Scientists from Hawai‘i and Japan say they have unlocked the mystery of the age of Haleakala crater.
Using a potassium-argon method of dating lava flows, the scientists have narrowed the time period during which the Manhattan-sized crater on Maui was created. According to their findings, it happened between 120,000 and 145,000 years ago.
Haleakala is a volcano, but it was erosion that made the crater as large as it is today.
The new time frame for the creation of Haleakala was among the findings of a study that dated 52 lava flows in and around the crater. David Sherrod of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Yoshitomo Nishimitsu of Kyoto University collaborated on the research that sheds light on Haleakala’s volcanic history and the likelihood for future eruptions.
Sharrod, who is preparing to submit the research for scientific publication, said the findings indicate the 10,000-foot mountain continues to be an active volcano, albeit a waning one.
Scientists previously believed that Haleakala had experienced 300,000 years of down time before rejuvenating more than 200 years ago with lava flows near Makena.
This period of volcanic rejuvenation is common in Hawai‘i. Diamond Head on O‘ahu, for example, is a geologic formation created long after the active period of its volcano.
As it turns out, Haleakala volcano has been spewing out lava every 200 to 500 years for the past 1,000 years, and probably for the past 5,000 years, though in diminishing volumes, Sharrod said.
Other discoveries indicate that Haleakala’s northern rift zone, including 30 cones that stretch from the summit to the coastal area of Pa‘ia, is not dead, as previously believed, Sharrod said.
At least three cones were found to be less than 110,000 years old, indicating the rift zone is not extinct.
