Lo‘ihi seamount is an undersea volcano in the Hawaiian archipelago. Located at 18.92N, 155.27W—roughly 30 km (19 mi) south of the southeast coast of the Island of Hawai‘i—it is one of three very active volcanoes (the other two are Mauna Loa and Kīlauea) thought to presently sit over the Hawaiian hotspot. The greatest distance between the summits of these volcanoes is about 80 km (50 mi), approximately the diameter of the hot spot. However, Lo‘ihi has yet to build to the surface of the ocean, although now over 3000 m (10,000 ft) high (taller than Mount St. Helens). The top of Lo‘ihi lies 969 m (3,178 ft) below the surface. If the rate of upward building is about the same as nearby Kīlauea, Lo‘ihi should appear at the surface in several tens of thousands of years. Ocean (Okeanos, a Greek god of sea and water; Greek ωκεανός) covers almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth. ... This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of numerous islands and atolls trending northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean between latitudes 19° N and 29° N. The archipelago takes as its name that of the largest island in the group. ... Image of Hawai‘i (island) taken by NASA. The Island of Hawai‘i is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. ... Mauna Loa is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five volcanic peaks that together form the Island of Hawaii. ... Kīlauea is an active volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of seven shield volcanos that together form the Island of Hawai‘i. ... In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earths surface that has experienced active vulcanism for a long period of time. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... Mount St. ...

Like Kīlauea, Lo‘ihi lies on the flank of Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on the planet. The summit has a caldera-like depression, and three pit craters. The pit crater called Pele's Pit is known to have formed in July 1996 when a vent collapsed forming a depression with 200 m (660 ft) high, vertical walls. The rift zone for this volcano is about 31 km (19 mi) long and oriented northwest-southeast across the 2.8 by 3.7 km (1.7 × 2.3 mi) caldera. The eruption in 1996 was confirmed by scientists at the University of Hawai‘i, becoming the first such confirmation of an active eruption occurring on a seamount. Mauna Kea, a shield volcano, on the Island of Hawai‘i with a light dusting of snow. ... This article is about volcanic calderas. ... Perhaps the most conspicuous part of a volcano is the crater, a basin of a roughly circular form within which occurs a vent (or vents) from which magma erupts as gases, lava, and ejecta. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Jean Charlots mural called Commencement is featured at Bachman Hall, the administrative center of the University of Hawai`i System. ... A seamount is a mountain rising from the seafloor that does not reach to the surface of the ocean. ...

Lo‘ihi is being studied by manned submersible dives to its surface and placement of recording instruments and remote observatories on the summit. The volcano is actively venting hydrothermal fluids and thermal vents there are being studied for thermophilic extremophiles: microbial (and other organisms) associated with extreme temperature conditions. In 1999, a never before seen jelly-like organism surrounding the 160°C vents was collected for incubation and study at NSF's Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center (MarBEC). A submersible is another name for a submarine, and is the normal term for civilian and non-combatant military designs, particularly midget submarines. ... Categories: Stub | Astronomical observatories ... Hydrothermal circulation in the oceans is the passage of the water through mid-ocean Ridge (MOR) systems. ... FLUID widget list window FLUID (Fast Light User Interface Designer) is a graphical editor that is used to produce FLTK source code. ... This article is about the atmospheric phenomenon. ... Thermophiles produce some of the bright colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park A thermophile is an organism – a type of extremophile – which thrives at relatively high temperatures, up to about 60 °C. Many thermophiles are archaea. ... An extremophile is an organism, usually unicellular, which thrives in or requires extreme conditions. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living being. ... Jelly is a sweet or savoury food gel, usually made through the addition of gelatin or pectin. ... The word incubation (from Latin incubare, to lie upon - cf. ...

References and external links

• Hazlett, R. W., and D. W. Hyndman. 1996. Roadside Geology of Hawai‘i.
• Hawaii Center for Vulcanology (http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/loihi.html/), University of Hawai‘i.
• Lo‘ihi Seamount (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanoes/loihi/main.html) ~ USGS website.
• Loihi Submarine Volcano: A unique, natural extremophile laboratory (http://www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_loihi.html) ~ NOAA research site.
• MarBEC (http://www.marbec.org/) (funding ended in April 2004, site available until March 2005)