Hawai means beaches, sun, volcanoes, lava, tourism, travel and more. Pearl Harbor is a National Historic Landmark and active military base that earned its place in history for the 1941 attack, which killed 1,177 servicemen on the USS Arizona. The site is now home to several attractions that are part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific Monument, including the USS Arizona Memorial, which floats above the remains of the sunken ship – parts of which can be seen protruding from the water. There is no cost for a tour of the memorial, however reservations are recommended due to its popularity. The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center has free admission and is the meeting place for tours, including transportation to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island, where visitors can see WWII aircraft and artifacts, as well as experience landing an airplane on an aircraft carrier in a flight simulator. Other attractions include the USS Oklahoma, USS Utah, and the Battleship USS Missouri whose deck can be toured by visitors.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park encompasses 333,308 acres from the summit of Maunaloa to the sea. Discover 150 miles of hiking trails through volcanic craters, scalded deserts and rainforests, as well as a museum, petroglyphs and two active volcanoes: Maunaloa, which last erupted in 1984 and Kilauea which has been erupting since January 3, 1983. Crater Rim Drive is the 10.6-mile drive that circles Kilauea Caldera. Driving around this loop will take you to the park’s main attractions: the Kilauea overlook, Devastation Trail and Kilauea Iki Crater Overlook.
Once believed to be an offshoot of its large neighbor, Mauna Loa, scientists now have concluded that Kilauea is actually a separate volcano with its own magma-plumbing system, extending to the surface from more than 60 kilometers (over 37 miles) deep in the earth. Kilauea Volcano, on the south-east side of the Big Island, is one of the most active on earth. Major eruptions started in January 1983 and continue to this day. Kilauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 and has caused considerable property damage, including the destruction of the town of Kalapana in 1990, and the destruction of Vacationland Hawaii more recently. The Lower Puna eruptions which began in May of 2018, opened two dozen lava vents in Puna. The earthquake in May 2018 measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale and caused nearly 2,000 residents to be evacuated from the Leilani Estates subdivision and surrounding area.
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Lo’ihi means “long one”, a reference to its elongate shape. For a 3-d image, check out the Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory (HUGO) home. Right now, the summit of Lo’ihi is about 970 meters below sea level. It is growing on the lower flanks of its two neighbors, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, with its base at a depth of about 4000 meters below sea level, so you can say that Lo’ihi itself is about 3000 m high. We don’t really know when it will reach the surface or even if it will. There is an underwater volcano off the NW coast of the big island of Hawai’i named Mahukona, and there is debate about whether it ever grew above sea level, or died out prior to doing so. The most often-heard time required for Lo’ihi to reach sea level is about 10,000 years, but that is really only a guess. It might be 30,000 years for all we know. It is far enough away from the coastline of Hawai’i that I imagine that at first it will be a separate island when it breaks the surface. As it grows (and especially if Kilauea and Mauna Loa are still erupting) it will soon be joined to the island.
