By Jake Dorson. Jake is an Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences undergraduate at Purdue University. Deep beneath the dark depths, Earth’s heat pushes billions of tons of molten rock to the surface like an immense lava lamp. This magma erupts through the Pacific Plate, solidifying as it meets the cold, abyssal water. The plate slowly crawls across this incursion, and the Hawaiian Islands form, like a crescent of black stones adorning the neck of the endless ocean. The people of Hawai’i say that in the darkness of the beginning, Pele, the Volcanic Fire and Nāmaka, the Sullen Deep gave into their loathing and fought to the death. Their boundless rage was the catalyst from which the islands were born, and Pele’s eventual defeat saw her retreat to the Big Island to spew resentment for all eternity.
Fantastic article with great history and beautiful pictures! I felt like I was right along side you while I read… only wish I really was.