Mauna Loa

volcanoes · Hawaii · geology · active

Biggest Active Volcano. Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth by both mass and volume. It's so enormous that it covers a huge part of the Island of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

Gentle Slopes. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano, which means it has wide, gently sloping sides rather than steep, cone-shaped peaks. This shape comes from the way its lava flows smoothly across the land.

Smooth, Flowing Lava. The lava from Mauna Loa eruptions is very fluid and silica-poor, so it doesn't explode dramatically like some other volcanoes. Instead, it flows smoothly downhill like a river of melted rock.

Massive Size. Mauna Loa has a volume of about 18,000 cubic miles of rock. Its peak is about 125 feet lower than its neighbor volcano, Mauna Kea, which sits right next to it on the same island.