Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Mauna Loa itself is impressive by any world standards.
It composes over half of the Big Island and by itself amounts
to about 85% of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined.
It rises gradually 4km above the sea floor but descends a further 5km beneath it.
The sea floor, in turn, is depressed another 8km by its sheer mass.
Together, this makes Mauna Loa the largest volcano on the planet whose summit
stretches some 17km (56,000') above its base. It last erupted in 1984.
The flows then stretched for 50km, falling only 7km short from the east coast town of Hilo.
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Mauna Loa in quieter times snapped from the road up to Mauna Kea.
Mauna Loa is so massive there are few places where you can appreciate how big it truly is. The Mauna Kea visitor's centre and surrounds can be seen as specks towards the lower left of the pic.