19734 - Geology of the Pacific Islands

Course Overview

All of the islands surrounding the Pacific Ocean are volcanic because they formed, or are forming, via the process of Plate Tectonics. Where the Pacific Plate is moving over a hot spot, or where it is being subducted below another plate, deep trenches form (such as Mariana Trench, deepest point on planet Earth) and huge volcanoes (such as Mauna Loa and Mt. Fuji) erupt. In this class we will travel counterclockwise around the Pacific Ocean and visit the Hawaiian Islands (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Hawaii), Midway, Guam, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti and Society Islands, Easter Island, and Galapagos Island. We will discover the weird creatures of the deepest trenches and discuss the different cultures of these islands; i.e., how the Polynesians – the greatest seafarers ever known – discovered the Pacific islands and even made it all the way to South America.

Additional Information