mauna kea is the only hawaiian volcano with distinct evidence of glaciation. similar deposits probably existed on mauna loa, but have been covered by later lava flows. despite hawaii's tropical location, during several past ice ages a drop of a degree in temperature allowed snow to remain at the volcano's summit through summer, triggering the formation of an ice cap. there are three episodes of glaciation that have been recorded from the last 180,000 years: the "pōhakuloa" (180–130 ka), "wāihu" (80–60 ka) and "mākanaka" (40–13 ka) series. these have extensively sculpted the summit, depositing moraines and a circular ring of till and gravel along the volcano's upper flanks. subglacial eruptions built cinder cones during the mākanaka glaciation, most of which were heavily gouged by glacial action. the most recent cones were built between 9000 and 4500 years ago, atop the glacial deposits, although one study indicates that the last eruption may have been around 3600 years ago.