geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

, hotspots (or hot spots) are

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

locales thought to be fed by underlying

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. Examples include the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and

Yellowstone hotspot The Yellowstone hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the United States responsible for large scale volcanism in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming, formed as the North American tectonic plate moved over it. It formed the eastern Snake Ri ...

s. A hotspot's position on the Earth's surface is independent of

tectonic plate boundaries Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

, and so hotspots may create a chain of volcanoes as the plates move above them. There are two

hypotheses A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

that attempt to explain their origins. One suggests that hotspots are due to

mantle plume A mantle plume is a proposed mechanism of convection within the Earth's mantle, hypothesized to explain anomalous volcanism. Because the plume head partially melts on reaching shallow depths, a plume is often invoked as the cause of volcanic hot ...

s that rise as thermal

diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of igneous intrusion in which a more mobile and ductily deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–T ...

s from the core–mantle boundary. The alternative

plate theory In continuum mechanics, plate theories are mathematical descriptions of the mechanics of flat plates that draws on the theory of beams. Plates are defined as plane structural elements with a small thickness compared to the planar dimensions. ...

is that the mantle source beneath a hotspot is not anomalously hot, rather the crust above is unusually weak or thin, so that lithospheric extension permits the passive rising of melt from shallow depths.

Origin

The origins of the concept of hotspots lie in the work of

J. Tuzo Wilson John Tuzo Wilson (October 24, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was a Canadian geophysicist and geologist who achieved worldwide acclaim for his contributions to the theory of plate tectonics. ''Plate tectonics'' is the scientific theory that the rigi ...

, who postulated in 1963 that the formation of the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

resulted from the slow movement of a

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

across a hot region beneath the surface. It was later postulated that hotspots are fed by narrow streams of

hot Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places * Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

rising from the Earth's

core–mantle boundary The core–mantle boundary (CMB) of Earth lies between the planet's silicate mantle and its liquid iron-nickel outer core. This boundary is located at approximately 2,891 km (1,796 miles) depth beneath Earth's surface. The boundary is observed ...

in a structure called a

. Whether or not such mantle plumes exist is the subject of a major controversy in Earth science. At any place where

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called ...

is not linked to a constructive or destructive plate margin, the concept of a hotspot has been used to explain its origin. In a review article by Courtillot et al. listing possible hotspots, distinction is made between primary hotspots coming from deep within the mantle (possibly originating from the core/mantle boundary), creating large volcanic provinces with linear tracks (Easter Island, Iceland, Hawaii, Afar, Louisville, Reunion, Tristan confirmed, Galapagos, Kerguelen and Marquersas likely) and secondary hotspots derived from mantle plumes (Samoa, Tahiti, Cook, Pitcairn, Caroline, MacDonald confirmed, up to about 20 possible) at the upper/lower mantle boundary that do not form large volcanic provinces but form island chains. Other potential hotspots are the result of shallow mantle material surfacing in areas of lithospheric break-up caused by tension (and are thus a very different type of volcanism). Estimates for the number of hotspots postulated to be fed by mantle plumes have ranged from about 20 to several thousand, with most geologists considering a few tens to exist.

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

, Galápagos, and

are some of the most active volcanic regions to which the hypothesis is applied.

Composition

Most hotspot volcanoes are

basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

(e.g.,

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

). As a result, they are less explosive than

subduction zone Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

volcanoes, in which water is trapped under the overriding plate. Where hotspots occur in continental regions,

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

rises through the continental crust, which melts to form

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

s. These

s can form violent eruptions. For example, the

Yellowstone Caldera The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corn ...

was formed by some of the most powerful volcanic explosions in geologic history. However, when the rhyolite is completely erupted, it may be followed by eruptions of basaltic magma rising through the same lithospheric fissures (cracks in the lithosphere). An example of this activity is the

Ilgachuz Range The Ilgachuz Range is a name given to an extinct shield volcano in British Columbia, Canada. It is not a mountain range in the normal sense, because it was formed as a single volcano that has been eroded for the past 5 million years. It lies on ...

in British Columbia, which was created by an early complex series of

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

and

eruptions, and late extrusion of a sequence of basaltic lava flows. The hotspot hypothesis is now closely linked to the

hypothesis.

Contrast with subduction zone island arcs

Hotspot volcanoes are considered to have a fundamentally different origin from

island arc Island arcs are long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have resulted from the descent of the lithosphere into the mantle alon ...

volcanoes. The latter form over

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

zones, at converging plate boundaries. When one oceanic plate meets another, the denser plate is forced downward into a deep ocean trench. This plate, as it is subducted, releases water into the base of the over-riding plate, and this water mixes with the rock, thus changing its composition causing some rock to melt and rise. It is this that fuels a chain of volcanoes, such as the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

, near

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Hotspot volcanic chains

The joint

/hotspot hypothesis envisages the feeder structures to be fixed relative to one another, with the continents and

seafloor The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

drifting overhead. The hypothesis thus predicts that time-progressive chains of volcanoes are developed on the surface. Examples are

, which lies at the end of a chain of extinct calderas, which become progressively older to the west. Another example is the Hawaiian archipelago, where islands become progressively older and more deeply eroded to the northwest. Geologists have tried to use hotspot volcanic chains to track the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. This effort has been vexed by the lack of very long chains, by the fact that many are not time-progressive (e.g. the Galápagos) and by the fact that hotspots do not appear to be fixed relative to one another (e.g.

and

). In 2020, Wei et al. used

seismic tomography Seismic tomography or seismotomography is a technique for imaging the subsurface of the Earth with seismic waves produced by earthquakes or explosions. P-, S-, and surface waves can be used for tomographic models of different resolutions based on ...

to detect the oceanic plateau, formed about 100 million years ago by the hypothesized mantle plume head of the Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain, now

subducted Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

to a depth of 800 km under eastern Siberia.

