The island of Hawaii is home to five volcanoes, three of which can be observed here in this orthorectified image. These are, clockwise from the upper right, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Hual?lai.

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano in the post-shield stage of volcanic evolution. Its peak is 13,803 feet (4,207 m) above sea level but 33,476 feet (10,203 m) above its base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, making it the world’s tallest mountain by this measure. The rounded formations on its flanks are various cinder cones.

Mauna Loa is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km³). Its peak, with an elevation of 13,679 feet (4,169 m), is about 120 feet lower than that of Mauna Kea.

Hual?lai is a dormant shield volcano with a peak at 8,271 feet (2,521 m) above sea level, much lower than those of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Although Hual?lai is not nearly as active as nearby Mauna Loa, geologic mapping of the volcano shows that 80 percent of Hual?lai’s surface is covered by lava flows no older than about 5,000 years.

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Includes photos of lava, Mauna Kea, eager lava boat tours, sea turtles and more!

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Economist Leroy Laney said the Big Island is helped by the vastly different economies on the east and west sides of the island.

“In times like these, the disparity between the two sides can be good news,” Laney said Tuesday at the 35th annual First Hawaiian Bank Economic Outlook Forums held at the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo and the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in Kamuela.

“Hawaii County’s economic cycle is determined by what happens on the west side because that’s where the visitor industry and most construction are centered. The West Hawaii economy is thus more volatile, while East Hawaii acts as an economic stabilizer. That may not seem so good in boom times, but it looks a lot better in times like the present.”

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He noted the contributions of the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the planned construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea, which will pump an estimated $1.2 billion into the economy over nine years, generating 300 construction jobs and 140 permanent jobs.

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The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the university’s management plan in April.

But the groups are questioning whether the board followed laws protecting the wekiu bug and other rare species.

One petitioner argues the land is the rightful property of the Hawaiian Kingdom, not the state.

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272 20-sec stacked exposures over 108 minutes. Mauna Kea summit - José Francisco Salgado, PhD

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This situation reflects a larger, world-wide crisis that we face in our world today. Our corporations and businesses tend to make self-centered choices that reflect only their own potential for profit and growth (3). They do not consider long-term environmental or especially spiritual aspects in their decision-making. Also, please keep in mind that they also tend not to consider consumer health and wellness in that same decision-making process. As a result, we are destroying the entire planet – species by species, field by field, forest by forest, ocean by ocean, person by person. The lack of care and respect in the decision-making process of those with greatest power harms us all on a massive, indescribable, truly incomprehensible scale.

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The NYTimes has an article in the Dining & Wine section about the rise in commercial teas in Kona and on the Big Island – boosted in part with the help of the Department of Agriculture.

Hawaii is known for its Kona coffee. Now there is also tea. It’s not so new, having been introduced on the Big Island in 1887, but only in the last 10 years or so, with encouragement from the federal Department of Agriculture, have serious commercial growers cultivated high-quality teas.

SAY ALOHA Eva Lee and her husband, Chiu Leong, are now sending two teas from their company, Tea Hawaii, to Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco, where the teas are sold and will be added to its Web site on Aug. 7. The black tea has a winy richness, and the oolong is layered with subtle earthiness. Neither is bitter. Another company, Mauna Kea Tea, offers oolong and green teas shipped directly from Hawaii, as does Hilo Coffee Mill, which also has an oolong.

Its nice to see other agricultural products from the Big Island get some recognition!

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Hawaii has several hair-raising roads, including the sinuous Hana Highway and the switchbacks to the top of Haleakala. But the one that takes the cake is Saddle Road on the Big Island, which threads a vast lave-rock desert between two of the most imposing volcanoes anywhere in the planet. Long-time Big Island resident Jessica Ferracane says the Saddle is especially daunting after dark because there are no facilities, no lights, no nothing. “And if it’s foggy, Saddle can be harsh.”

Add a pinch of vertigo by taking one of the narrow side roads that run off The Saddle to the top of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The former is a whopper-a series of switchbacks and hairpins to the Onizuka Center for Astronomy at 9,300 feet. You can keep driving up an increasingly steep (and treacherous) road to the cluster of silver-domed observatories on the 14,000-foot summit, but you’ll need four-wheel drive to make the top.

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A consortium including the California Institute of Technology has proposed building what it calls a Thirty Meter Telescope on the Big Island mountain.

Another possible site is in Chile.

Some Native Hawaiian groups believe Mauna Kea is sacred, and argue the telescope would defile the extinct Big Island volcano.

The environmental impact statement says the telescope project would displace a shrine built on Mauna Kea within the last 10 years.

It also would lead to more traffic, wastewater, dust and noise on the mountain.

But the study says these effects can be minimized.

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Astronaut photograph - April 28, 2009

Mauna Kea is depicted in this astronaut photograph; of the four volcanoes, it is the only one that has not erupted during historical times. The Hawaiian Islands chain, together with the submerged Emperor chain to the northwest, forms an extended line of volcanic islands and seamounts that is thought to record passage of the Pacific Plate over a hotspot (or thermal plume) in the Earth’s mantle. Areas of active volcanism in the southern Hawaiian Islands today mark the general location of the hotspot. This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates why the volcano is called Mauna Kea (white mountain in Hawaiian). While the neighboring Mauna Loa volcano is a classic shield volcano comprised of dark basaltic lava flows, Mauna Kea experienced more explosive activity during its last eruptive phase. This covered its basalt lava flows with pyroclastic deposits that are visible as the light brown area surrounding snow on the summit (image center). Numerous small red to dark gray cinder cones are another distinctive feature of Mauna Kea. The cinder cones represent the most recent type of volcanic activity at the volcano.

Astronaut photograph ISS019-E-11922 was acquired on April 28, 2009, with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera fitted with a 400 mm lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 19 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet.

Source: Satnews