The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts trending northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean between latitudes 19° N and 29° N. "Sandwich Island" redirects here Sandwich Island is also an early name for the Cook Islands island of Manuae, and for the island of Efate An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant An atoll (pronounced /ˈætʌl/ is an island of Coral that encircles a Lagoon partially or completely For human anatomy see Islets of Langerhans An islet is a small Island. A seamount is a Mountain rising from the Ocean Seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface ( Sea level) and thus is not an Island The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The archipelago takes its name from the largest island in the group and extends some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from the Island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island, is a volcanic Island in the U Kure Atoll or Ocean Island ( Hawaiian: Mokupāpapa) lies some beyond Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at. Excluding Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, the Hawaiian Islands form the U.S. State of Hawaii. Midway Atoll (or Midway Island or Midway Islands; Hawaiian: Pihemanu Kauihelani) is a 2 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the
This archipelago represents the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the earth's mantle. The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is composed of the Hawaiian Ridge, consisting of the islands of the Hawaiian chain northwest to Kure Atoll, and the Emperor Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the In Geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time At about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent, the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on Earth. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 [1]
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Islands and reefs
The Hawaiian Islands comprise a total of 137 islands and atolls, with a total land area of 6,423. An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant An atoll (pronounced /ˈætʌl/ is an island of Coral that encircles a Lagoon partially or completely 4 square miles (16,636. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. 5 km²). Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as the State of Hawaii — the 50th state of the United States of America. Midway Atoll (or Midway Island or Midway Islands; Hawaiian: Pihemanu Kauihelani) is a 2 Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
Main islands
The eight main Hawaiian islands (also known as the Hawaiian Windward Islands) are listed here from East to West. All except Kahoʻolawe are inhabited.
Smaller islands, atolls, reefs
Smaller islands, atolls, and reefs (beyond Niʻihau and all uninhabited); called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, or Hawaiian Leeward Islands:
-
- Nihoa (Mokumana)
- Necker (Mokumanamana)
- French Frigate Shoals (Mokupāpapa)
- Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu)
- Maro Reef (Nalukākala)
- Laysan (Kauō)
- Lisianski Island (Papaʻāpoho)
- Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Holoikauaua)
- Midway Atoll (Pihemanu) (temporary residential facilities)
- Kure Atoll (Kānemilohaʻi)
Islets
Some information sources state that there are 137 "islands" in the Hawaiian chain. This number includes all minor islands and islets offshore of the main islands (listed above) and individual islets in each atoll. For human anatomy see Islets of Langerhans An islet is a small Island. (Hawaiʻi state government, undated). Following is a list of islets and small offshore islands that make up the total count beyond 19:
-
- Ford Island (Mokuʻumeʻume)
- Lehua
- Kaʻula
- Kaohikaipu
- Manana
- Mōkōlea Rock
- Nā Mokulua
- Molokini
- Mokoliʻi
- Moku Manu
Geology
The chain of islands or archipelago formed as the Pacific plate moved slowly northwestward over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle at about 32 miles (51 km) per million years. Ford Island is located in the middle of Pearl Harbor Hawaii. It is connected to the main island by the Ford Island Bridge. Lehua is a small crescent-shaped island only 07 miles (11 km north of Ni{{okina}}ihau. Kaula Island also called Kaula Rock is a small crescent-shaped offshore islet in the Hawaiian Islands. Makapuu is the extreme eastern end of the Island of O{{okina}}ahu in the Hawaiian Islands, comprising the remnant of a ridge that rises 647 feet (197 m above Mānana Island (technically an Islet) is located three-quarters of a mile (1 Mōkōlea Rock is an Islet in Kailua Bay along the windward coast of O{{okina}}ahu in Hawai{{okina}}i and located east of Marine Corps Nā Mokulua (meaning in Hawaiian, "the two islands" are two Islets off the windward coast of O‘ahu in the Hawaiian Islands. Molokini is an offshore crescent moon-shaped Volcanic crater south of Ma‘alaea Bay, Maui Hawaii and part of Maui County. Mokolii is a 125 acre 206 foot tall Basalt island one-third of a mile offshore of Kualoa Point Oahu, in Kāne'ohe Bay, Hawaii, at. This article discusses the Oahu offshore islet known as Moku Manu The Hawaii hotspot is perhaps the best known volcanic hotspot on Earth, responsible for the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian In Geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time The mantle is a part of an Astronomical object. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other Terrestrial planets, is Chemically divided Hence the islands in the northwest of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion. The only active volcanism in the last 200 years has been on the southeastern island, Hawaiʻi, and on the submerged but growing volcano at the extreme southeast, Loihi. The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island, is a volcanic Island in the U Lōihi is a Seamount and undersea Volcano in the Hawaiian archipelago, located at 18 The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the U. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the Volcano observatory in Hawai&lsquoi that monitors the four active Hawaiian volcanoes Kīlauea, Mauna S. Geological Survey documents recent volcanic activity and provides images and interpretations of the volcanism.
