Volcanic activity is one of the forces of nature that can change the face of the Earth. And at the moment, underground forces continue their titanic work. Created from many layers of lava, monstrous sizes, the largest volcanoes in the world lurk under the water surface or hang over nearby cities.
Which of them are considered the largest? Scientists still have not come to a consensus. Some believe that you need to build a rating according to the height above sea level. Others - what needs to be taken into account is the area over which lava flows spread, forming a new surface. Still others - what is important above all the human factor: the danger to human settlements.
Therefore, for the rating of the largest volcanoes on planet Earth, we selected representatives of all types - the largest in area, the highest, and the most dangerous active and extinct volcanoes.
10. Etna - height 3 295 meters
The highest volcano in Europe is located on the island of Sicily and is still active. The last eruption began on December 25, 2018. Due to frequent eruptions, it is impossible to determine its exact height - it is constantly changing. For example, over the past 30 years, Etna has "lost" in a height of more than 20 meters. Currently, it rises above the island at 3,295 m.
The mountain is famous for its nasty character - its slopes are dotted with craters, from where once in a couple of months the lava stably flows out. About once a century eruptions are larger, representing a direct danger to the human settlements inhabiting the slopes. However, this does not stop stubborn people - due to frequent eruptions, the soil on the slopes of the mountain is rich in elements useful for plants that allow you to take large crops.
9. Erebus - 3,794 meters
If the remaining volcanoes are located in the inhabited part of the world, then Erebus is located on the uninhabited continent of Antarctica. This is the largest active volcano in the southern polar region. Despite the lifeless ice spaces surrounding it, Erebus leads a very active life. And its geographical location - exactly over several faults of the earth's crust - contributes a lot to this.
Despite the fact that people do not live near Erebus, it still affects their life in a negative sense. From the bowels of the volcano periodically flows outward the streams of gases contained inside the Earth, mainly methane and hydrogen, which destroy the ozone layer. It is believed that the smallest thickness of the ozone sea is exactly in the area of the volcano.
8. Klyuchevskaya Sopka - 4 835 meters
Like Etna, the height of the Klyuchevsky volcano is constantly changing. Although it lost about 15 meters after five years ago, it still remains the highest active volcano in Russia and Asia.
Although in comparison with other peaks of Kamchatka, Klyuchevsky volcano loses in frequency, but it successfully compensates for this with power. For example, the 1938 eruption lasted 13 months and caused several craters up to 1,900 m high. And the 1980 eruption tore off and thrown into the air to a height of more than 500 m a block of ice with an area of at least half a kilometer.
But the most spectacular and most terrible was the 1994 eruption, when an impressive column of ash rose more than 12 km high above the volcano, and the plume of volcanic ash stretched from the place of ejection for many tens of kilometers and disappeared somewhere in the ocean.
7. Orizaba - 5 636 meters
"The peak of the volcano must be touching the sky itself," the ancient Incas thought, probably, and gave it the name Sittlaltepetl, or "Star Mountain". It is the highest active volcano in North and Central America, and the third largest peak in this region. It can be seen from afar - many more miles to the shore, the Orisaba cone can be seen from the side of the next ship across the Gulf of Mexico to the port of Veracruz.
Although the volcano is sleeping now, its calm is deceptive - it led a very active existence from the moment the conquistadors came to these places until the 19th century, and in recent years the station located at its foot has recorded constant internal activity.
6. Elbrus - 5,642 meters
The highest mountain is also the largest volcano in Russia and Europe. Glaciers descending from a snowy surface give rise to several significant rivers that feed the plains of the Caucasus region.
In addition to beauty, a snow-white cone with two peaks and a small saddle between them is distinguished by a meek and peaceful character. Elbrus has been sleeping for a long time, and his last eruption was more than 5,000 years ago. Despite the external severity, climbing Mount Elbrus is easy and simple - climbing routes to the top of the sleeping patriarch are some of the most uncomplicated.
5. Kilimanjaro - 5,885 meters
The magnificent handsome Kilimanjaro is the hallmark of Africa, its largest volcano. The sleeping giant is actually three volcanic cones that are visible from almost anywhere in neighboring Tanzania and Kenya.
