The largest volcano in the world

Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world

The volcano of Mauna Loa (English: Mauna Loa); Which is located on the island of Hawaii, the largest active volcano in the world; Where the height of the part above sea level is about 4 km, and the part that lies under the water is about 5 km high, and the volcano is rooted under the sea floor by about 8 km in the form of an inverted mountain; Thus bringing the total length of the volcano from its base to its top to about 17 km.[1] Mauna Loa volcano occupies half the area of ​​the island of Hawaii. Its formation began a million years ago, during which it witnessed several eruptions, the last of which was in 1984 AD; As lava flowed from it, it reached a distance of 6.5 km from the town of Hilo.

A look at the history of Mauna Loa volcano activity

Mauna Loa has witnessed several repeated eruptions during the past three thousand years, with a rate of one eruption every 6 years. The volcano has witnessed 33 eruptions since 1843 AD; That is, at a rate of one eruption every five years, it was noted that all of them started at the summit and half of them continued there, while the other half of the lava erupted from the volcano, which numbered 17 eruptions that started from the summit and continued to flow from the ventilation holes, and any other cracked areas, which led to covering the lava area wide from the foot of the volcano; As for the lava flowing from the fault located northeast of Mauna Loa in the years 1855 AD and 1880 AD, it covered a large area of ​​land that belongs to the city of Hilo at the present time, but it could not reach the ocean. During the period during which the eruption of the volcano lasted from a few hours to 145 days, the volcano also witnessed two more eruptions after that, the first was in 1975 AD, where the volcano erupted and erupted for only one day, and the second in 1984 AD, the volcano erupted at that time and erupted for 3 weeks,[4] It should be noted that the geological maps of Mauna Loa have shown that new lava flows have contributed to covering the surface of the volcano, by 14% over the past 150 years, with an area of ​​about 714 square kilometers.

A view of the Mauna Loa volcano

In its external structure, the volcano of Mauna Loa takes the form of a mountain extending in length and width, resembling a shield; It is 97 km long, 48 km wide, and 9 km above the ocean floor. This makes it slightly taller than the summit of Mount Everest,[5] and the volcano consists of a main crater called (Moku'āweoweo), and several faults distributed in three areas: the northeast, the northwest, and the southwest.[6] The Mauna Loa eruptions have been known. historically with its large flows, which were able to reach great distances during its flow; Scientists believe the contribution of flows during the past 4000 years, covering 90% of the surface of the volcano,[6] mainly from the northeastern and southwestern regions, based on their being the most active throughout history. As for the western rift, it does not have activities; Although it contains at least 30 vents.[6] Many believe that all volcanoes have conical tops and usually erupt, causing lava to fly into the air, but the nature of the volcanoes in Hawaii is not similar, including Mauna Loa; They are classified as shield volcanoes that are formed gradually from slow lava flows from cracks in the volcano's trunk, or from the earth's crust; As a result, these volcanoes extend over a wide area with a slight slope in the sides, and their eruptions are characterized by gentleness; Scientists believe that Mauna Loa formed about a million years ago as a result of hot lava flowing through a crack in the ocean crust; Which cooled and formed a protrusion on the ocean floor, and continued through the years until the formation of an underwater mountain, and the mountain continued to rise above the sea, forming an island.