Hawaiian Trough

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hawaiian Trough, also known as the Hawaiian Deep, is a depression of the sea floor surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, where the massive weight of the island chain downwarps the oceanic lithosphere; surrounding the islands like a moat, it is roughly 5500 meters deep.[1] However, in accordance with the principle of isostasy, the sinking of the lithosphere is balanced by a corresponding rise beyond it, known as the Hawaiian Arch.[2] The Big Island itself is still subsiding, at a rate of about 2.5 millimeters per year.[3]

[edit] Sources:

• Hawaiian Submarine Volcanism

• Volcano World: Introduction to Hawaiian Volcanoes

[edit] External links

• Overview of Hawaiian Arch geology (PDF)

• New Evidence for Massive Landslides from the Hawaiian Islands (PDF)

[edit] See also

• Hawaiian Arch

• Submarine landslide