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| | | | Kilauea Crater: The Kilauea Caldera - more than just a big hole | | | | | |
Kilauea is called a summit caldera (or crater). It is two-and-a-half miles long, two miles wide and about 400 feet deep. At other times it has been as deep as 800 feet but lava flows from and near Halemaumau have, over the years, filled it to its present level. The most recent lava flows in this caldera were in 1974 and 1982.
Many visitors come to the summit of Kilauea, take a quick look into the caldera, say, "Hmmm, that's nice," shrug their shoulders, and move on. All they see is a hole in the ground, big and black and steamy to be sure, but not something that jumps out and grabs them. Well, there's more to this place than that!
The caldera that you can look at today, only one of many down through the centuries, was created around 1500AD when the roof literally caved in after the lava drained from an underground magma chamber, causing the unsupported volcano summit to collapse and various steam explosions to occur.
Scientists know this because explosive and lava-fountain deposits dated at about A.D. 1500 are plastered against the vertical walls of the caldera so clearly the walls were there when the explosions occurred. How deep the caldera was then is unknown, but it was, at least part of the time in the next three centuries, 1500 feet (500 m) or possibly more, deeper than at present. There may have been periods when parts of the floor collapsed still farther.
So, the history of the modern Kilauea caldera has been dynamic. There is much more there than just a hole. There is a past rich in lava eruptions and explosions, and there is a future with similar events in store. We happen to live in a time when the caldera seems quiet and passive. Had we been here in the 15th century, we would have seen a mountain, and in the 16th century, a hole. Nothing is permanent except change.
In the picture you can see Kilauea's crater as well as the pit crater of Halema'uma'u -- an impressive sight discussed in another Must See activity. Leave a Comment Directions: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
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Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
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