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Kohala Volcano | John Seach
Big Island, Hawaii
20.12 N, 155.70 W
summit elevation 1700 m
Shield volcano
Kohala is the oldest volcano on the Big island of Hawaii.
The summit is broad and covered with trees. Kohala is the oldest of Hawaii's five volcanoes. Kohala is in a transition between postshield and erosional stage.
Kohala volcano had grown to its maximum height before its southern flank was buried beneath lava erupted from Mauna Kea.
Mega-tsunami deposits have been found on Kohala volcano, from flank collapse of Mauna Loa about 110,000 years ago. The mega-tsunami reached a height of 61 m above the present sea level, and a runup distance of up to 6 km inland.
Further reading
Lipman, P.W. and Calvert, A.T., 2011. Early growth of Kohala volcano and formation of long Hawaiian rift zones. Geology, 39(7), pp.659-662.
Spengler, S.R. and Garcia, M.O., 1988. Geochemistry of the Hawi lavas, Kohala volcano, Hawaii. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 99(1), pp.90-104.
Lanphere, M.A. and Frey, F.A., 1987. Geochemical evolution of Kohala volcano, Hawaii. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 95(1), pp.100-113.
Kohala Volcano Eruptions
120,000 years ago.