Hawaii essay, how the earth was made PDF

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Hawaii Essay...

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Aimee Mora Professor Cheyenne Cummings SMT 312-04 September 21,2018 How the Earth Was Made: Hawaii Hawaii, a place where most everyone wants to go for vacation and honeymoon its most known for its beautiful beaches and famous volcanoes. The documentary How the Earth Was Made: San Andreas, by the history channel, studies evidence on how these islands could have been formed and how Hawaii is what it is now. Before I even watched the whole documentary I came to the conclusion myself that plate tectonics could have formed these volcanoes and islands but this idea I had was later debunked and I was surprised by why it wasn’t that. Since watching the video I still don’t fear volcanoes instead I find them to be interesting part of nature especially Hawaii’s volcanoes. Upon watching the documentary I have to agree with the evidence presented that lava could have formed the island, the main evidence and theory of hotspots, and also how this documentary impacted my opinions of volcanoes and Hawaii. The first piece of evidence that I found interesting was in relation to how lava and ocean have something to do with creating new land in Hawaii; it specifically talks about the Kilauea volcano. Basically the Kilauea lava flows through these underground tunnels called lava tubes and its final destination is the ocean which then builds land. I agree with this as it makes sense to me as when lava reaches the beach it surely cools off forming a new solid land on sandy foundation. What I found interesting though was when the lava meets the ocean because the lava must be so hot and it then collides with fresh cold sea water makes me wonder of how dangerous that could be. Dave McGarvie and Ian Skilling state that, “Where the lava meets the ocean,

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corrosive acid mist is produced and glass particles are shattered and flung into the air” (‘para’ 1). I assume that if anyone where to be near the acid mist would be sickly and if not deathly. But not just all the lava forms these volcanic chains and seamounts,but the theory of hotspots could have formed Hawaii its the main evidence. At first my guess was that these volcanoes and islands could be formed from plate tectonics as in the Ring of Fire a documentary I watched before, there are plate boundaries where most activity happens like earthquakes and volcanoes. But then I noticed that the Hawaiian volcanoes are quite different from the volcanoes from Ring of Fire, as Hawaiian volcanoes have runny lava like honey and are shield volcanoes while the volcanoes from Ring of Fire have viscous lava and the volcanoes are stratovolcanoes. Also scientists confirmed that the volcanoes are located in middle of plate, 2000 miles from nearest boundary so it makes sense as to why it isn’t plate boundaries. The plates do have something to do with the islands moving but as Sandra Fernandez-Achenbach states that “Wilson’s research proved that the Pacific Plate has been moving and carrying the Hawaiian Islands northwest off the hot spot” (‘para’ 6). The hot spot is powered by a mantle plume originating deep in core bottom of Earth. Finally, this video has impacted my opinion of volcanoes and Hawaii in general. Before watching this video I honestly have never found volcanoes to be scary or even interesting. I remember my dad would watch the discovery channel and I’d see him get excited about watching volcanoes and how they would erupt. After watching the documentary I can see what impact they have geologically, on people, and how they are formed. Most dangers of living in Hawaii would be the erupting volcanoes and earthquakes. Like Nicole Chavez states that “President Donald Trump declared a major disaster in Hawaii after days of volcanic activity that sent molten lava and toxic fumes spewing into residential neighborhoods” (‘para’ 1). Like the

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Kilauea volcano it releases large amounts of sulfur dioxide which can cause health problems like irritations of eyes and lungs. In my opinion best way to avoid these dangers is to just stay away from these active volcanoes but for those who can’t then evacuating is important, first aid kit, breathing protection to avoid ash, and if needed look for shelter. Even though I don’t find volcanoes as threatening as earthquakes I wouldn’t dream of walking near an active volcano. In conclusion i found the documentary of How the Earth Was Made: Hawaii, by the history channel to be quite informative but also engaging. The video wasn’t boring to watch at all, I found the topic of Hawaii to be interesting as it is a popular touristy place so knowing how Hawaii came to be formed with the volcanoes is interesting. Both main evidence that I talked about in my essay is genuine and informative. I would suggest this documentary to people who want to visit Hawaii or are going to live there.

Resources / Citations McGarvie, Dave, et al. “Lava in Hawai'i Is Reaching the Ocean, Creating New Land but Also Corrosive Acid Mist.” The Conversation, The Conversation, 6 Sept. 2018, theconversation.com/lava-in-hawaii-is-reachingthe-ocean-creating-new-land-but-also-corrosive-acid-mist-96947.

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Chavez, Nicole. “Trump Declares a Major Disaster in Hawaii after Volcanic Eruptions and Lava.” CNN, Cable News Network, 12 May 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/05/12/us/hawaii-kilauea-volcano/index.html.

Fernandez-Achenbach, Sandra. “Discover Hawaii's Volcanic Hot Spot.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/hawaiis-volcanic-hot-spot-1435373....