In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the idea in 1963 that volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands result from the slow movement of a tectonic plate across a "fixed" hot spot deep beneath the surface of the planet. Hotspots are thought to be caused by a narrow stream of hot mantle convecting up from the Earth's core-mantle boundary called a mantle plume [1], although some geologists prefer upper-mantle convection as a cause [2] [3] [4]. This in turn has re-raised the antipodal pair impact hypothesis, the idea that pairs of opposite hotspots may result from the impact of a large meteor. [5] Geologists have identified some 40–50 such hotspots around the globe, with Hawaii, Réunion, Yellowstone, Galápagos, and Iceland overlying the most currently active. This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908-April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his theory of plate tectonics, the assumption that the Earths crust is comprised of plates floating on magma. ... Map of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of islands that stretches 2,400 km in a northwesterly direction from the southern tip of the Island of Hawaii. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature. ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ... Convection in the most general terms refers to the movement of currents within fluids (i. ... The core-mantle boundary lies between the Earths silicate mantle and its iron-nickel core. ... A lava lamp illustrates the basic concept of a mantle plume. ... Photo of a burst of meteors with extended exposure time A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that enters the Earths (or another bodys) atmosphere, commonly called a shooting star or falling star. ... The Hawaii hotspot is marked 12 on map. ... Yellowstone redirects here. ... The Galápagos hotspot is maked 10 on map. ...

Most hotspot volcanoes are basaltic because they erupt through oceanic lithosphere (e.g., Hawaii, Tahiti). As a result, they are less explosive than subduction zone volcanoes, in which water is trapped under the overriding plate. Where hotspots occur under continental crust, basaltic magma is trapped in the less dense continental crust, which is heated and melts to form rhyolites. These rhyolites can be quite hot and form violent eruptions, despite their low water content. For example, the Yellowstone Caldera was formed by some of the most powerful volcanic explosions in geologic history. Basalt Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. ... The tectonic plates of the Lithosphere on Earth. ... Map of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of islands that stretches 2,400 km in a northwesterly direction from the southern tip of the Island of Hawaii. ... Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of the French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. ... Categories: Geology stubs | Plate tectonics ... The thickness of the Earths crust (km). ... For the cities, see Basalt, Colorado and Basalt, Idaho. ... Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other terrestrial planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ... This page is about a volcanic rock. ... This page is about a volcanic rock. ... The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. ...

Following the trail of a Hotspot

As the continents and seafloor drift across the mantle plume, "hotspot" volcanoes generally leave unmistakable evidence of their passage through seafloor or continental crust. In the case of the Hawaiian hotspot, the islands themselves are the remnant evidence of the movement of the seafloor over the hotspot in the Earth's mantle. The Yellowstone hotspot emerged in the Columbia Plateau of the US Pacific Northwest. The Deccan Traps of India are the result of the emergence of the hotspot currently under Réunion Island, off the coast of eastern Africa. Geologists use hotspots to help track the movement of the Earth's plates. Such hotspots are so active that they often record step-by-step changes in the direction of the Earth's magnetic poles. Thanks to lava flows from a series of eruptions in the Columbia Plateau, scientists now know that the reversal of magnetic poles takes about 5,000 years, fading until there is no detectable magnetism, then reforming in near-opposite directions. The seabed (also sea floor, seafloor, or ocean floor) is the bottom of the ocean. ... A lava lamp illustrates the basic concept of a mantle plume. ... Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. ... The Washington towns of Spokane, Vantage, Yakima and Pasco, and the Oregon town of Pendleton, lie on the Columbia River Plateau. ... The Pacific Northwest from space The Pacific Northwest, abbreviated PNW, or PacNW is a region in the northwest of North America. ... The Deccan Traps is a large igneous province located in west-central India and is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. ... Réunion is an island and overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, about 200 km southwest of Mauritius. ... Paleomagnetism refers to the study of the record of the Earths magnetic field preserved in various magnetic minerals through time. ... Look up lava, Aa, pahoehoe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Washington towns of Spokane, Vantage, Yakima and Pasco, and the Oregon town of Pendleton, lie on the Columbia River Plateau. ... The Earths Magnetic Field reverses at intervals, ranging from tens of thousands to many millions of years, with an average interval of ~250,000 years. ... For other senses of this word, see magnetism (disambiguation). ...

Hotspots versus island arcs

Hotspot volcanoes should not be confused with island arc volcanoes. While each will appear as a string of volcanic islands. Island arcs are formed by subducting, converging tectonic plates. When one oceanic plate meets another, the denser plate is forced downward into a deep ocean trench. This plate melts and becomes new molten material that fuels a chain of volcanoes, such as the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. An island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. ... The Juan de Fuca plate sinks below the North America plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. ... Aleutians seen from space The Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, island) are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming an island arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km²) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900... For other uses, see Alaska (disambiguation). ...

