The Hawaiian Islands Volcanic Hotspot

The context of the assignments

The Hawai’i hotspot is a volcanic
hotspot located near the
namesake Hawaiian Islands, in the
northern Pacific Ocean. One of the
best known and intensively studied
hotspots in the world, the
Hawaii plume is responsible for the
creation of the Hawaiian–Emperor
seamount chain, a 6,200-kilometre
(3,900 mi) mostly undersea volcanic
mountain range. Four of these
volcanoes are active, two are dormant;
more than 123 are extinct, most now
preserved as atolls or seamounts. The
chain extends from south of the island
of Hawaiʻi to the edge of the Aleutian
Trench, near the eastern coast
of Russia.
While most volcanoes are created by
geological activity at tectonic
plate boundaries, the Hawaii hotspot is
located far from plate boundaries. The
classic hotspot theory, first proposed
in 1963 by John Tuzo Wilson,
proposes that a single, fixed plume of
molten material in the mantle of the
Earth’s crust built the volcanoes that
then, cut off from their source by the
movement of the Pacific Plate, became increasingly inactive and eventually eroded below sea level over millions of
years. Evidence now supports the idea of a mobile hotspot theory, suggesting that hotspots may also be mobile, not
fixed.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was founded in 1912 by volcanologist Thomas Jaggar, initiating continuous
scientific observation of the islands. In the 1970s, a mapping project was initiated to gain more information about the
complex geology of Hawaii's seafloor.
The Hawaiian hotspot has since been tomographically imaged, showing it to be 500 to 600 km (310 to 370 mi) wide
and up to 2,000 km (1,200 mi) deep, and olivine and garnet-based studies have shown its magma chamber is
approximately 1,500 °C (2,730 °F). In its at least 85 million years of activity the hotspot has produced an estimated
750,000 km3 (180,000 cu mi) of rock.

Around the world there are about 50 of these hotspots. The Galápagos hotspot (estimated to be around
150km wide) is located to the west of the Galápagos Archipelago. The Islands are located in the northern
part of the Nazca plate, which is slowly drifting in a south-easterly direction.

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The map below shows the distribution of some of the Earth’s best known volcanic hotspots.

Assignment 1 - Math, Graphing and Analysis

Objective 2: Application of knowledge and understanding, and problem solving.
Objective 5: Analysis of data and making conclusions

Study the map below which shows the volcanic chain of the north-western Hawaiian Islands. The map
shows the relative position of the islands and their age (in millions of years). The map also has a scale from
which you can calculate the actual distances of the islands from the stationary volcanic hotspot on the big
island of Hawai’i.

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a. Choose any 6 of the islands for which the age is known (shown on the map) and write their names into
column 1 of Data Table 1 (below). In column 2, write the age of each of the islands (in millions of
years).
b. Use a ruler on the map and measure the map distance (in cms) of each of the 6 islands away from the
stationary volcanic hotspot. (If you take the measurements from the screen of your computer, be careful
not to change the screen size of the map until you have all 6 measurements recorded.) Record these map
distances in column 3 of Data Table 1.
[Recording and manipulating data. 4 points]

c. Construct a graph digitally (ie in Sheets or Excel) which plots the age of the islands (millions of years)
against their distance (cms) away from the stationary volcanic hotspot. Make sure that the graph is fully
labelled with units and is given a title.)
[Graphing. 4 points]

d. Comment on and discuss the appearance of the graph you have drawn and suggest explanations for its
shape and curve. What information does the graph seem to give?
[Data analysis and making conclusions. 4 points]

Data Table 1

Island name Age of island Map distance

(m years) (cms)

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Assignment 2 – Math and unit conversions

How Fast Does the Pacific Plate Move? Measuring how far the Pacific Plate has moved during your
lifetime. A challenge!
You know that the Earth’s crustal plates are always moving, but how fast? Each of Earth’s plates can move
at a different speed and these speeds can change over geological time. But by studying rock formations
along boundaries, earth scientists can figure out how fast each plate has been moving on average over a
given time period. You’re going to figure out how fast the Pacific Plate is moving using information about
the Hawaiian Islands.

a. ‘Guesstimate’
Assume the average age of the students in your group is 17. Over the average student’s current lifetime,
how far do you think the Pacific Plate has moved? Write down your 'guesstimate' answer in centimetres.
(It in no way matters if you are far, far out. It is always good to have a figure in your head which you are
trying to support or reject.)

