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The volcanic mountains creating the Hawaiian islands are among the greatest mountain ranges on earth. They rise an average of 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) to reach sea level from their base on the sea floor with the highest (Mauna Loa) climbing an additional 4,170 meters (13,680 feet) above sea level.  Mauna Loa is considered the "monarch of mountains." It is the largest volcano and the largest single mountain of any kind in the world.

As shield volcanoes, they are built by thousands of accumulated lava flows growing no more than 3 meters (10 feet) at a time to form a broad, gently sloping, flat domed volcanic cone. The islands progressed from northwest to southeast with the first volcanoes becoming extinct as the activity moved southeast. Some researchers believe the archipelago, or group of islands, originated from the accumulation of basalt piles over a great fissure, with the activity shifting progressively to the south.

Another hypothesis suggests the Pacific plate is moving over a fixed "hot spot" in the mantle. Today only two volcanoes are left active, the Mauna Loa and the Kilauea at the southeastern most end of the chain

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Last modified: 07/21/08