Mauna loa

Among the largest and most famous volcanoes on our planet we have the Mauna loa. This is one of the volcanoes located along with four others belonging to the Hawaiian Islands. The name means "long mountain" in the Hawaiian language. Given its interesting characteristics and enormous size, it is considered the largest volcano on Earth. However, it is only the largest in terms of area and volume, since there are other volcanoes such as Mauna Kea which has a greater height.

In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, eruptions, formation and curiosities of the Mauna Loa volcano.

Key features

Some of the stories surrounding this type of volcano come from the ancient Hawaiians. These populations considered this type of volcano as a sacred element. It is considered the largest volcano on Earth since it has an area of ​​about 5271 square kilometers and a width of approximately 120 kilometers. Due to its large size, we can see how it covers almost half of the area belonging to the island of Hawaii. To learn more about this topic, you can consult the article on the largest volcanoes in the world.

It is not only a large volcano but also high. Although there are other volcanoes that also belong to this same network of volcanoes that exist around the Hawaiian Islands, this is one of the largest. Above sea level It has an altitude of approximately 4170 meters. These dimensions, along with its surface area and width, make up a total volume of approximately 80.000 cubic kilometers. Therefore, it is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of area and volume.

It is famous for being a shield volcano with unique characteristics. It has continuous flows of higher volcanoes that have been emanating from ancient volcanic eruptions. It is considered one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. Since its formation, it has had almost continuous, though not very powerful, volcanic eruptions. It is basically made up of higher volcanoes and is based on that activity and its proximity to human populations. This leads to its inclusion in the Volcanoes of the Decade project, which makes it the subject of ongoing research. Thanks to this research, a great deal of information is available about it.

It is dome-shaped and its name comes from a caldera called Mokuʻāweoweo. This caldera has a depth of 183 meters. It has 4 subsidence craters that are formed by the collapse of the surface located above a vacuum chamber. The craters have names and are as follows: Lua Hohonu, Lua Hou, Lua Poholo, and South Pit. The first two are located southwest of the caldera.

Formation of the Mauna Loa volcano

We know that this volcano is the second youngest in the Hawaiian Islands group. We know that these islands were created because of the movement of tectonic plates. Specifically, it was caused by the movement of the Pacific plate over a hot spot. It took place approximately 30 million years ago during the Oligocene epoch.

In the beginning, the Mauna Loa It began as an underwater volcano approximately between 600.000 and 1 million years ago. However, it is not known for certain whether this information is completely correct. It is possible that it formed a little earlier or a little later than mentioned. What is known is that it has had continuous and prolonged eruptions that caused the lava to consolidate until it emerged from the ocean floor. It emerged from the oceans approximately 400.000 years ago, although its growth rate has been slowing down over the last 100.000 years. For more information on this type of formation, you can read about the types of volcanoes.

It is known from existing records that this volcanic activity was much more intense during the early stages of its life. As it has aged, it has been able to cover a much larger area, but its growth has slowed. It is known that the fluid lava from Mauna Loa it has allowed a large area to be generated around its crater. This is characteristic of shield-type volcanoes that generate a large platform around them.

In addition, one of the fundamental aspects in the formation of Mauna Loa was the pressure of the water on this type of volcano. And it is that when developing underwater, it is known that the water pressure prevents them from acquiring a lot of height. Once the tip reaches the surface of the ocean, they are relieved of the water pressure. It is then when they are able to generate violent volcanic eruptions to experience new stages of growth. Mauna Loa's biggest growth stage since its formation was to reach the ocean surface. However, it is known that today this volcano is still in the formation stage of the classic shield volcano.

Mauna Loa eruptions

Currently there is no record of the eruptions that occurred before the arrival of Europeans in this area. However, there are numerous scientific studies that identify a fairly long history of eruptions. As we have mentioned before, it is more focused on more progressive and less intense eruptions. It is thought that the first eruption dates back a million years and since then various eruption events were those that caused it to obtain a greater surface, volume and height.

It is known that 98% of the volcano's surface is made up of lava that It was expelled from inside the chimney approximately 10.000 years ago. This is what makes it considered one of the youngest in the entire Hawaiian mountain chain. The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism monitors eruptions and has counted at least 109 confirmed eruptions. The first eruption dates back to 1843, and since then, it has ejected material from its interior about 35 times. We note again that Mauna Loa is famous for being active, but not overly intense. In short, it can be said that Mauna Loa has erupted once every six years.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Mauna Loa volcano.