Mauna Loa: shaded relief images


provided by Scott Rowland
Big Island Shaded relief image (from USGS digital elevation data) to show Mauna Loa in relation to the other volcanoes of the Big Island. Volcano boundaries are in white, major roads are dashed, in black. The scenes below are annotated cut-outs from this image. The geological interpretations are those of numerous authors, most of whom at one time or another worked at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. [125174-byte jpeg]
Kealakekua Fault The Kealakekua fault, which has been draped by many lava flows. The oldest west flank flows are exposed at the inland base of the fault. The small south-pointing peninsula in Kealakekua bay is the location of the monument to Captain Cook. [Image size: 63233 bytes]
Kahuku Pali Ka Lae (South Point) and the Kahuku Pali. The pali (cliff) has the appearance of a scissors fault with the ocean end having dropped more, but it is more likely that the upland end has simply been more deeply buried. [Image size: 112614 bytes]
Ninole Hills The Ninole Hills and Wood Valley on the SE flank of Mauna Loa. The oldest subaerial Mauna Loa lavas are exposed in the Ninole Hills. The Ninole Hills and Wood Valley are nestled within the curve of old avalanche scars. A mudflow down Wood Valley killed 31 during the Great Ka'u Earthquake of 1868. The umbilical to the Hawai'i Undersea Geo Observatory (HUGO) will come ashore at Honu'apo. [Image size: 145024 bytes]
Kaoiki Faults The Mauna Loa-Kilauea boundary in the vicinity of Kilauea caldera. The Ka'oiki faults are old Mauna Loa analogs of the present-day Hilina fault system on Kilauea. The Ke'amoku flow is a large Mauna Loa flow that erupted not long before the arrival of Westerners. [Image size: 91082 bytes]
The Saddle The saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. The morphological differences between the two volcanoes are very obvious in these data. H is Pu`u Huluhulu, a well-known landmark on the Saddle Road. [Image size: 210044 bytes]

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