India, Nov. 30 -- Hawaii is in the middle of an oceanic plate; oceanic magma is less prone to clog volcanic vents on its ascent, which would ultimately lead to more explosive volcanism

Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, began sending up fountains of glowing rock and spilling lava from fissures as its first eruption in nearly four decades began on Nov. 27, 2022.

Where does all that lava come from?

We asked Gabi Laske, a geophysicist at the University of California-San Diego who led one of the first projects to map the deep plumbing that feeds the Hawaiian Islands' volcanoes.

Where is the magma surfacing at Mauna Loa coming from?

The magma that comes out of Mauna Loa comes from a series of magma chambers found betw...