The Rise of Sea Level in Contemporary Times at 
Honaunau, Kona, Hawaii 1 
Russell A. Apple 2 and Gordon A. Macdonald 3 
ABSTRACT: Bait cups, net-tanning tubs, and playing boards for the checker-like 
game of konani, which were hollowed out by the ancient Hawaiians on the surface 
of pahoehoe lava flows a short distance above sea level at the City of Refuge, Honau- 
nau, Hawaii, are now submerged and unusable for their original purpose. Increased 
depth of water over the traditional land route used in approaching the place of 
refuge, comparisons of old and new photographs, and increasing storm damage to 
structures, also indicate a relative sinking of the shore, at a rate of about 1 ft per 
century. The sinking is endangering some of the structures, and imposes a special 
problem in the preservation of the area. Other evidence indicates sinking of other 
parts of the island of Hawaii, but by less definite amounts. The rate of change 
of relative level of land and sea at Honaunau is much greater than that of world- 
wide change of sea level, and must be the result of actual sinking of the island. The 
logical explanation lies in isostatic adjustment resulting from loading of the earths 
crust by the great added mass of the volcanoes. The southern part of the island of 
Hawaii appears to be sinking isostatically 
A BY-PRODUCT of recent archeological and his- 
torical investigations at the newly established 
City of Refuge National Historical Park at 
Honaunau, Kona, Hawaii ( Fig. 1 ) is the dis- 
covery that the coastline is sinking. A continua- 
tion of this movement will endanger valuable 
prehistoric and historic structures in the Park 
and will bring about considerable changes in the 
coastline. Inasmuch as the goal of the National 
Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, 
is to restore the scene and selected structures of 
this ancient Hawaiian governmental and reli- 
gious center to their appearance during the late 
1700’s, this threat may pose major problems to 
administrators of the area and restoration tech- 
nicians during the next century. 
The purpose of this paper is to document the 
rise of sea level within the last 200 years, to call 
attention to the problems that may arise as a 
result of the rise, and to suggest the probable 
geological explanation of the rise. The portion 
1 Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution No. 
71. Manuscript received September 9, 1964. 
2 Superintendent, City of Refuge National Histor- 
ical Park, National Park Service, U. S. Dept, of the 
Interior. 
3 Senior Professor of Geology, University of Ha- 
waii, Honolulu. 
at a rate of about 8 or 9 inches a century. 
of the paper dealing with historical and archeo- 
logical evidence of the change is written by 
Apple; that dealing with geological aspects is by 
Macdonald. 
HISTORIC AND ARCHEOLOGICAL FEATURES 
It is immaterial to present and future admin- 
istrators, charged with restoration and preserva- 
tion of the land and structures, whether the land 
is sinking or the water is rising. The concern of 
administrators will be with the present and po- 
tential engulfment of the shore and its features, 
with attendant progressive changes in the loca- 
tion of the shoreline, as well as damages from 
storms and high seas in increasing areas and 
intensity. 
Congress authorized the Park in 1955 and, 
after land acquisition, resident administration 
and establishment took place in 1961. The Park’s 
purpose is to make its visitors understand and 
appreciate the history and culture of the ancient 
Hawaiians, and to recognize that the Hawaiian 
heritage is a part of the history and culture of 
the United States. The major interpretive theme 
of the Park is the concept and practice of refuge 
in the ancient Hawaiian civilization before 1819 
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