Almost all magma created in the hotspot has the composition of basalt, and so the Hawaiian volcanoes are constructed almost entirely of this igneous rock and its coarse-grained equivalents, gabbro and diabase. Magma (Plurals magmas and magmata) is molten rock that sometimes forms beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other Terrestrial planet Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. Gabbro (ˈɡæbrəʊ is a dark coarse-grained intrusive Igneous rock chemically equivalent to Basalt. Diabase (ˈdaɪəbeɪs or Dolerite is a Mafic, Holocrystalline, Igneous rock equivalent to Volcanic Basalt or plutonic A few igneous rock types with compositions unlike basalt, such as nephelinite, do occur on these islands but are extremely rare. Nephelinite is a fine-grained or Aphanitic Igneous rock made up almost entirely of Nepheline and Clinopyroxene (variety Augite) The majority of eruptions in Hawaiʻi are Hawaiian-type eruptions because basaltic magma is relatively fluid compared with magmas typically involved in more explosive eruptions, such as the andesitic magmas that produce some of the spectacular and dangerous eruptions around the margins of the Pacific basin. A Hawaiian eruption is a type of Volcanic eruption where Lava flows from the vent in a relative gentle low level eruption so called because it is characteristic
Hawaiʻi (the Big Island) is the largest and youngest island in the chain, built from five different volcanoes. In Geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is composed of the Hawaiian Ridge, consisting of the islands of the Hawaiian chain northwest to Kure Atoll, and the Emperor Mauna Loa, comprising over half of the Big Island, is the largest shield volcano on the planet. Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on earth and one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U A shield volcano is a large Volcano with shallow-sloping sides The measurement from sea level to summit is more than 2. 5 miles (4 km), from sea level to sea floor about 3. 1 miles (5 km). [2]
See also: List of Hawaiʻi rivers
Earthquakes
The Hawaiian Islands are the site of many earthquakes. List of Rivers and Streams in Hawaii ( US state) Modern maps show some 360 streams in the Hawaiian Islands. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer Generally, they are caused by the islands' volcanic foundations. Most of the early earthquake monitoring took place in Hilo, by Sarah J. Hilo (ˈhiːlo is a coastal town in the State of Hawai{{okina}}i. Lyman and her family. From 1833 to 1896, approximately 4 or 5 earthquakes were reported per year. [3]
The state of Hawaii accounted for 7. 3% of the United States' reported earthquakes with a magnitude 3. The Richter magnitude scale, or more correctly local magnitude M L scale assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released 5 or greater from 1974 to 2003, with a total 1533 earthquakes. Hawaii ranked as the state with the third most earthquakes over this time period. [4]
On Sunday, October 15, 2006, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 6. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer 7, off the northwest coast of the island of Hawaii, near the Kona area of the big island. The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island, is a volcanic Island in the U The initial earthquake was followed approximately five minutes later by a magnitude 5. 7 aftershock. An aftershock is an Earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake (the main shock Minor-to-moderate damage was reported on most of the big island, including several major roadways rendered impassable by rock slides, and other structural damage, and effects were felt as far away as Honolulu, Oahu, nearly 150 miles (240 km) from the epicenter. Honolulu is the Capital and most populous Census-designated place (CDP in the U Oahu (usually Oahu outside Hawaiian and Hawaiian English) known as ''"The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth 's surface that is directly above the Hypocenter or focus the point where an Earthquake Power outages lasted for several hours to whole days on several islands. Several water mains ruptured.
Linda Lingle, the governor of Hawaii made a statewide disaster declaration several hours after the earthquake struck. Linda Lingle (born Linda Cutter on June 4 1953) has been Governor of Hawaii since December 2 2002. The Governor of Hawaii, also called Ke Kiaaina o Hawaii, is the chief executive of the State of Hawai{{okina}}i and its various agencies A tsunami alert was issued, but quickly canceled after sensor buoys failed to detect significant wave activity. A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when No deaths or life-threatening injuries were reported.
Most of the earthquakes are reported by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory established by the USGS. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the Volcano observatory in Hawai&lsquoi that monitors the four active Hawaiian volcanoes Kīlauea, Mauna The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government.
Ecology
- Related article: Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands. Located some 2400 miles (4000 km from the nearest continental shore the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated group of islands on the planet
The Hawaiian Islands are home to a large number of endemic species. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian Islands developed in nearly complete isolation over about 70 million years. Mammals were absent until they arrived with the first human settlers.
Human contact, first by Polynesians, introduced new trees, plants and animals. Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over These included voracious species such as rats and pigs, who took a heavy toll on native birds and invertebrates that evolved in the absence of such predators. The growing population also brought deforestation, forest degradation, treeless grasslands, and environmental degradation. As a result, many species which depended on forest habitats and food went extinct. As humans cleared land for farming, monocultural crop production replaced multi-species systems. Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area Polyculture is agriculture using multiple crops in the same space in imitation of the diversity of natural ecosystems and avoiding large stands of single crops or Monoculture
The arrival of the Europeans had a significant impact, with the promotion of large-scale single-species export agriculture and livestock grazing. The European peoples are the various Nations and Ethnic groups of Europe. In turn, this led to the increased clearing of forests, and the development of towns, driving more species to extinction. In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. Today, many of the remaining endemic species are considered endangered. [1]
Climate
The islands receive most rainfall from the trade winds on their north and east flanks (called the windward side) as a result of orographic precipitation. Kauai (in standard Hawaiian kauˈaʔi in Kauai- Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect; usually spelled Kauai outside the Hawaiian Islands and ˈkaʊɑɪ or /kaʊˈɑɪ/ The trade winds (also called trades) are the prevailing pattern of easterly winds found in the Tropics near the Earth's Equator. In Meteorology, precipitation (also known as one class of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric Coastal areas in general and especially the south and west flanks or leeward sides, tend to be drier. Because of the frequent build-up of Tradewind clouds and potential showers, most tourist areas have been built on the leeward coasts of the islands.
In general, the Hawaiian Islands receive most of their precipitation during the winter months (October to April). Drier conditions generally prevail from May to September, but the warmer temperatures increase the risk of hurricanes (see below).
Temperatures at sea level generally range from high temperatures of 85-90 °F (29-32 °C) during the summer months to low temperatures of 65-70 °F (18-21 °C) during the winter months. Very rarely does the temperature rise above 90 °F (32 °C) or drop below 60 °F (16 °C) at lower elevations. Temperatures are lower at higher altitudes; in fact, the three highest mountains of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala sometimes receive snowfall during the winter. Mauna Kea is a Dormant volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five volcanoes which together form the Island of Hawaii. Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on earth and one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U Haleakalā or East Maui Volcano is a massive Shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui.
