Waimea Bay Live Cam

Hawaii's natural history: beneath the Pacific Ocean is a section of Earth's crust that for millions of years has moved, a few inches per year, to the northeast. Below this moving "Pacific Plate" is a stationary jet of molten rock (called the Hawaiian Hot Spot) which has blown through the Earth's crust to create a series of undersea volcanoes.

The tallest of these mountains - rising as high as six miles from the ocean floor - are better known as the Hawaiian Islands.