All you need to know about the Mauna Loa volcano. Reminder to Hawaiian tourists

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning volcanoes is destruction, disasters and loss of life. Recall at least the death of the city of Pompeii, flooded by the hot lava flows of Vesuvius. However, with the development of civilization, humanity no longer succumbs to primitive fears, but thinks rationally, which allows scientists to use volcanoes as an inexhaustible source of untamed, wild geothermal energy. Moreover, according to one of the theories, it was in a volcano that life originated, because the water shell, the earth's crust, and the atmosphere were mainly created from the products of volcanic activity.

Location and geological structure

Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume and area. It is located on a large Hawaiian island in the Pacific Ocean. Latitude and longitude of Mauna Loa volcano: 19°28'46" N, 155°36'09" W e.

OnThe Hawaiian name for this volcano is "high mountain". This is an active volcano, one of several that form Hawaii:

• Mauna Loa.
• Hulalai.
• Kīlauea.
• Haleakala.
• Loihi.

The first three are neighbors on the Big Hawaiian Island, Loihi is a young marine volcano, and Haleakala is on the island of Maui. The height of the Mauna Loa volcano is 4 km 169 m. The approximate volume is 75,000 km3.

Mauna Loa has the shape of a shield, because its lava is extremely liquid, which does not allow the formation of high slopes.

The nature of the eruptions is extremely interesting: at the very beginning, a split occurs, from which lava gushes along the entire length, this happens for several days, and at the very end, activity can be observed only in the ventilation holes.

This "gushing" type of eruptions is the hallmark of volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands.

How did Mauna Loa come about?

All volcanoes in Hawaii - Mauna, Hulalai, Kilauea, Loihi and Haleakala - have a common source of origin. Directly below the islands is an access point where a column of magma rises directly from the Earth's mantle.

This hotspot of magma has been around for over ten million years and is the decisive factor in the creation of the island chain. While the point is in a static position, the Pacific plate is constantly drifting and moving about 10 cm per year. Because the plate is moving, the volcano moves further away from the magma column, and whenit will finally be moved, the volcano will go out.

Activity History

During the research of the volcano, rocks 200,000 years old were found. However, researchers believe that it erupted much earlier than this period: at least more than 700,000-800,000 years ago. The very first ascent of Mauna Loa was made in 1794.

The nature of recent eruptions is not very harmful. For example, the 1987 eruption did not bring casu alties at all, although earlier Mauna Loa activities carried away entire villages (the city of Hilo mostly stands on petrified lava flows that descended here in the 19th century). The smaller Kilauea volcano has been much more active lately, so the main focus of tourists is on it.

The most frequent Mauna Loa eruptions have been recorded in areas of the mountain such as:

• Summit (nearly 40% of all eruptions);
• expanding rift zone in the northeast;
• expanding rift zone southwest of the summit.

Since 1912, Mauna Loa has been under the vigilant control of the volcano observatory, where scientists monitor both atmospheric fluctuations and the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, which occupies the top and covers the entire southeast side.

Volcanoes and tourism business in Hawaii

Ocean coast, hot sand, scorching sun… It's all great, but haven't you seen it hundreds of times already, and is it worth itspend your holidays in Hawaii? Besides ukulele, surfing and campfire dancing, Hawaii is also a volcanic archipelago.

If earlier it was almost impossible, now you can see the most hidden, bewitching places of the islands, literally look into the mouth of Mauna Loa. The height of the location of individual panoramic places is so high that the tour includes a helicopter ride.

The most interesting excursions on the islands can be called:

• travel around the Big Island of Volcanoes;
• walking the Lava Tubes;
• Panorama of Waikiki;
• Kīlauea National Park;
• volcanology museum;
• lava fields, watching the eruption and swimming with sea turtles on the black lava beach;
• travel to Haleakala Volcano National Park on the island of Maui, helicopter ride to the height of the crater (3 km).

All of these tours are combinable and may include multiple Hawaiian attractions. Of course, it is worth remembering that if a flight to another island is included in the tour, it will take a whole day.