A volcano that is as big as the state of New Mexico or France, as large as giant volcanoes on the Mars, have been found on Earth.

How did it lay hidden for such a long time?
Because it was hiding under water.

Tamu Massif  is located about 1,000 miles east of Japan and is the largest feature of Shatsky Rise, an underwater mountain range formed 130 to 145 million years ago by the eruption of several underwater volcanoes. This is not an accidental discovery. A professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at University of Houston (UH), William Sager,  first began studying the volcano about 20 years ago at Texas A&M’s College of Geosciences.

Why the name Tamu? Before moving to UH, Prof Sager was associated with Texas A&M University (TAMU) where he taught and initiated his research on the volcano.

So far, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa – the largest active volcano on Earth stretches 2,000 square miles. Tamu Massif covers an area of about 120,000 square miles. That means the largest volcano that we had is only 2% the size of Tamu Massif!

The oceans are hiding largest volcanoes and underwater falls. Wonder what else are they hiding?