What is most interesting about Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa is the world’s largest active volcano. It measures 13,697 feet above sea level and around 3,100 feet below sea level which makes it the biggest volcano on earth. It is a shield volcano covering more than 50 percent of the Hawaii Island. It erupted 33 times between 1843 and 1984.
What are 3 facts about Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa Facts for Kids
- The volcano is located in the Hawaiian Islands.
- Mauna Loa is the largest volcano in the world.
- It is a shield volcano.
- It has erupted at least 34 times since 1843.
- Its last eruption was in 1984.
- It is considered active, and it is still producing lava.
What does Mauna Loa mean in Hawaiian?
Long Mountain
The Hawaiian name “Mauna Loa” means “Long Mountain.” This name is fitting, because the subaerial (above sea level) part of the volcano extends about 120 km (75 mi) from the southern tip of the Island of Hawai’i across the volcano’s summit to the eastern coastline near Hilo.
Has Mauna Loa killed anyone?
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano killed 77 people in the course of an 1846 eruption, 46 as a result of a volcanogenic tsunami and 31 from volcanic mudflows. Since 1998, four people have died there as a result of the venting of deadly carbon dioxide gas.
What is the history of Mauna Loa?
Origins. Mauna Loa probably began erupting between 700,000 and 1,000,000 years ago and has grown steadily since then. Like all of the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has its origins in a hotspot—a plume of magma rising from deep in the Earth’s mantle.
What type of eruption was Mauna Loa?
shield volcano
Frequently snowcapped in winter, Mauna Loa is a shield volcano that has erupted some three dozen times since its first well-documented eruption in 1843. Many of its eruptions are confined within Moku’āweoweo Caldera; others are lower flank eruptions along northeast or southwest fissure zones.
Is Mauna Loa in the Ring of Fire?
Volcanoes In The Area It is believed that the Pacific Ring of Fire has a total of 452 volcanoes. Other volcanoes worth noting are Mt Fuji in Japan, Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Rainier in the American North West, Krakatoa in Indonesia, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, Galeras in Colombia and Sangay in Ecuador.
What is Mauna Loa most famous eruption?
1950 eruption
The 1950 eruption of Mauna Loa was the greatest since 1859. Although no lives were lost, it destroyed about two dozen buildings, and buried more than a mile of highway. Its six major lava flows contain on the order of one billion tons of lava.
What is the basic anatomy of the Mauna Loa?
It is a series of steep-sided hills, consisting of thin layers of pahoehoe and a’a lava. These hills form the so-called “Ninole Shield” which is thought to be either the remnants of a pre-Mauna Loa volcano, or uplifted blocks of old Mauna Loa from within the Honuapo-kaoiki fault system.
What is the cause of Mauna Loa?
Six large vent structures eventually formed in this area around the active vents. Lava channel blockage caused an overflow of the main lava channel leading from the “2,900-m vents” of the 1984 Mauna Loa eruption. Lava spills over the collapsed side levee to feed new flows.
Is Mauna Loa the biggest volcano on Earth?
Rising gradually to more than 4 km (2.5 mi) above sea level, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on our planet. This makes the volcano’s summit about 17 km (10.5 mi) above its base!
What would happen if Mauna Loa erupted?
If the next eruption is explosive, ash could drift into the airspace near the Hilo and Kona airports, cutting off flights. And if lava was to cover a major highway, Trusdell says “we’re talking about impacts to tourism, economy, distribution of goods, people going to work. It may not even have to consume one house.
Why is Mauna Loa important to Hawaii?
The location of Mauna Loa has made it an important location for atmospheric monitoring by the Global Atmosphere Watch and other scientific observations. The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO), located at 11,155 feet (3,400 m) on the northern slope of the mountain, has long been prominent in observations of the Sun.
What is Mauna Loa National Park?
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park covers the summit and the southeastern flank of the volcano, and also incorporates Kīlauea, a separate volcano. Like all Hawaiian volcanoes, Mauna Loa was created as the Pacific tectonic plate moved over the Hawaii hotspot in the Earth’s underlying mantle.
Is Mauna Loa the largest volcano in the world?
Mauna Loa (/ˌmɔːnə ˈloʊ.ə/ or /ˌmaʊnə ˈloʊ.ə/; Hawaiian:; English: Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano in both mass and volume, Mauna Loa has historically been considered the largest volcano on Earth.
Why is Mauna Loa called A Decade Volcano?
Mauna Loa has been designated a Decade Volcano, one of the sixteen volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.