Loihi Volcano: Hawaiian Volcanoes

Mount Loihi, also known as Loihi Seamount, is part of the Hawaiian volcanoes, the fifteen volcanoes that make up the islands of Hawaii. In Hawaiian, Loihi means long. The topmost peak is 3,000 feet, or 975 meters below sea level, but the summit is more than 10,000 ft., of 3,000 meters above the seafloor.. Mount Loihi is located on the side of Mauna Loa, another one of the Hawaiian volcanoes, and on Earth, one of the largest volcanoes. Mount Loihi is also called the newest volcano in the Hawaiian seamount chain, which is a chain of volcanoes that reaches about 3,600 miles, or 5,800 kilometers in length. According to many sources, Mount Loihi is a submarine, hotspot, and pre-shield volcano.According to Volcano World, Mount Loihi is a submarine volcano. (A submarine volcano is basically an underwater vent. (basicplanet.com) Magma can also erupt from here.) Due to the many earthquakes recorded near the volcano, Mount Lo'hi is an active volcano.

Even though it is a submarine volcano, if the rates of the volcanic eruptions are similar to those of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, then in ten thousands of years, it will reach sea level. Type: submarine. This phrase proves that it is a submarine volcano. Submarine volcanoes are part of the shield volcano development process.Wikipedia states that Mount Loihi is a pre-shield stage submarine volcano that is in it's submarine phase. Mount Loihi is a volcano created near the Hawaiian hotspot, thus beginning it's submarine pre-shield stage. Mount Loihi is steep sided, and it has a caldera, as well as a few rift zones at the summit of the volcano. It was created by the Hawaii hotspot in the chain of volcanoes. As shown below, you can tell that it is in its pre-shield state of development. The steep sides prove that it is still growing. Mount Loihi produces pillow lava as well. This is due to underwater eruptions. Pillow lava is lava from an underwater volcano that doesn't have enough time to cool down, because of how fast it is introduced to water. The pre-shield submarine stage can last up to 200,000 years, or even more. Loihi Seamount, which is thought to be transitioning from the submarine pre-shield stage into the submarine phase of the shield stage.

This shows that Mount Loihi, at it's submarine stage right now, will eventually become a shield volcano.Another fact to consider to state that Loihi is a shield volcano is that it is part of the Hawaiian volcano chain. The Hawaiian volcano chain is made up of shield volcanoes. This can result in Loihi being one as well. Loihi seamount, sometimes known as the youngest volcano in the Hawaiian chain (Hawaii Center for Volcanology) As seen on the picture below, you can tell that Mount Loihi is starting to take the signature flat shield shape as other Hawaiian island volcanoes. It is still underwater, but starting to grow taller and flatten out by growing larger.

According to Wikipedia, these are the stages of a Hawaiian Volcano:Stages of the Hawaiian Volcanoes: Submarine Pre-shield stage (stage of Mount Loihi)Shield stage. Submarine. ExplosiveSubaerial (Explosions are less frequent) 3. Potshield stage (end of Shield stage) 4. Erosional stage (becomes dormant) 5. Rejuvenated stage (final stage of activity) 6. Extinct stage 7. Coral atoll stage (erosion breaks volcano down to sea level, becomes an atoll) 8. Guyot stage (The reef dies)Additional information: It was only in 1970 when Mount Loihi characteristics were uncovered. An expedition to the volcano showed that it was actually fairly young, and active, and not extinct like it was thought to be. Mount Loihi contains both young and old lava, as well as hydrothermal fluids at it's summit and rifts. In August 1996, Mount Loihi exploded and rumbled again, proving to scientists it was indeed an active volcano. Ever since then, it has been constantly erupting and earthquakes have been very common there. Mount Loihi, since it's part of the Hawaiian volcano chain, shares the Hawaiian hotspot with other larger, and more active volcanoes there.

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