A Visit to Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park
07 September 2010
A river of lava several kilometers long flows near Mauna Loa during an eruption in 1975.
STEVE EMBER: This is Steve Ember.
SARAH LONG: And this is Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we visit two of the most unusual national parks in the United States. They are Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park, both in Hawaii.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Let me ask you a question: What is the tallest mountain on Earth? Most school children will say the answer is Mount Everest near the border between Nepal and Tibet.
There is something that is three hundred four meters taller than Mount Everest. However, it is mainly underwater. It begins at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and rises more than seventeen kilometers from the ocean floor.
Its name is Mauna Loa. In the Hawaiian language, Mauna Loa means “Long Mountain.” Mauna Loa is more than half of the island of Hawaii, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands.
It is also the largest and most active volcano on Earth. It has produced liquid rock called lava more than thirty times since records were first kept in eighteen forty-three. Today, Mauna Loa is quiet. It is not producing lava. However volcano experts say it is only a matter of time before this happens once again.
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