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Oct 19, 2023 · The six largest Hawaiian Islands—the Big Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai—form a chain of islands running to the northwest. The islands appear in this pattern for a specific reason: They were formed one after the other as a tectonic plate , the Pacific Plate, slid over a plume of magma—molten rock—puncturing Earth’s crust .
- Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire, also referred to as the Circum-Pacific...
- Ring of Fire
Hawaiian Hot Spot: A cutaway view along the Hawaiian island chain showing the inferred mantle plume that has fed the Hawaiian hot spot on the overriding Pacific Plate. The geologic ages of the oldest volcano on each island (Ma = millions of years ago) are progressively older to the northwest, consistent with the hot spot model for the origin of ...
The Hawaiʻi hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located near the namesake Hawaiian Islands, in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Jun 16, 2024 · The Hawaiian Islands were formed by volcanic activity. The Hawaiian Emperor seamount chain is a well-known example of a large seamount and island chain created by hot-spot volcanism. Each island or submerged seamount in the chain is successively older toward the northwest.
Loihi already has risen about 3 km above the ocean floor to within 1 km of the ocean surface. According to the hotspot theory, assuming Loihi continues to grow, it will become the next island in the Hawaiian chain.
As the Pacific Plate continues to move west-northwest, the Island of Hawaii will be carried beyond the hotspot by plate motion, setting the stage for the formation of a new volcanic island in its place.
This 6,000-kilometer-long chain begins with the still-submerged Loihi. Moving northwest, the volcanoes become progressively older. The chain forms as the Pacific plate creeps at 9 centimeters a year over a stationary hot spot in the mantle that has been providing magma for 80 million years.