Unlike many rating volcanoes, Kilimanjaro is the most famous volcano in the world, a typical stratovolcano. If you ask the child to depict him, most likely, he will draw a conical shape of a mountain, from the top of which ash erupts, burning gases and a very viscous lava that quickly solidifies, building up the cone higher and higher. This is a stratovolcano. The size of Kilimanjaro is 4,800 km3, and its height is 5,885 m. The last time the volcano was active at the dawn of mankind - 360,000 years ago.
4. Ojos del Salado - 6 893 meters
If the second and third places in the rating are the largest volcanoes in the world, if you count from the seabed, then Ojos del Salado is the highest volcano in the world, located above the surface of the sea. It rises 6893 m above the ground. The giant mountain is located on the border between Argentina and Chile.
Although the last active eruption of the volcano occurred even before mankind invented writing - no data about it has been preserved - however, Ojos del Salado cannot be called sleeping in the full sense of the word. In the depths of a huge mountain, as if a mysterious hidden work is happening, the echo of which reaches the land inhabitants in the form of clouds of steam and ash. The last such activity took place quite recently - in 1993.
3. Mauna Loa - 9 800 meters
Mauna Loa is an underwater volcano, the peak of which (along with five others) caused the emergence of the Big Island of the Hawaii archipelago. The size of Mauna Loa is 40,000 km3, the area is 75,000 m2, and the height (if you count from the seabed) is as much as 9,800 m. And it is the highest active volcano in the world - the last eruption of Mauna Loa was only 34 years ago, in 1984 year. Over the past 170 years, Mauna Loa has scared people with its activity, throwing lava outward 33 times.
2. Mauna Kea - 10 058 meters
The "sister" of Mauna Loa rises almost 4,267 m above sea level. It seems to be a bit, right? However, more potential is hidden in Mauna Kea than it seems at first glance - its base is deep under the water column at a depth of more than 6,000 m. This makes Mauna Kea the highest mountain in the world. If it were completely located on land, it would break the record of all the highest volcanoes in the world, bypassing the “land” favorite Ojos del Salado by almost 3,000 m.
At the top of Mauna Kea, there is very low humidity and almost never clouds - now there is one of the largest observatories in the world.
Mauna Kea appeared above the hot spot of the earth - the place where red-hot and molten magma rises up from the mantle layer of the Earth. Over millions of years, molten rock emanating outward created the surface of the entire Hawaiian archipelago. Mauna Kea - a sleeping volcano; this means that it has been inactive for more than 4,000 years, and the hot spot of magma exit to the surface has shifted. However, inaction does not mean that he will doze forever.
1. The largest volcano in the world: Tamu Massif - 4000 meters
“How, just 4,000 meters - and the largest volcano in the world?” - the reader may be outraged. Yes, the height of Tamu is not too impressive. But let's look at it in more detail from all sides.
Mankind discovered most of the largest natural objects in the world long ago, at the dawn of its existence. But the Tamu massif - the largest volcano on planet Earth - for many years managed to hide from people.
It is amazing that humanity knew more about huge volcanoes on Mars than about a giant mountain under its very nose. The reason for this is both the remote location (it is located at 1,600 km east of Japan) and the depth. Its peak is submerged in the thickness of the oceans for 2,000 km. And only in 2013, scientists found that the amazing lava mountain at the bottom of the ocean is actually the only volcano.
Its volume is approximately equal to 2.5 million km3, and an area of more than 311 km2. Fortunately, he has been sleeping for a long time - the last eruption of Tamu was about 144 million years ago.
The most dangerous volcano in the world
Supervolcano Yellowstone is considered the most active and dangerous today. Located in the US National Park, it poses a huge threat not only to Wyoming, but to the entire planet. It is believed that the eruption of Yellowstone Volcano can lead to climate change throughout the Earth.
As a result of the disaster, more than 70% of the US territory will be destroyed. Magma and shroud will cover the territory with a 3-meter layer. Losses will amount to more than 10 million lives, and the territory will become uninhabited due to the high level of radiation.
Today, visits to the park are limited; entry into some areas is completely prohibited. Scientists are carefully researching the caldera; an eruption could begin in the coming decades.
