that has erupted, because large flows tend to advance more rapidly then do small flows. Other hazards include airborne particles of ash, cinder, and fragile strands of volcanic glass called Pele?s hair, and corrosive volcanic gasses. Volcanic gasses are emitted during all types of eruptions. A common gas produced during Hawaiian volcanoes that is potentially harmful to human health is sulfur dioxide. Even small concentrations of sulfur dioxide can combine with water to form sulfuric acid, which can attack

Some topics in this essay:
Hawaii Lava, Hawaiian Islands, Mauna Loa, Geological Observatory, Loihi Seamount, , Loa Kilauea, Kilauea February, Islands Kilauea, Hawaiian Island, mauna loa, lava flows, hawaiian volcanoes, active volcano, shield volcanoes, active volcanoes, east maui, ground cracks, loihi seamount, island hawaii, history recent activity, mauna loa volcanoes, volcanoes eruptive history, erupt near future, eruptive history recent,