Hawaiian Trough

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. [http://www.mbari.org/volcanism/Hawaii/HR-FlexArch.htm] 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. [http://www.mbari.org/volcanism/Hawaii/HR-FlexArch.htm] The Big Island itself is still subsiding, at a rate of about 2.5 millimeters per year. [http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/hawaii_review/intro/intro.html]

ources:

* [http://www.mbari.org/volcanism/Hawaii/HR-FlexArch.htm Hawaiian Submarine Volcanism]

* [http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/hawaii_review/intro/intro.html Volcano World: Introduction to Hawaiian Volcanoes]

External links

* [http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2004/2824/SIM-2824_pamphlet.pdf Overview of Hawaiian Arch geology (PDF)]

* [http://www.usssp-iodp.org/PDFs/Greatest_Hits/Rhythms/Garcia.pdf New Evidence for Massive Landslides from the Hawaiian Islands (PDF)]

ee also

*Hawaiian Arch

*Submarine landslide