Where does a volcano begin?
Where does a volcano begin?
Mauna Loa is about 4.17 km above sea level — but about 17 km from its geological base to summit.
Its enormous mass even depresses the seafloor beneath it.
Depends on the measurement reference
How certain is this?
The ~17 km figure includes geological structure below the seafloor and must not be represented as summit elevation. The geological base-to-summit display value is approximate.
Sources
- Mauna Loa — USGS
Keep going
- Bigger doesn't always mean tallerMauna Loa has at least about 75,000 km³ of volcanic material.
- How tall is a mountain, really?Mauna Kea is about 4.2 km above sea level — but nearly 10.2 km from ocean-floor base to summit.
- Measurement trap42.67 mm isn’t “the diameter of a golf ball.”
- Measurement trapAn “Olympic-size pool” doesn’t have one universal exact volume.
- Stack it upAbout 1,045.
- Stack it upAbout 110,000 quarters stacked flat would reach the top of the Gateway Arch.