Mauna Loa

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/mauna-loa

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Mauna Loa
2. What is the location?Island of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA
3. What makes Mauna Loa the biggest volcano on Earth?Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano by mass and volume, covering about 75,000 cubic kilometers of rock. Its huge size comes from thousands of eruptions that have built up its broad, shield‑shaped shape.
4. How old is Mauna Loa and when did it rise above the sea?Mauna Loa began forming more than 700,000 years ago, with rocks dated to about 470,000 years old. It emerged above sea level around 400,000 years ago.

Shield Volcano: A large volcano characterized by broad, gently sloping sides formed by effusive eruptions of fluid basaltic lava.
Hawaii Hotspot: A persistent plume of magma originating from the Earth's mantle that is responsible for the formation of the Hawaiian Islands.
Pacific Plate: One of the Earth's major tectonic plates, upon which the Hawaiian Islands are situated and which is in constant motion.
Decade Volcanoes: A program by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) to identify and study volcanoes with significant eruption hazards.