Eruption of the world’s largest active volcano ‘Mauna Loa
- Category
Geography
- Published
4th Nov, 2022
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Context
Scientists and researchers have alarmed the residents of Hawaii Island as the world’s largest active volcano ‘Mauna Loa’ is at risk of eruption.
The Mauna Loa volcano:
- It is the World’s largest active Volcano in the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
- The volcano makes up 51% of the Hawaii Island landmass.
- It is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, with a volume estimated at 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km3).
- Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica-poor and very fluid, and they tend to be non-explosive.
- It last erupted in 1984 which led to destruction on the Island.

What is Shield Volcano?
- A shield volcano is a broad volcano with sloping sides that is formed mainly out of runny lava that flows out of its central summit vent.
- Examples of Shield Volcanoes: are Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawaii, Wolf volcano on the Galapagos Islands, and Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Characteristics:
- Basaltic magma, is high in temperature, very low on silica, and with low gas content.
- Basic lava, which is non-acidic and very runny.
- Gentle sides as the lava flow for long distances before it solidifies.
- No layers, as the volcano just consists of lava.
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Some Active volcanoes on earth:
