Earth's largest shield volcano revealed in the Hawaiian Islands

close

Video

US Geological Survey shares footage of Hawaii's Kilauea

Raw video shows an aerial view of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

Scientists have identified the world’s largest shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, which is barely visible above the waters of the Pacific.

The volcano, Pūhāhonu, is located in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii had long been thought to be the world’s largest volcano, although researchers now say Pūhāhonu owns this distinction.

HAWAII VOLCANO: WHY KILAUEA'S LAVA IS CAUSING EERIE BLUE FLAMES

Shield volcanoes are built almost entirely of lava flows, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. “As lava flows overlap one another, they construct a broad, gently sloping dome shape that from far away appears similar to a warrior's shield,” it explains, on its website.

The USGS notes that the Hawaiian Islands are made up of shield volcanoes, such as Kilauea and Manua Loa, which is the world’s most active volcano. Kilauea grabbed global attention when it began spewing lava in 2018.       

Pūhāhonu, which means “turtle rising for breath” in Hawaiian, partly consists of two rocky outcrops in the Pacific, previously known as the Gardner Pinnacles. The vast majority of the volcano, however, is underwater.

The only remnants of Pūhāhonu that are above sea level are rocky outcrop previously known as the Gardner Pinnacles. (NOAA)

Scientists from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) surveyed the ocean floor along the mostly submarine Hawaiian leeward volcano chain and analyzed rocks in the university’s collection. Their analysis revealed that Pūhāhonu is nearly twice as large as Mauna Loa.

HAWAII VOLCANO: KILAUEA LAVA BOILED AWAY BIG ISLAND'S LARGEST FRESHWATER LAKE

Scientists also revealed that Pūhāhonu is also the world’s hottest shield volcano.

Shorelines of modern-day Hawaii Island (5 volcanoes) compared to ancient Puhāhonu. (Garcia, et al., 2020.)

"It has been proposed that hotspots that produce volcano chains like Hawai'i undergo progressive cooling over 1-2 million years and then die," said Michael Garcia, lead author of the study and retired professor of Earth Sciences at SOEST, in a statement. "However, we have learned from this study that hotspots can undergo pulses of melt production. A small pulse created the Midway cluster of now extinct volcanoes and another, much bigger one created Pūhāhonu.”

The study has been published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers