Q 01/05

What does the name Mauna Loa mean in Hawaiian?

A) Long Mountain

B) White Mountain

C) Fire Mountain

D) Great Mountain

Answer · why

A) Long Mountain

Its neighbour Mauna Kea, the White Mountain, is only about 125 feet taller at the summit.

Q 02/05

Mauna Loa is one of how many volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii?

A) Two

B) Three

C) Five

D) Seven

Answer · why

C) Five

Kohala is the oldest and Kīlauea the youngest above water; Kamaʻehuakanaloa is still growing beneath the sea.

Q 03/05

Mauna Loa holds which record among the world's volcanoes?

A) Tallest volcano above sea level

B) Largest active volcano by mass and volume

C) Most eruptions in recorded history

D) Oldest continuously erupting volcano

Answer · why

B) Largest active volcano by mass and volume

It was long thought the largest volcano of any kind until the submarine Tamu Massif was found to be bigger.

Q 04/05

Which two volcanoes were ranked larger than Mauna Loa by 2020, pushing it to third?

A) Pūhāhonu and Tamu Massif

B) Mauna Kea and Kīlauea

C) Olympus Mons and Etna

D) Kilimanjaro and Krakatoa

Answer · why

A) Pūhāhonu and Tamu Massif

Pūhāhonu is a mostly submerged shield in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; Tamu Massif lies 1,600 km east of Japan.

Q 05/05

What shape of volcanic edifice is Mauna Loa, built by very fluid lava?

A) A stratocone

B) A cinder cone

C) A shield

D) A lava dome

Answer · why

C) A shield

Its very fluid, silica-poor lava builds a broad dome whose slopes are only about 12 degrees at their steepest.