Scientists confirmed the discovery of the "largest volcano on Earth," and it covers an area the size of New Mexico.
Tamu Massif, is comparable in size with volcanos found on Mars, which makes it not only one of the largest on Earth, but in the solar system as well, a University of Houston press release reported.
Tamu covers 120,000 square miles, which dwarfs the 2,000 square-mile coverage Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth's surface. This land volcano is only two percent of the size of Tamu.
The underwater behemoth is located about 1,000 miles East of Japan, and is part of the Shatsky Rise underwater mountain range, believed to have been formed by volcanic activity between 130 to 145 million years ago.
Recent core samples and data studies have found the mountain range was created by one giant source smack in the center, Tamu Massif.
"Tamu Massif is the biggest single shield volcano ever discovered on Earth," William Sager, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UH, who has been studying the volcano for 20 years, said. "There may be larger volcanoes, because there are bigger igneous features out there such as the Ontong Java Plateau, but we don't know if these features are one volcano or complexes of volcanoes."
The volcano's "low, broad" configuration means lava was most likely able to flow out of it and travel long distances.
"It's not high, but very wide, so the flank slopes are very gradual," Sager said. "In fact, if you were standing on its flank, you would have trouble telling which way is downhill. We know that it is a single immense volcano constructed from massive lava flows that emanated from the center of the volcano to form a broad, shield-like shape. Before now, we didn't know this because oceanic plateaus are huge features hidden beneath the sea. They have found a good place to hide."
Tamu has probably not been active for millions of years, but its physical structure could help scientists determine how these large structures are formed.
"It's shape is different from any other sub-marine volcano found on Earth, and it's very possible it can give us some clues about how massive volcanoes can form," Sager said. "An immense amount of magma came from the center, and this magma had to have come from the Earth's mantle. So this is important information for geologists trying to understand how the Earth's interior works."
