The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning volcanoes is destruction, disasters and human casualties. Recall at least the death of the city of Pompeii, flooded by the red-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. Not only that, according to one theory, life was born in the volcano, because the water shell, the earth’s crust, and atmosphere are mainly created from products of volcanic activity.
Location and geological structure
Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in the ratio 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 d.
In Hawaiian, the name of this volcano sounds like "high mountain." This is an active volcano, one of several that form Hawaii:
- Mauna Loa.
- Hulalai.
- Kilauea.
- Haleakala.
- Loihi.
The first three are neighbors on the Big Hawaiian Island, Lohi is a young marine volcano, and Haleakala is located on the island of Maui. The height of the volcano Mauna Loa is 4 km 169 m. The approximate volume is 75 000 km 3 .
Mauna Loa has the form 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 there is a split, from which lava flows along the entire length, this takes several days, and at the very end, activity can be observed only in the ventilation openings.
This "gushing" type of eruption is the hallmark of volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands.
How did Mauna Loa come about?
All the volcanoes of Hawaii - Mauna, Hulalai, Kilauea, Lohi and Haleakala - have a common source of origin. Directly below the islands is an access point, in which a column of magma rises directly from the earth's mantle.
This magma access point has existed for more than ten million years, and it is it that is the decisive factor in the creation of the island chain. While the point is in a static position, the Pacific plate constantly drifts and moves about 10 cm per year. Due to the fact that the plate moves, the volcano moves further from the magma column, and when it is finally shifted, the volcano will go out.
Activity History
During the study of the volcano, rocks 200,000 years old were found. However, researchers believe that he erupted much earlier than this period: at least more than 700,000-800,000 years ago. The very first climb to Mauna Loa was in 1794.
The nature of recent eruptions is not very malicious. For example, the 1987 eruption did not bring any casualties, although before the activity of Mauna Loa, whole villages were taken away (the city of Hilo mostly stands on the petrified lava flows that descended here in the 19th century). Recently, the smaller Kilauea volcano has been showing much more activity, so the main attention of tourists has so far focused on it.
The most frequent cases of Mauna Loa eruptions were recorded in such parts of the mountain as:
- Summit (almost 40% of all eruptions);
- an expanding rift zone in the northeast;
- an expanding rift zone in the southwest of the peak.
Since 1912, Mauna Loa has been under vigilant control of the volcano observatory, where scientists observe both atmospheric fluctuations and the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, which occupies the summit and covers the entire southeast side.
Volcanoes and Travel Business in Hawaii
The coast of the ocean, hot sand, the scorching sun ... It's all beautiful, but haven't you seen it hundreds of times already, and is it worth it to spend your vacation in Hawaii? In addition to the ukulele, surfing and bonfire dancing, Hawaii is also a volcanic archipelago.
If before it was almost impossible, now you can see the most hidden, fascinating places of the islands, literally look into the vent of Mauna Loa. The height of the individual panoramic places is so great that helicopter climb is included in the tour.
The most interesting excursions on the islands include:
- Travel around the Big Island of Volcanoes;
- Lava Tubing
- panorama of Waikiki;
- Kilauea National Park;
- Museum of Volcanology;
- lava fields, eruption monitoring and swimming with sea turtles on a black lava beach;
- a trip to the Haleakala Volcano National Park on the island of Maui, helicopter climb to the height of the crater (3 km).
All of these excursions are combinable and may include several Hawaiian attractions. It is worth remembering, of course, that if a trip to another island is included in the tour, it will take a whole day.