List of hotspots ^[1]

Distribution of selected hotspots. The numbers in the figure are related to the listed hotspots on the left.

World map showing the locations of selected prominent hotspots. 1) Divergent plate boundaries, 2) Transform plate boundaries, 3) Convergent plate boundaries, 4) Plate boundary zones, 5) Selected prominent hotspots

Over millions of years, the Pacific Plate has moved over the Hawaii hotspot, creating a trail of underwater mountains that stretch across the Pacific

Over millions of years, the Pacific Plate has moved over the Bowie hotspot, creating the Kodiak-Bowie Seamount chain in the Gulf of Alaska

• Afar hotspot
• Amsterdam hotspot
• Anahim hotspot (45)
• Ascension hotspot
• Azores hotspot (1)
• Balleny hotspot (2)
• Bermuda hotspot
• Bouvet hotspot
• Bowie hotspot (3)
• Cameroon hotspot (17)
• Canary hotspot (18)
• Cape Verde hotspot (19)
• Caroline hotspot (4)
• Cobb hotspot (5)
• Comoros hotspot (21)
• Crozet hotspot
• Darfur hotspot (6)
• Discovery hotspot
• East Australia hotspot (30)
• Easter hotspot (7)
• Eifel hotspot (8)
• Fernando hotspot (9)
• Galápagos hotspot (10)
• Gough hotspot
• Guadalupe hotspot (11)
• Hawaii hotspot (12)
• Heard hotspot
• Hoggar hotspot (13)
• Iceland hotspot (14)
• Jan Mayen hotspot (15)
• Juan Fernandez hotspot (16)
• Kerguelen hotspot (20)
• Lord Howe hotspot (22)
• Louisville hotspot (23)
• Macdonald hotspot (24)
• Madeira hotspot
• Marion hotspot (25)
• Marquesas hotspot (26)
• Meteor hotspot (27)
• New England hotspot (28)
• Pitcairn hotspot (31)
• Raton hotspot (32)
• Réunion hotspot (33)
• St. Helena hotspot (34)
• St. Paul hotspot
• Samoa hotspot (35)
• San Felix hotspot (36)
• Shona hotspot
• Society hotspot (Tahiti hotspot) (38)
• Socorro hotspot (37)
• Tasmanid hotspot (39)
• Tibesti hotspot (40)
• Trindade hotspot (41)
• Tristan hotspot (42)
• Vema hotspot (43)
• Yellowstone hotspot (44)

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 765 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2711 × 2126 pixel, file size: 4. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 765 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2711 × 2126 pixel, file size: 4. ... Image File history File links Tectonic_plates_hotspots-en. ... Image File history File links Tectonic_plates_hotspots-en. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x632, 451 KB) The trail of underwater mountains created as the the tectonic plate moved across the Hawaii hotspot over millions of years, known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, or the Emperor Seamounts. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x632, 451 KB) The trail of underwater mountains created as the the tectonic plate moved across the Hawaii hotspot over millions of years, known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, or the Emperor Seamounts. ...  The Pacific plate, shown in pale yellow The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean. ... The Hawaii hotspot is marked 12 on map. ... The Emperor Seamounts are a chain of seamounts (submerged volcanic mountains) extending from the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (see Kure and Midway atolls) in a northwesterly direction until approximately 170º east longitude where they trend abruptly northward towards the tip of the Aleutian Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Bowie hotspot is marked 3 on map. ... Map of Kodiak–Bowie seamount chain The Kodiak-Bowie Seamount chain is a seamount chain in southeastern Gulf of Alaska stretching from the Aleutian Trench in the north to Bowie Seamount, the youngest volcano in the chain, which lies 180 kilometers west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. ... The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found. ... The Anahim hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the volcanic activity which forms the volcanoes in central British Columbia, Canada. ... The Balleny hotspot is marked 2 on map. ... The Bermuda hotspot is a spot in the Atlantic Ocean east of Bermuda. ... The Bowie hotspot is marked 3 on map. ... The Canary hotspot is marked 18 on map The Canary hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located at the Canary Islands off the north-western coast of Africa. ... The Cobb hotspot is shown as 5 on map. ... The East Australia hotspot is marked 30 on map. ... The Easter hotspot is marked 7 on map. ... The Galápagos hotspot is maked 10 on map. ... The Hawaii hotspot is marked 12 on map. ... Eruption at Krafla, 1984 The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity which has formed the island of Iceland. ... The Kerguelen hotspot is marked 20 on map. ... The New England hotspot is marked 28 on map. ... The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which currently lies under the Island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. ... The Yellowstone Caldera, also known as the Yellowstone supervolcano, is a highly geologically active region in Yellowstone National Park. ...

References

External links

• Formation of Hotspots
• Raising Hot Spots
• Large Igneous Provinces (LIPS)