Bathymetric Slope Comparison of the Hawaiian Islands and the Palmyra Atoll

The Hawaiian Islands and the Palmyra Atoll were formed by volcanism millions of years ago in the central Pacific Ocean. Though they are similar in origin, each island and the atoll have different shapes and slopes. The purpose of this research project is to determine what causes the differences in slope of the sub- marine portion of the landforms. This study focuses on two factors that effect slope. The age of the islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and the Palmyra atoll is noted as the independent factor, since the age of the landforms give an idea of how long each has been exposed to erosional processes.
The shape of the slope is the dependent factor. The deep water current magnitudes were measured along each transect by Acoustic Dopplar Current Profiler as a determinate of how the current affects the slope. A bathymetric profile was also taken in transects by the CHIRP Bathymetric Profiling System in order to record the slopes of each landform. The objective of this project is to examine the correlation between the current magnitude and shape of slope.