HOUSTON: Earth's largest volcano — and possibly the second largest in the solar system— has been discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, the volcano dubbed Tamu Massif, is located about 1,609 km east of Japan. Tamu Massif is the largest feature of Shatsky Rise, an underwater mountain range formed 130 to 145 million years ago by the eruption of several underwater volcanoes.
Tamu Massif, which became inactive within a few million years after it was formed, covers an area of about 310,798 square km, the equivalent area of Britain and Ireland combined.
By comparison, Hawaii's Mauna Loa — the largest active volcano on Earth — is approximately 5,179 square kms, or roughly 2% the size of Tamu Massif. Also, Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest known volcano in our solar system, is only about 25% larger by volume than Tamu Massif.
However, until now, it was unclear whether Tamu Massif was a single volcano, or a composite of many eruption points. Now, researchers have confirmed that the mass of basalt that constitutes Tamu Massif did indeed erupt from a single source near the centre , making it the largest single volcano on Earth.
"Tamu Massif is the biggest single shield volcano ever discovered on Earth. There may be larger volcanoes, because there are bigger igneous features out there such as the Ontong Java Plateau, but we don't know if these features are one volcano or complexes of volcanoes," said William Sager, a professor at the University of Houston.
Tamu Massif stands out among underwater volcanoes also for its shape. It is low and broad, meaning that the erupted lava flows must have travelled long distances compared to most other volcanoes on Earth.
Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, the volcano dubbed Tamu Massif, is located about 1,609 km east of Japan. Tamu Massif is the largest feature of Shatsky Rise, an underwater mountain range formed 130 to 145 million years ago by the eruption of several underwater volcanoes.
Tamu Massif, which became inactive within a few million years after it was formed, covers an area of about 310,798 square km, the equivalent area of Britain and Ireland combined.
By comparison, Hawaii's Mauna Loa — the largest active volcano on Earth — is approximately 5,179 square kms, or roughly 2% the size of Tamu Massif. Also, Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest known volcano in our solar system, is only about 25% larger by volume than Tamu Massif.
However, until now, it was unclear whether Tamu Massif was a single volcano, or a composite of many eruption points. Now, researchers have confirmed that the mass of basalt that constitutes Tamu Massif did indeed erupt from a single source near the centre , making it the largest single volcano on Earth.
"Tamu Massif is the biggest single shield volcano ever discovered on Earth. There may be larger volcanoes, because there are bigger igneous features out there such as the Ontong Java Plateau, but we don't know if these features are one volcano or complexes of volcanoes," said William Sager, a professor at the University of Houston.
Tamu Massif stands out among underwater volcanoes also for its shape. It is low and broad, meaning that the erupted lava flows must have travelled long distances compared to most other volcanoes on Earth.