The Final Blog....

NOW
Hawaii. The 50th and one of the most unique states in America. It is comprised of eight islands and is located several thousands of miles away from continental America's west coast. If you were to look on a map, you'd notice that Hawaii is in the middle of the ocean. How did it get there? Like mentioned in a previous blog entry, the leading theory/belief is that on the ocean floor, there is a hotspot and as the Pacific tectonic plate adjusts northwest, it created a chain of islands.

These islands are known as having fringing reefs. A fringing reef refers to a reef that grows close to the shore with a lagoon that is shallow or doesn't have one at all.

1000 YEARS
In 1000 years, Oahu will not look that much different than it does now. The major differences that would have occurred would be the continuing erosion of the mountains. The slopes of the mountain will continue to slowly decrease in area. Contributing factors in the erosion will be rainwater and wind. The combination will cause the deepening and creation of valleys along the mountain side.

10000 YEARS
Within another 9000 years, the erosion of the mountains and land will continue. And the fringing reef will begin it's process into becoming a barrier reef.  Barrier reef occur because as the land mass begins to sink under the sea, the coral maintains its pace of growth and continues to be at surface level, but now it is considerably further away from land giving it the title of barrier reef.

1000000 YEARS
At this point in time, the island of Oahu will have begun it's process into becoming an atoll. It may still be better described as a barrier reef, but it will have developed and eroded enough to have left barely anything left on the ocean's surface. It will also have traveled NW along the chain because of the tectonic shift that Pacific plate takes. This shift would adjust all the islands upwards.

The changes that a location's geography goes through tends to take several million years before a real significant change can be witnessed. With regards to the Hawaiian islands, it is important to take into consideration the age of the Northwestern islands, which are the oldest. The youngest of them being around seven million years old and still maintaining a state that is not quite an atoll. Significant changes to Oahu will probably be seen more significantly after, the above, one million year mark.

At the end of the day, Oahu will experience it's inevitable fate into becoming an atoll and eventually fading away from existence completely. The question is how long will it take for the tropical island state to reach it's destiny.

Sources:
Previous Blog entries
Lecture Notes
http://www.coral-reef-info.com/types-of-coral-reefs.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060417110331.htm

Blog Entry #3~!

September 11 is a day that will forever be a painful memory for the citizens of the United States. It is also a day that is remembered globally.

Most people only see the significance in this day when it occurred in 2001, however, in Hawaii, this day has held significance since 1992 when Hurricane Iniki struck the islands. Iniki developed on September 5 as a result of El Niño and left significant damage to the islands of Kaua'i and Oahu, but mostly Kaua'i. 

(http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2006/Jul/02/sesq5iniki_b.jpg)

The conditions that are required to develop a hurricane include a strong coriolis effect, high sea surface temperature, changes in wind speed and direction, water vapors at low levels, and convergence. The island chain of Hawaii is an ideal spot for these conditions to come together and create a hurricane that would leave destruction that Hawaii had not seen in decades.

In the case of Iniki, it originally had developed in the Southwest Baja California region. Hurricanes develop by extracting heat from the water or latent heat release. This step in development is very important. As heat is released and returns back to the surface water, the low level warm water is drawn back to the center and repeated in the cycle. The life cycle of a hurricane is as such: depression -> tropical storm -> hurricane

(http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Climate/Cyclones/FrontsCyclones.html)

Iniki began to develop on September 5th with the name Iniki and continued to move westward towards the island chain. It took a turn and headed almost directly at the island of Kaua'i, where the most damage was witnessed to be at. In other severe hurricanes, there have been a significant amount of civilian deaths, in the case of Iniki, there were only a handful. However, the aftermath of hurricanes usually leave the location with significant amounts of damage and for the island of Kaua'i, it was extremely costly.

References:
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/1992.php
Lecture notes!

Blog Entry #2!

As living beings we require a certain amount of water to keep us alive. Many times we do not think of where our water comes from or how it gets into our cups/bottles. Most people take water for granted. Not where I'm from. As young children we learn in elementary school exactly where our drinking water comes originates. In my previous blog entry, I mentioned the Ko'olau mountain range on the island of Oahu. From underneath it is where our freshwater comes from, such an amazing thing the land has created, a water table.

A water table is a source of fresh water that is located underground. In terms, of the Ko'olau mountain range, it is an aquifer. Which is a permeable source, meaning it is easier to drill down to get the water. In the case of Honolulu, we use the Ko'olau Basalt aquifer to derive the freshwater for our use.

(http://emp.trincoll.edu/~lpolate/mic/water_shortage/improvement.htm)

The way that the water table works is as the water gets depleted via the wells, water is continuously replenished in the table. In the case of the Ko'olau Basalt, it relies completely on rain. The Ko'olau mountain range is continuously getting rained on throughout the year. The rain makes its way down into the Earth. It takes YEARS for the water to bypass layers of dyke rock in a natural made filtration system.

However, because we use up more water than is getting filtered down, the amount of available freshwater is decreasing dramatically. So save water guys!

The First Blog Post~!

When you first descend down onto Oahu, you will notice the houses that carefully line the valleys on the eroding mountains that stand center stage. The range of mountains that touch the city of Honolulu is called the Ko'olau. Growing up, I lived in a valley that was carved out of this beautiful mountain. I remember asking my father multiple times whether or not it would erupt one day. My father always told me "no, not this one, but the mountain on the Big Island does and will continue to do so".

(http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/graphics/hot_spot.gif)

The reason that this particular mountain is no longer active is because it is no longer connected to the Hot Spot, which feeds the lava through the island. This is also the way each island was formed and created. The Hot Spot released lava onto the ocean floor and builds up over time creating each mountain. As the Pacific tectonic plate shifts Northwest, the location of where the lava flows changes. Creating each individual mountain.

 (http://www.hawaiiforvisitors.com/images/oahu/attractions/oahu-koolau-mountains-hvcb-301x200.jpg)

Thankfully, Ko'olau range on Oahu no longer has the ability to erupt because it has shifted away from the Hot Spot. But the creation that was left behind is truly beautiful.

Introduction Time!

Hello there!

My name is Audrey Chiya. I am currently a Junior at the University of Colorado Denver. I am a Psychology, B.A. major and a Ethnic Studies minor. I recently moved to an apartment here in Littleton, CO this past summer. I have attended school at UCD for the past three years and I am originally from Honolulu, HI. When I was younger, I always took for granted the little island I called home, but now after being away for so long, I've grown a greater appreciation for home.

I selected Honolulu because well, that's where I'm from. I remember in school always being told how awesome Hawaii is geologically and what not. Also, that it is extremely unique from the rest of the world. I never really paid attention when people would explain that to me, but after my new found appreciation for home, I am extremely curious to find out what they meant! So I figured, Hawaii would be a great and unique way to experience and learn materials for this class. I am also very curious as to how the geography of my little tiny island chain will differ from that of Colorado.