What’s Special About Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa is the world’s largest active volcano, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see a dramatic explosion as it erupts, because different kinds of volcanoes produce different types of eruptions. Volcanologists, Phoenix said, classify eruptions on a scale between “runny,” an effusive eruption where magma forms lava flows, and “sticky,” which produces explosions of magma, ash, and gas.
“Mauna Loa and the Hawaiian volcanoes typically produce very, very runny, very effusive eruptions,” she said. “So we’re not worried about a giant explosion—essentially, what people imagine is the worst-case scenario in Yellowstone.”