One of the most distinctive features of Hawaii’s climate is the small annual variation in air temperature range. This is because there is only a slight variation in length of night and day from one part of Hawaii to another because all its islands lie within a narrow latitude band. The small variations in the length of the daylight period, together with the smaller annual variations in the altitude of the sun above the horizon, result in relatively small variations in the amount of incoming solar energy from one time of the year to another. This factor, and the location of Hawaii in mid-ocean contribute to Hawaii’s pleasant climate. The surface waters of the open ocean around Hawaii have an average temperature that ranges from 73° to 74 °F (23 °C) between late February and early April, to a maximum of 79° to 80 °F (27 °C) in late September or early October. With air temperatures this mild for hundreds of miles around, the air that reaches Hawaii is neither very hot nor very cold. Temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C) and above are quite uncommon (with the exception of dry, leeward areas). In the leeward areas, temperatures may reach into the low 90’s several days during the year, but temperatures higher than these are unusual.
The other reason for the small variation in air temperature is the nearly constant flow of fresh ocean air across the islands. Just as the temperature of the ocean surface varies comparatively little from season to season, so also does the temperature of air that has moved great distances across the ocean; the air brings with it to the land the mild temperature regime characteristic of the surrounding ocean. In the central North Pacific, the Trade winds represent the outflow of air from the great region of high pressure, the Pacific Anticyclone, typically located well north and east of the Hawaiian Islands. The Pacific High, and with it the trade-wind zone, moves north and south with changing angle of the sun, so that it reaches its northernmost position in the summer. This brings the heart of the trade winds across Hawaii during the period of May through September, when the Trade winds are prevalent 80 to 95 percent of the time. From October through April, the heart of the Trade winds moves south of Hawaii; however, the Trade winds still blow across the islands much of the time. They provide a system of natural year-long ventilation throughout the islands and bring to the land the mild, warm temperatures characteristic of air that has moved great distances across tropical waters.
The wind patterns on the islands are very complex. Though the trade winds are fairly constant in speed and duration, their relatively uniform air flow is distorted and disrupted by mountains, hills, and valleys. The usual regime is to have upslope winds by day and downslope winds by night. Local conditions that produce occasional violent winds are not well understood, even though the general causes of these winds can be surmised. These are very localized winds, observed only in a few areas. They sometimes reach speeds of 60 to 100 mph (160 km/h) and are best known in the settled areas of Kula and Lahaina on Maui. The Kula winds are strong downslope winds that occur on the lower slopes of the west side of Haleakala. These winds tend to be strongest between 2,000 and 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above mean sea level. The Lahaina winds are also downslope winds, but have somewhat different characteristics. They are also called “lehua winds” after the lehua tree, whose red blossoms fill the air when these strong winds blow. They issue from the canyons at the base of the main mountain mass of western Maui, where the steeper canyon slopes meet the more gentle piedmont slope below. These winds are quite infrequent, occurring every 8 to 12 years. They are extremely violent, with wind speeds of 80 to 100 mph (160 km/h) or more.
Cloud Formation – Under trade wind conditions, there is very often a pronounced moisture discontinuity between 4,000 and 8,000 feet (1,200–2425 m). Below these heights the air is moist; above it is dry. The break (a large-scale feature of the Pacific Anticyclone) is caused by a temperature inversion embedded in the moving trade wind air. The inversion tends to suppress the vertical movement of air and so restricts cloud development to the zone just below the inversion. The inversion is present 50 to 70 percent of the time; its height fluctuates from day to day, but it is usually between 5,000 and 7,000 feet (1,500–2,100 m). On trade wind days when the inversion is well defined, the clouds develop below these heights with only an occasional cloud top breaking through the inversion. These towering clouds form along the mountains where the incoming trade wind air converges as it moves up a valley and is forced up and over the mountains to heights of several thousand feet. On days without an inversion, the sky is almost cloudless (completely cloudless skies are extremely rare). In leeward areas well screened from the trade winds (such as the west coast of Maui), skies are clear 30 to 60 percent of the time. Windward areas tend to be cloudier during he summer, when the trade winds and associated clouds are more prevalent, while leeward areas, which are less affected by cloudy conditions associated with trade wind cloudiness, tend to be cloudier during the winter, when storm fronts pass through more frequently. On Maui, the cloudiest zones are at and just below the summits of the mountains, and at elevations of 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600–1,200 m) on the windward sides of Haleakala. In these locations the sky is cloudy more than 70 percent of the time. The usual clarity of the air in the high mountains is associated with the low moisture content of the air.
