Scientists Confirm Largest Single Volcano on Earth

The largest volcano on Earth is not in Hawaii, but hidden beneath the western Pacific Ocean and covers an area the size of New Mexico, scientists announced on Thursday. The vast lump of lava is called the Tamu Massif and lies about 1,000 miles east of Japan. It is comparable, though somewhat less voluminous, than the enormous volcano Olympus Mons on Mars.

Tamu Massif itself is not a new discovery, but until now it had been considered the product of several undersea volcanoes heaping and clumping up lava on the seafloor. New seismic reflection data showing the structures of the lava flows inside Tamu Massif, along with specimens from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, now suggest the entire, very low-relief, 120,000 square-mile feature erupted from a single source. For instance, the seismic data show that some of the layers of lava — representing single eruption events — are 75 feet thick and spread out over huge distances. Read more...