Ocean Floor Around Hawaii

This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level.

Ocean floor around hawaii. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. Lōʻihi meaning long in hawaiian is the newest volcano in the hawaiian emperor seamount chain a. However the ocean floor is not flat. Lōʻihi seamount also known as lōihi is an active submarine volcano about 35 km 22 mi off the southeast coast of the island of hawaii.

Navigators of ships and submarines are interested in avoiding dangers or impediments to their progress. Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet. University of hawaii 2011. Early civilizations believed the ocean floor to be a smooth bowl devoid of features or life.

The top of the seamount is about 975 m 3 000 ft below sea level this seamount is on the flank of mauna loa the largest shield volcano on earth. Here is an overview about each hawaiian ocean channel from southeast to northwest. This document may be freely reproduced and distributed for non profit educational purposes. 16 km wide 20 miles 32 km long and the water depth is around 200 feet 60 m.

Hawaii at the southeast end of the chain was formed by huge volcanic eruptions fueled by a hot spot in the earth s deep interior from which molten magma penetrates the ocean floor. Topographic maps of the sea floor produced at a 1 100 000 scale that contain loran c rates bottom sediment types and known bottom obstructions. This product is intended to aid fishermen and those needing seafloor features and potential fishing grounds. Explore our interactive viewer and data graphs.

It has a wide variety of geological features e g fig. Pacioos ocean circulation model provides a 7 day forecast of ocean currents for the hawaiian islands and other parts of the pacific islands region.