Mauna Loa 

Olegyout. “Fantastically Beautiful Eruption of the Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii. 1940 – 1984.” YouTube. YouTube, 13 June 2015. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Mauna Loa is the world’s largest shield volcano located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Shield volcanoes are the largest volcanoes that form over hot spots and are less explosive than composite volcanoes. They have shallow slope sides and are formed by lava flows of viscosity, meaning the lava flows easily. The magma comes to the surface as fast-flowing lava. The lava travels farther than other types of lava and this type of magma creates the softer sides and steady build-up of the volcano. The reason is because this lava is made of basalt which is very fluid lava when erupted. What causes it to erupt is when water gets into the vent, it becomes explosive, resulting in an eruption of splattering liquid lava.