• Question: Whats the name of the biggest vocano in the world? (Under or over the sea)

    Asked by cheesecakegirl2 to Angus, Christian, Hannah, Laura, Simon on 14 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by neymar.
    • Photo: Simon Holyoake

      Simon Holyoake answered on 14 Jun 2013:

      This is a complex question! if you mean single active volcano, I’m afraid I don’t know, however if you include volcanic complexes (a bunch of smaller volcanos connected to a single magma chamber) then I will take an educated guess… the volcano underneath Yellowstone national park in the united states is probably up there! I believe the biggest volcanic eruption recorded on earth, by man is the Krakatoa eruption

      All of these however are tiddlers compared to the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars, which is the largest in the entire solar system!!

    • Photo: Christian Maerz

      Christian Maerz answered on 14 Jun 2013:

      To my knowledge, the biggest volcano on Earth should either be Mauna Loa or Mauna Kea, which are both on Hawaii. They are extending over 4 kilometers up from the sea floor, and over 4 kilometers over the sea surface. So in total, this volcano from top to bottom is just a bit less than 10 kilometers high!

    • Photo: Laura Roberts Artal

      Laura Roberts Artal answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      The biggest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa, in overall area that it covers. The volcano measures 4,169 meters above sea level, but that’s not its true height. Measured from the sea floor, Mauna Loa is really taller than 9,000 meters – that’s taller than Mount Everest. But Mauna Loa isn’t the tallest volcano, that’s actually its neighbour, Mauna Kea, which is about 40 meters taller. Both these volcanoes are found on the Big Island of Hawaii.

      I can tell you that the sunset from the top of Mauna Loa are one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen! It also has about 5 huge telescopes at the top of it to explore what space looks like.

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