It is also true that in Hawaii very light showers are extremely frequent in most localities. On the windward coast, it is common to have as many as 10 brief showers in a single day, not one of which is heavy enough to produce more than one-hundredth of an inch of rain. This is because the usual run of trade wind weather yields many light showers in the lowlands, whereas the torrential rains are associated with a sudden surge in the trade winds or with a major storm. Hana has had as much as 28 inches (710 mm) of rain in a single 24-hour period.
Major storms occur most frequently between October and March, inclusive. During this period, there may be as many as six or seven major storm events in a year. Such storms bring heavy rains and are sometimes accompanied by strong local winds. The storms may be associated with the passage of a cold front – the leading edge of a mass of relatively cool air that is moving from west to east or from northwest to southeast.
Kona storms are features of the winter season. They are so-called because they often generate winds coming from the “kona” or leeward direction. The rainfall in a well-developed Kona storm is more widespread and more prolonged than in the usual cold-front storm. Kona storm rains are usually most intense in an arc, or band, extending from south to east of the storm and well in advance of its center. Kona rains last from several hours to several days. The rains may continue steadily, but the longer lasting ones are characteristically interrupted by intervals of lighter rain or even partial clearing, as well as by intense showers superimposed on the more moderate regime of continuous, steady rain. An entire winter may pass without a single well-developed Kona storm. More often, however, there are one or two such storms a year; sometimes there are four or five. Three harbors provide some protection from Kona storms Kahului Harbor (used mostly for commercial vessels), Lahaina and Maalea Harbors used primarily for sailing craft. [2]
Hurricanes
The hurricane season in the Hawaiian Islands is roughly from June through November, when hurricanes and tropical storms are most probable in the North Pacific. A Hawaiian hurricane is a Tropical cyclone that forms in the Pacific Ocean and affects the Hawaiian Islands. A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low pressure center and numerous Thunderstorms that produce strong winds and Flooding These storms tend to originate off the coast of Mexico (particularly the Baja California peninsula) and track west or northwest towards the islands. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The Baja California peninsula ( English: Lower California peninsula) is a Peninsula in western Mexico.
True hurricanes are very rare in Hawaii, indicated by the fact that only four have affected the islands during a 63-year period. Tropical storms are more frequent. These are similar to hurricanes but with more modest winds, below 74 mph (119 km/h). (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport. Because weak tropical storms resemble some Kona storms in the winds and rains they produce, and because early records do not distinguish clearly between them, it has been difficult to estimate the average frequency of tropical storms. A tropical storm will pass sufficiently close to Hawaii every year or two to affect the weather in some part of the Islands. Unlike cold fronts and Kona storms, hurricanes and tropical storms are not limited to the winter season. A surface weather analysis is a special type of Weather map that provides a view of Weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information They are most likely to occur during the last half of the year, from July through December.
Hawai‘i is protected by the vastness of the Pacific (i. e. the improbability of a direct hit); as storms cross the Pacific they tend to lose strength if they bear northward and encounter cooler water. It is thought that the topography of the highest islands (Haleakalā on Maui, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island) may protect these islands, and certainly Kauaʻi has been hit more often in the last 50 years than the others.
Effect on trade winds
Despite being a tiny speck of land within the vast Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands have a surprising effect on ocean currents and circulation patterns over much of the Pacific. In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds blow from northeast to southwest, from North and South America toward Asia, between the equator and 30 degrees north latitude. The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the Typically, the trade winds continue on an uninterrupted course across the Pacific — unless something gets in their way, like an island.
Hawaii's high mountain landscape presents a substantial obstacle in the path of the trade winds. The elevated topography blocks the airflow, effectively splitting the trade winds in two. This split causes a zone of weak winds, called a "wind wake," to form on the leeward side of the islands.
