41B-41-2351
Flight 41B; 21.5N, 158W, 4 Feb 1984
Oahu, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Diamond Head, the sheer Pali cliffs, and the famous winter
surf on the north shore of the island all were easily visible to the fourth crew aboard the
Challenger. Oahu is the third island from the north end of the Hawaiian chain and is representative
of that part of Hawaii where volcanic activities have lorig since become dormant. A fringing coral
reef lies against the shores of Oahu and is best developed on the windward side at Kaneohe Bay.
Geologists believe that the crust of the sea floor on which the Hawaiian chain lies has
been moving toward the northwest at a rate of 10 centimeters a year for some 200
million years. As this movement takes place, the sea floor passes over a "hot spot"
in the earth's mantle below the crust, producing volcanic eruptions sufficiently large
to create an island mass over long periods of time. The hot spot apparently has
remained fixed, so that as the crust moves to the northwest, new islands are
formed in sequence. Thus, the oldest islands are to the north, ending with the
submerged sea mounts northwest of Kure Atoll, the youngest at the south end
of the chain. Recent bathymetric surveys southeast of Hawaii indicate formation
of a new volcanic island on the ocean floor.
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Atmos Composition
