what is the name of the active volcano in hawaii
Kīlauea Kīlauea (English: /ˌkiːlaʊˈeɪə/ KEE-low-AY-ə, also US: /ˌkɪləˈweɪə/ KIL-ə-WAY-ə; Hawaiian: [tiːlɐwˈwɛjə]) is a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi. Located along the southern shore of the island, the volcano is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. It is the second youngest product of the Hawaiian hotspot and the current eruptive center of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Because it lacks topographic prominence and its activities historically coincided with those of Mauna Loa, Kīlauea was once thought to be a satellite of its much larger neighbor. Structurally, Kīlauea has a large, fairly recently formed caldera at its summit and two active rift zones, one extending 125 km (78 mi) east and the other 35 km (22 mi) west, as an active fault of unknown depth moving vertically an average of 2 to 20 mm (0.1 to 0.8 in) per year.
Hawaii (island) The island is often referred to as the Island of Hawaiʻi,[4] the Big Island, the Big I, or Hawaiʻi Island to distinguish it from the state. Administratively, the whole island encompasses Hawaiʻi County.
Kīlauea A prominent structure on Kīlauea's southern flank is the Hilina fault system, a highly active fault moving vertically an average of 2 to 20 mm (0.1 to 0.8 in) per year along the system. Its physiographic province is 500 m (1,640 ft) deep, but it is unknown if it is a shallow listric fault or if it penetrates to the very base of the volcano.[3] A number of cinder cones, satellite shields, lava tubes, and other eruptive structures also dot the volcano, evidence of its recent activity.[20] Kīlauea has some interactions with Mauna Loa, its larger neighbor and only other recently active volcano on the island; interspersed lava flows and ash deposits belonging to its neighbor have been found on its flanks, and some of Mauna Loa's flows are, in turn, blanketed in Kīlauea tephra. In particular, the saddle between the two volcanoes is currently depressed, and is likely to fill over in the future.[17]
Kīlauea Geologists have dated and documented dozens of major eruptions over the volcano's long history, bridging the long gap between Kīlauea's oldest known rock and only extremely recent written records and historical observation.[31] Historical lava flows from the volcano are generally recovered by scientists in one of three ways. The oldest flows, dating back 275,000 to 225,000 years, have been recovered from Kīlauea's submerged southern slope by ship-towed remotely operated vehicles. These lavas exhibit forms characteristic of early, submerged preshield-stage eruptive episodes, from when the volcano was still a rising seamount that had not yet breached the ocean surface,[32] and their surface exposure is unusual, as in most other volcanoes such lavas would have since been buried by more recent flows.[12]