Aerodynamic theory indicates that an island wind wake effect should dissipate within a few hundred kilometers and not be felt in the western Pacific. However, the wind wake caused by the Hawaiian Islands extends 1,860 miles (3,000 km), which is roughly 10 times longer than any wake observed elsewhere. The long wake testifies to the strong interaction between the atmosphere and ocean, which has strong implications for global climate research. It helps researchers assess climate sensitivity, namely how much increase can be observed in the global mean temperature as carbon dioxide levels increase. It is also important for understanding natural climate variations, like El Niño. El Niño-Southern Oscillation ( ENSO; commonly referred to as simply El Niño) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon
There are number of reasons why this phenomenon has only been observed in Hawaii. First, because the ocean reacts slowly to fast-changing winds, the wind system must be steady to exert force on the ocean, as is the case with the trade winds. Second, the high mountain topography of Hawaiʻi provides a significant disturbance to the winds. Third, the Hawaiian Islands are large in horizontal scale, extending over four degrees in latitude. It is this active interaction between wind, ocean current, and temperature that creates this uniquely long wake west of Hawaiʻi.
In addition, the wind wake drives an eastward "counter current" that brings warm water 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from the Asian coast to Hawaiʻi. This warm water drives further changes in wind, allowing the island effect to extend far into the western Pacific. The counter current had been observed by oceanographers near the Hawaiian Islands years before the long wake was discovered, but they did not know what caused it. Oceanography (from the greek words Ωκεανός meaning Ocean and γράφω meaning to write also called oceanology or [5]
Tsunamis
The Hawaiian Islands can be affected by tsunamis, great waves that strike the shore typically but not exclusively from the north. A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when A wave is a disturbance that propagates through Space and Time, usually with transference of Energy. Tsunamis are movements of the surface layer of the ocean most often caused by earthquakes somewhere in the Pacific. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer The city of Hilo on the Big Island has historically been most affected by tsunamis, where the inrushing water is accentuated by the shape of the bay on which the town is situated. Hilo (ˈhiːlo is a coastal town in the State of Hawai{{okina}}i.
See also
- Hawaii
- Hawaiian people
- Hawaiian language
- History of Hawaii
- Kingdom of Hawaii
- Hawaiian sovereignty movement
- Ancient Hawaii
- Hawaiian mythology
- Hawaii tourism
- List of Hawaii birds
Notes
- ^ Macdonald, Abbott, and Peterson, 1984
- ^ (USGS)
- ^ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/hawaii/history.php
- ^ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/top_states.php
- ^ Schmidt, Laurie J. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the "Kanaka" redirects here For the Tamil actress see Kanaka (actress. The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i) is an Austronesian language that takes its name from Hawai'i, the largest island in the tropical The history of Hawai{{okina}}i includes phases of early Polynesian settlement British discovery Euro-American and Asian immigration the overthrow of the Hawaiian The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of O{{okina}}ahu, The Hawaiian sovereignty movement (ke ea Hawai‘i consists of organizations and individuals seeking some form of sovereignty for Hawai'i Ancient Hawaii refers to the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawai'i by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. Hawaiian mythology is a variant of a more general Polynesian mythology. Hawai{{okina}}i is the name of a chain of several islands and are among the numerous Pacific Islands in the Pacific This list of Hawaii birds is a comprehensive listing of all the bird species seen naturally in the state of Hawaii as determined by the Hawaiian Audubon Society (October 2, 2003). Little Islands, Big Wake. NASA Earth Observatory. The NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (US Retrieved on 2006-05-16. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1204 - Baldwin IX Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
References
- Morgan, Joseph R. (1996), “Volcanic Landforms”, Hawai'i: A Unique Geography, Honolulu, HI: Bess Press, ISBN 1573060216.
Further reading and resources
- Hawai‘i state government, Table 05. 09 (. pdf file).
- An integrated information website focused on the Hawaiian Archipelago from the Pacific Region Integrated Data Enterprise (PRIDE).
- Macdonald, G. A. , A. T. Abbott, and F. L. Peterson. 1984. Volcanoes in the Sea. The Geology of Hawaii, 2nd edition. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 517 pp.
- The Ocean Atlas of Hawai‘i - SOEST at University of Hawaiʻi.
- Introduction to Hawaiian Volcanism
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