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Judi Lynn

(160,211 posts)
Thu May 21, 2020, 02:49 PM May 2020

Hawaii just got a new 'largest volcano on Earth.' (Condolences to Mauna Loa.)


By Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 6 hours ago



The Gardner Pinnacles are all that's visible of what is now considered the world's largest, and hottest, volcano. It's called Pūhāhonu, and it lies northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.
(Image: © Google Maps)

Poking out of the sea 590 miles (952 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, two barren peaks rear their heads. The little pinnacles, which stand about 170 feet (52 meters) above sea level at their highest point, bely a monstrous mountain of ancient magma beneath them. Turns out, these two unassuming nubbins are actually the tips of Pūhāhonu — the single largest volcano on Earth, scientists have found.

Pūhāhonu — meaning "turtle rising for breath" in Hawaiian — is part of the long chain of undersea mountains and volcanoes that stretch from the Hawaiian Islands to the eastern edge of Russia. Many of the chain's 120-or-so volcanoes are long dead and buried beneath the waves, though the relatively young peaks that make up the Hawaiian Islands still tower over the land (and, occasionally, blow their tops).

Mauna Loa, the gently-sloping behemoth that bulges out of Hawaii's Big Island, has long been designated the world's largest volcano. From its base on the seafloor to its summit thousands of feet over the island, Mauna Loa rises more than 30,000 feet (9,170 m) — making it technically taller than Mount Everest — and encompasses more than 19,200 cubic miles (80,000 cubic km) in volume. There's no question it's gargantuan; however, researchers now claim that Pūhāhonu actually has Mauna Loa beat — thanks largely to tens of thousands of cubic miles of volcanic rock buried beneath the ocean floor.

In the new study, these researchers used sonar and gravity detectors to measure Pūhāhonu's entire topographic footprint, from the wee peaks standing over the sea to the deep rocks sinking hundreds of feet below the Earth's crust. The team found that Pūhāhonu contains approximately 36,000 cubic miles (150,000 cubic km) of rock — giving it a volume more than twice that of Mauna Loa.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/puhahonu-largest-and-hottest-volcano-on-earth.html?utm_source=notification
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Hawaii just got a new 'largest volcano on Earth.' (Condolences to Mauna Loa.) (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2020 OP
590 miles NW of Honolulu...? Grins May 2020 #1
The islands go on forevet. Karadeniz May 2020 #2
and the party never ends. ;) nt Javaman May 2020 #4
Our fastest growing state! Karadeniz May 2020 #3
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