Koʻolau Range
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox mountain
KoTemplate:Okinaolau Range (koTemplate:Okinaolau means "windward" in HawaiianTemplate:Efn) is the dormant fragmented remnant of the eastern or windward shield volcano of the Hawaiian island of [[Oahu|OTemplate:Okinaahu]]. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1972.<ref name=nnl>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GeologyEdit
It is not a mountain range in the proper sense, because it was formed as a single mountain called KoTemplate:Okinaolau Volcano. What remains of KoTemplate:Okinaolau is the western half of the original volcano that was destroyed in prehistoric times when the entire eastern half—including much of the summit caldera—slid cataclysmically into the Pacific Ocean. Remains of this ancient volcano lie as massive fragments strewn nearly Template:Convert over the ocean floor to the northeast of OTemplate:Okinaahu. Kāneʻohe Bay is what remains of the ancient volcano's summit caldera after the slide. The modern KoTemplate:Okinaolau mountain forms OTemplate:Okinaahu's windward coast and rises behind the leeward coast city of Honolulu — on its leeward slopes and valleys are located most of Honolulu's residential neighborhoods.
The volcano is thought to have first erupted on the ocean floor more than 2.5 million years ago. It eventually reached sea level and continued to grow in elevation until about 1.7 million years ago, when the volcano became dormant. The volcano remained dormant for hundreds of thousands of years, during which time erosion ate away at the initially smooth slopes of the shield-shaped mountain; and the entire body subsided considerably. The highest elevation perhaps exceeded Template:Convert; today, the summit of the tallest peak, PuTemplate:Okinau Kōnāhuanui is only Template:Convert.
Honolulu VolcanicsEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} After hundreds of thousands of years of dormancy, KoTemplate:Okinaolau volcano began to erupt again. Some thirty eruptions over the past 500,000 years or so have created many of the landmarks around eastern OTemplate:Okinaahu, such as Diamond Head, Koko Head (Hanauma Bay), Koko Crater, Punchbowl Crater, Tantalus, and [[Salt Lake, Hawaii|ĀliapaTemplate:Okinaakai]], and are collectively known as the Honolulu Volcanic Series, or simply Honolulu Volcanics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to the US Geological Survey, the most recent eruptions in this series of activity occurred between about 70,000 to 100,000 years ago.<ref name="volcanowatch2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is a possibility that KoTemplate:Okinaolau volcano could erupt again; however, the chance of such an eruption occurring in "our lifetimes, or even those of many future generations" is remote.<ref name="volcanowatch2016" />
HistoryEdit
In 1795, the newly-formed Hawaiian Kingdom conducted a battle resulting in the triumphant conquest of O'ahu on the range within part of the Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout, under the command of Kamehameha the Great, as his troops forced all of the warriors up the valley to fall to their deaths below the cliffs.
The Ko‘olau Range was designated in 1972 as a National Natural Landmark.
TransportationEdit
There are three roads that tunnel through the southern part of the KoTemplate:Okinaolau Range, connecting Honolulu to the Windward Coast. From leeward to windward:
- Hawaii Route 61 (Pali Highway)
- Hawaii Route 63 (Likelike Highway)
- Interstate H-3
GalleryEdit
- Koolau Range 02.JPG
View of KoTemplate:Okinaolau Range with Koko Crater and Maunalua (Hawaii Kai) visible.
- Oahu Landscape.jpg
Nuʻuanu Pali, a section of the KoTemplate:Okinaolau Range. Olomana is visible on the right side of the image.
- Sunset from Awawaloa.jpg
Sunset from Awawaloa
- View of Konahuanui from near summit of Awawaloa.jpg
View of Konahuanui from near the summit of Awawaloa Template:Panorama link