...Big Island of Hawaii is practically little when seen with its underwater flanks exposed.

Measured from the seabed, the island's active volcano Mauna Loa is the world's tallest mountain--some 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) taller than Mount Everest.

The Big Island was gradually thrust upward out of the Pacific, likely by a plume of lava deep beneath the seafloor. Those same slow forces look to be at work beneath a new volcano off the southeastern end of the Big Island, Loihi. Ten thousand or a hundred thousand years into the future, Loihi should emerge as the latest and hottest new Hawaiian island.

overview