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THE SCIENCE OF ECOSYSTEMS ON THE GARDEN ISLAND OF KAUAI |
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MAINPAGE |
OF KAUAI |
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and the Island of Kauai |
| The morning lecture reviews the volcanic origins of the Hawaiian Islands with respect to the geological theories dealing with the Earth's tectonic plates and the magma-generating "hot spots" of the Pacific Tectonic Plate, especially the Hawaiian Hot Spot which has been generating mid-ocean volcanic mountain /islands for at least the past 75 million years. The day's field excursion is to the spectacular, 2500 ft. deep, Waimea Canyon near the center of the island. Objectives are to examine the shield volcano's principal rock materials and to observe the extensive amount of weathering and erosion that takes place with such chemically unstable rocks in a tropical setting. Lesson plan exercises include; 1) scale modeling of the Earth and its tectonic plates, 2) temporal model of the Hawaiian Island-Emperor Seamount volcanic mountain chain, and 3) rate of subsidence and erosion denudation model of a Hawaiian oceanic volcano. |
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GEOLOGY |
BIOGEOGRAPHY |
BEACHES |
REEFS |
SEA LEVEL |