Kilauea

Kristin Laske Science-2 2/14/00 Kilauea Hawaii consists of a string of islands, or an archapelago. Kilauea is located on one of these islands, the central Hawaii island. Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanic craters. Craters are formed either by the massive collapse of material during volcanic activity, by unusually violent explosions, or later by erosion during dormancy (Comptons). It is situated on the southeastern slope of the great volcanic mountain Mauna Loa. …

…massive size, which is shown in the Hawaiian Island volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are composed of shield volcanoes, that have been built up from the sea floor. If measured from sea floor level, some of the Hawaiian volcanoes are the worlds largest mountains in terms of both height and volume (Comptons). In the 20th century, major flows occurred in 1920 and 1921, 1950, 1955, 1959, 1965, and 1969. The current eruption cycle, the longest-running in modern Hawaiian history, began on January 3, 1983 (Encarta).