Loihi Seamount is an active undersea volcano located around 35 km
(22 mi) off the southeast coast of the island of Hawaiʻi. It lies on
the flank of Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on Earth. Lōʻihi
Seamount is the newest volcano in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain,
a string of volcanoes that stretches over 5,800 km (3,600 mi) northwest
of Lōʻihi and the island of Hawaiʻi. Unlike most active volcanoes in
the Pacific ocean that make up the active plate margins on the Pacific
Ring of Fire, Lōʻihi and the other volcanoes of the Hawaiian-Emperor
seamount chain are hotspot volcanoes and formed well away from the
nearest plate boundary. Lōʻihi began forming around 400,000 years ago
and is expected to begin emerging above sea level about 10,000–100,000
years from now. At its summit, Lōʻihi Seamount stands more than 3,000 m
(10,000 ft) above the seafloor. A diverse microbial community resides
around Lōʻihi's many hydrothermal vents. In the summer of 1996, a swarm
of 4,070 earthquakes was recorded at Lōʻihi. This series included more
earthquakes than any other swarm in Hawaiian history. The volcano has
remained relatively active since the 1996 swarm and is monitored by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States
Geological Survey.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loihi_Seamount>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1345:
Inspecting a new prison without being escorted by his bodyguard,
Byzantine megas doux Alexios Apokaukos was lynched and killed by the
prisoners.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_Apokaukos>
1770:
The Great Barrier Reef first became known to Europeans when the HM
Bark Endeavour, captained by English explorer James Cook, ran aground
there, sustaining considerable damage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef>
1938:
The Battle of Wuhan began, lasting four and half months, the longest
and largest battle of the entire Second Sino-Japanese War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wuhan>
1956:
The six-day Gal Oya riots, the first ethnic riots that targeted the
minority Sri Lankan Tamils in post-independent Sri Lanka, began,
eventually resulting in the deaths of at least 150 people and 100
injuries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal_Oya_riots>
1963:
Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to
death in Saigon to protest the persecution of Buddhists by South
Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem's administration.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
peremptory (adj):
1. Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or
appeal.
2. Positive in opinion or judgment; decided; dogmatic
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peremptory>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is nothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let
the form of an object be what it may, — light, shade, and perspective
will always make it beautiful.
--John Constable
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Constable>