Wyoming And Hawaii’s Relationship Isn’t As Weird As You Think

I'm sure you've never considered a connection between Wyoming and Hawaii, but you may be surprised that the 44th and 50th states have similarities. Nope, it's not the balmy tropical temperatures, the coffee production, or the population.

Wyoming's average annual temperature is 45.6 degrees, compared to Hawaii's around 81 degrees. Wyoming has many coffee shops, but we don't grow coffee. Population-wise, Wyoming has 587,000 compared to Hawaii's 1.4 million.

The relationship between Wyoming and Hawaii is more along the lines of what lies beneath.

Volcanoes.

The Yellowstone and Hawaiian Islands' volcanic systems are some of the world's most active and interesting. Although the two volcanic systems have similarities, their behavior and appearance differ.

The Yellowstone volcanoes are more underground, producing calderas on the surface, while Hawaii's volcanoes are often tall and stand high above the ground, with calderas formed on top.

Once you get past the visual differences, the volcanic systems below Yellowstone and in the Hawaiian Islands are distant volcanic cousins. Unlike most other systems worldwide, they are driven by mantle plumes instead of tectonic plates.

The USGS states:

Mantle plumes operate independently of plate tectonics and remain mostly stationary as the Earth’s tectonic plates move above them. As a result, magmatic systems like those in Hawaiʻi and Yellowstone produce chains of volcanoes that have an age progression along their lengths.

 

Despite their outward differences, the fundamental engines power volcanism in Yellowstone and Hawaiʻi similarly. So, the next time you need a Hawaiian vacation, consider visiting the Yellowstone region. There’s a lot of Aloha in southern Idaho and northwestern Wyoming.

We know the history and beauty above the surface of both beautiful states, but scientists are constantly learning more about the underlying beauty.