<P> Mauna Loa (/ ˌmɔːnə ˈloʊ. ə / or / ˌmaʊnə ˈloʊ. ə /; Hawaiian: (ˈmɐwnə ˈlowə); English: Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean . The largest subaerial volcano in both mass and volume, Mauna Loa has historically been considered the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed only by Tamu Massif . It is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km), although its peak is about 120 feet (37 m) lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea . Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica - poor and very fluid, and they tend to be non-explosive . </P> <P> Mauna Loa has probably been erupting for at least 700,000 years, and may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago . The oldest - known dated rocks are not older than 200,000 years . The volcano's magma comes from the Hawaii hotspot, which has been responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian island chain over tens of millions of years . The slow drift of the Pacific Plate will eventually carry Mauna Loa away from the hotspot within 500,000 to one million years from now, at which point it will become extinct . </P> <P> Mauna Loa's most recent eruption occurred from March 24 to April 15, 1984 . No recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities, but eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages, and the city of Hilo is partly built on lava flows from the late 19th century . Because of the potential hazards it poses to population centers, Mauna Loa is part of the Decade Volcanoes program, which encourages studies of the world's most dangerous volcanoes . Mauna Loa has been monitored intensively by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory since 1912 . Observations of the atmosphere are undertaken at the Mauna Loa Observatory, and of the Sun at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, both located near the mountain's summit . Hawaii Volcanoes National Park covers the summit and the southeastern flank of the volcano, and also incorporates Kīlauea, a separate volcano . </P> <P> Like all Hawaiian volcanoes, Mauna Loa was created as the Pacific tectonic plate moved over the Hawaiian hotspot in the Earth's underlying mantle . The Hawaii island volcanoes are the most recent evidence of this process that, over 70 million years, has created the 3,700 mi (6,000 km) - long Hawaiian--Emperor seamount chain . The prevailing view states that the hotspot has been largely stationary within the planet's mantle for much, if not all of the Cenozoic Era . However, while the Hawaiian mantle plume is well understood and extensively studied, the nature of hotspots themselves remains fairly enigmatic . </P>

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