I think that the Pacific Plate has moved ………………………………………………..cms in the last 17
years.

How are we going to answer the question? First, we need to know the rate of plate movement. Rate is
equal to how far an object has moved over a certain amount of time (like kilometres per hour).

RATE = DISTANCE / TIME

We want to know how far the Pacific Plate moves in one year. Geophysicists usually report the rate of plate
movement in centimetres per year (cm/yr).

Once we know the rate, we can multiply by the average lifetime of a student (17 years) to determine how
far (in cm) the Pacific Plate has moved in this time.

You will calculate the average rate of the Pacific Plate over the past several million years using the age and
location of different Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawaiian Island Map shows the main islands in the Hawaiian Island chain. The oldest islands are the
furthest to the northwest from the stationary volcanic hot spot. As the Pacific Plate moves, newer islands
form. Hawaii is the youngest island and it is still being formed today; thus, Hawaii is currently at the hot
spot location.

The map gives you the age of the islands. Using the scale given on the map, you can figure out the
distances between each of your 4 chosen islands and the stationary volcanic hotspot. With this information
you can calculate how far the Pacific Plate moved from the hotspot over time. This is all you need to
calculate the rate!

b. Choose any four of the Hawaiian islands and write their names into column 1 of Data Table 2.
c. On the map, use a ruler to measure the distance (cms) from the stationary volcanic hotspot on Hawai’i
Island to each of your 4 chosen islands in the Hawaiian chain. Fill the information into column 2 of Data
Table 2.
d. Use the scale given on the map to convert the measurements into kilometres and complete column 3
with your results. You now have the actual distance of each of the 4 islands from the hotspot.
[Calculating distances using a scale. 4 points]

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e. Write the age of each of the 4 islands into column 4. The map gives the ages in millions of years.
f. Calculate the rate at which the Pacific Plate has moved since the formation of each of your 4 islands by
dividing the distances by their ages. Remember that this value is showing the rate in km/year which
should be a ridiculously small number! Fill the values into the last column on the data table.
g. Complete Data Table 2 by calculating the average rate of movement of the islands away from the
stationary volcanic hotspot.
[Math calculations. 4 points]

h. Now move to Data Table 3 and convert your ridiculously small average km/yr to cm/yr.
i. Finally, assuming your age to be 17, you can calculate how far the Pacific Plate has moved in your
lifetime. Complete the table with your answer.
[Concluding from the math. 4 points]

How close was the guesstimate which you made at the start?

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Data Table 2
Distance on Actual distance Age of Island Rate of movement
Island (km) (km / yrs)
map (cm) (m years)
Show your calculations Show your calculations

Average
(km / yr)
Show the
calculation

Data Table 3
Average rate (cm / yr) Distance (Rate x Time)
Time (Years)
Show the calculation Show the calculation
17

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Assignment 3 – Research and Communication

Pacific Ring of Fire

The Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of
the Pacific Ocean. Deep ocean trenches and high mountain ranges are also part of the Ring of Fire. The
Ring of Fire is largely a result of plate tectonics, where the massive Pacific Plate interacts with the
less-dense plates surrounding it.

The interactions between the Pacific Plate and the plates which surround it include convergent boundaries
and their resultant subductions zones, divergent boundaries which result in sea floor spreading and rift
valleys, and transform boundaries which commonly result in earthquakes.

a. Find a suitable diagram which shows a subduction zone forming at a convergent boundary. Turn the
diagram into words and explain in one paragraph, without the use of any drawings, images or
diagrams, how a subduction zone is formed at a convergent boundary. (You may use bullet or numbered
points.) Include the diagram with your written answer as a reference.
[Transformation of information. 4 points]

b. The 1906 Los Angeles Earthquake devastated the city, killed 3000 and left half the city’s population
homeless. Research the 1906 Los Angeles earthquake and write a paragraph which explains its
geological and geophysical causes.
[Research & Communication. 4 points]