Lō'ihi Seamount facts for kids
Lōʻihi Seamount, also known as Loihi, is a special kind of volcano that is completely underwater. It's often called a seamount. Lōʻihi is part of a long chain of underwater mountains and volcanoes called the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain.
This active volcano is located in the Pacific Ocean, just south of the big island of Hawaii. It's still growing and changing beneath the waves.
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What's in a Name? The Hawaiian Name Lōʻihi
The name Lōʻihi comes from the Hawaiian language. In 1995, the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) decided to start using Hawaiian spelling for geographic names. This means they now include special Hawaiian marks like the ʻokina (which looks like an apostrophe) and the kahakō (a line over a letter).
Because of this change, the volcano that was once just called "Loihi" is now officially known as Lōʻihi. These marks help people pronounce the name correctly.
Understanding the Seamount
Lōʻihi Seamount is about 32 miles (51 kilometers) away from the top of Mauna Loa, another very large volcano on the island of Hawaii. Lōʻihi is actually growing on the side of this older, bigger volcano.
Even though it's underwater, Lōʻihi Seamount is huge! It rises more than 3,000 meters (about 9,800 feet) from the ocean floor. That's as tall as Mount St. Helens was before it erupted in 1980.
As of 2012, the very top of this underwater volcano was still about one kilometer (0.6 miles) below the surface of the sea.
Becoming an Island
Scientists predict that Lōʻihi will keep growing over many thousands of years. Eventually, it is expected to rise above the ocean's surface and become a brand new island. This process shows how the Hawaiian Islands were formed over millions of years by volcanoes like Lōʻihi.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Bathymetric mapping of Kamaʻehuakanaloa; the arrow points to Pele's Pit.
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Three-dimensional rendering of the seamount
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A sample of basalt pillow lava collected from Kamaʻehuakanaloa, at 1,180 metres below sea level
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R/V (research vessel) Kaʻimikai-o-Kanaloa (KoK) launching Pisces V, a battery-powered submersible. The R/V KoK is the support ship for the Kamaʻehuakanaloa Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL).
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Ocean bottom observatory (OBO) at Pele's Vents
See also
In Spanish: Lōʻihi para niños
