Q. Consider the following statements regarding Mauna Loa and Mount Fuji:
1.Mauna Loa in Hawaii is recognized as the largest active volcano on Earth by mass and volume, rising from a deep oceanic floor base.
2.Mount Fuji is a highly symmetrical active shield volcano located on the island of Honshu, built by ancient continental rifting.
3.While Mauna Loa erupts via effusive, low-viscosity lava flows, Mount Fuji is a subduction-zone stratovolcano capable of explosive eruptions.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: C
Notes:
Explanation:
- Statement 1 is correct: Mauna Loa is a massive shield volcano. Its subaerial height is 4,169 meters (13,678 feet), but when measured from its true base on the ocean floor, it stands over 9,000 meters tall, making it the largest active volcano by volume.
- Statement 2 is incorrect: This is a morphological/tectonic trap. Mount Fuji is a stratovolcano (composite volcano), not a shield volcano, and it is located above a complex triple subduction zone junction (Pacific, Philippine Sea, and Eurasian plates), not a continental rift valley.
- Statement 3 is correct: Mauna Loa’s hotspot location generates hot, fluid basaltic lava (effusive). Mount Fuji, being a subduction-zone volcano, contains higher-viscosity and higher-silica andesitic/basaltic mixtures that make its eruptive potential explosive.
