Order of Kilopi
Two islands form the top of the largest shield volcano on Earth, in Hawaii.
QUOTE: A new study published in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters journal establishes that Pūhāhonu is the largest shield volcano in the world, taking Mauna Loa's title.
Scientists surveyed the ocean floor and used quantitative modeling to determine that the volcano, which is about 171 miles long and 56 miles wide, is twice the size of Mauna Loa.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/25/us/pu...scn/index.html
Do good work. —Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
Order of Kilopi
One of the interesting factors in determining the volume of a mountain is estimating how much the overlying mass has depressed the crust, and determining the uncertainties involved. Also, none of these Hawaiian volcanoes erupted in isolation - they did so in concert with neighboring volcanoes. Deciding where to draw the dividing line between one volcano and the adjacent volcano further involves uncertainties. The method is laid out better in the source document:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...12821X20302399
Order of Kilopi
What about the "hottest" descriptor? I may have skimmed the story too quickly, but I don't recall seeing where that is addressed.
CJSF
"The sun is a quagmire
It's not made of fire
Forget what you've been told in the past
Electrons are free
(Plasma!) Fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid"
-They Might Be Giants, "Why Does The Sun Really Shine?"
lonelybirder.org
Order of Kilopi
It's discussed in the source article. Briefly, they determine the mineral composition of the subject volcano to have a higher melting temperature than any other in the Hawaiian chain.Originally Posted by CJSF
Order of Kilopi
So not currently the hottest, but hottest when active?
CJSF
"The sun is a quagmire
It's not made of fire
Forget what you've been told in the past
Electrons are free
(Plasma!) Fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid"
-They Might Be Giants, "Why Does The Sun Really Shine?"
lonelybirder.org
Order of Kilopi
It seems so. Certainly, it's not real hot now. This characterization of the 'hotness' of a volcano is maybe a bit misleading. It refers to the melt temperature of the particular flavor of magma feeding (or fed) the volcano, not the actual temperature of the rock right now. Geologists will be very interested in the melt temperature, of course, but I'm not sure it's the kind of thing that would capture the interest of the general public. Unlike the size of the volcano. People like to know which of anything is the biggest.
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