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'World's largest volcano discovered beneath Pacific
Scientists say that they have discovered the single largest volcano in the world, a dead colossus deep beneath the Pacific waves.
A team writing in the journal Nature Geoscience says the 310,000 sq km (119,000 sq mi) Tamu Massif is comparable in size to Mars' vast Olympus Mons volcano ...
The Tamu Massif was subsequently "disqualified" as the world's largest volcano because it was determined to be a set of multiple volcanos (see earlier post).
This meant Mauna Loa once again held the title. Now a much bigger volcanic structure has been identified and measured in the Pacific.
The World's Largest Shield Volcano Isn't What We Thought It Was
Beneath the cyan and cerulean waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lurks a leviathan. Its true extent has been hidden for many years, but no more. What geologists have found is a marvel - the biggest, hottest known volcano in the world.
Startlingly, it's more than twice the size of the previous record holder, Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawai'i. ...
The new record-breaker spreads across around 148,000 cubic kilometres (35,507 cubic miles) beneath the waves of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, compared to Mauna Loa's 74,000.
Only relatively small rocky pinnacles known as the Gardner Pinnacles break the surface, giving the volcano its name - Pūhāhonu, the Hawai'ian word for 'turtle rising for breath'.
"We are sharing with the science community and the public that we should be calling this volcano by the name the Hawaiians have given to it, rather than the western name for the two rocky small islands that are the only above sea level remnants of this once majestic volcano," said geologist Michael Garcia of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Back in the 1970s, low-resolution bathymetric data suggested Pūhāhonu was around 54,000 cubic kilometres in size, then thought to be the largest volcano before a more extensive survey of Mauna Loa revealed its true size.
Pūhāhonu only regains its crown after extensive surveys of the region added high-resolution bathymetric and multibeam sonar data to our existing understanding of the northwest Hawaiian Ridge, from which the volcano rises. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-largest-volcano-isn-t-what-we-thought-it-was