Postulated hotspot volcano chains

Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is a mostly undersea mountain range in the Pacific Ocean that reaches above sea level in Hawaii. It is composed of the Hawaiian ridge, consisting of the islands of the Hawaiian chain northwest to Kure Atoll, ...

(

Hawaii hotspot The Hawaii 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 ...

) *

Louisville Ridge The Louisville Ridge, also known as the Louisville Seamount Chain, is an underwater chain of over 70 seamounts located in the Southwest portion of the Pacific Ocean. As one of the longest seamount chains on Earth it stretches some Vanderkluysen, ...

(

Louisville hotspot The Louisville hotspot is a volcanic hotspot responsible for the volcanic activity that has formed the Louisville Ridge in the southern Pacific Ocean. Location The Louisville hotspot is believed to lie close to the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, altho ...

) *

Walvis Ridge The Walvis Ridge (''walvis'' means whale in Dutch and Afrikaans) is an aseismic ocean ridge in the southern Atlantic Ocean. More than in length, it extends from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, near Tristan da Cunha and the Gough Islands, to the African ...

(Gough and

Tristan hotspot The Tristan hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which is responsible for the volcanic activity which forms the volcanoes in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is thought to have formed the island of Tristan da Cunha and the Walvis Ridge on the African Plat ...

) *

Kodiak–Bowie Seamount chain The Kodiak–Bowie Seamount chain, also called the Pratt–Welker Seamount chain and the Kodiak Seamounts is a seamount chain in the southeastern Gulf of Alaska stretching from the Aleutian Trench in the north to Bowie Seamount, the young ...

(

Bowie hotspot The Bowie hotspot is a volcanic hotspot, located west of Haida Gwaii in the Pacific Ocean. Almost all magma created by the hotspot has the composition of basalt, and so the volcanoes are constructed almost entirely of this igneous rock. The eru ...

) *

Cobb–Eickelberg Seamount chain The Cobb-Eickelberg seamount chain is a range of undersea mountains formed by volcanic activity of the Cobb hotspot located in the Pacific Ocean. The seamount chain extends to the southeast on the Pacific Plate, beginning at the Aleutian Trench ...

(

Cobb hotspot The Cobb hotspot is a marine volcanic hotspot at (46˚ N, 130˚ W), which is 460 km (290 mi) west of Oregon and Washington, North America, in the Pacific Ocean. Over geologic time, the Earth's surface has migrated with respect to the ho ...

) *

New England Seamounts The New England Seamounts is a chain of over twenty underwater extinct volcanic mountains known as seamounts. This chain is located off the coast of Massachusetts in the Atlantic Ocean and extends over 1,000 km from the edge of Georges Ban ...

(

New England hotspot The New England hotspot, also referred to as the Great Meteor hotspot and sometimes the Monteregian hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic Ocean. It created the Monteregian Hills intrusions in Montreal and Montérégie, the White ...

) *

Anahim Volcanic Belt The Anahim Volcanic Belt (AVB) is a west–east trending chain of volcanoes and related magmatic features in British Columbia, Canada. It extends from Athlone Island on the Central Coast, running eastward through the strongly uplifted and deeply ...

(

Anahim hotspot The Anahim hotspot is a hypothesized hotspot in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has been proposed as the candidate source for volcanism in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, a long chain of volcanoes and other magmatic features tha ...

) *

Mackenzie dike swarm The Mackenzie dike swarm, also called the Mackenzie dikes, forms a large igneous province in the western Canadian Shield of Canada. It is part of the larger Mackenzie Large Igneous Province and is one of more than three dozen dike swarms in variou ...

(

Mackenzie hotspot The Mackenzie hotspot was a volcanic hotspot that existed about 1.3 billion years ago across Canada from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It was centred on what is now Darnley Bay on southwestern Victoria Island. Extent The Mackenzie ho ...

) *

Great Meteor hotspot track The New England hotspot, also referred to as the Great Meteor hotspot and sometimes the Monteregian hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic Ocean. It created the Monteregian Hills intrusions in Montreal and Montérégie, the White ...

(

) * St. Helena Seamount Chain– Cameroon Volcanic Line (

Saint Helena hotspot The St. Helena hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is responsible for the island of St. Helena and the St. Helena Seamount chain. It is one of the oldest known hotspots on Earth, which began to produce basal ...

) * Southern Mascarene Plateau– Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge (

Réunion hotspot The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which currently lies under the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the southern part of the Mascarene Plateau are volcanic traces of the Réunion hotspot. The hotspo ...

) *

Ninety East Ridge The Ninety East Ridge (also rendered as Ninetyeast Ridge, 90E Ridge or 90°E Ridge) is a mid-ocean ridge on the Indian Ocean floor named for its near-parallel strike along the 90th meridian at the center of the Eastern Hemisphere. It is approxima ...

(

Kerguelen hotspot The Kerguelen hotspot is a volcanic hotspot at the Kerguelen Plateau in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Kerguelen hotspot has produced basaltic lava for about 130 million years and has also produced the Kerguelen Islands, Naturaliste Plateau, Hear ...

) *

Tuamotu The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

–

Line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

Island chain (

Easter hotspot The Easter hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The hotspot created the Sala y Gómez Ridge which includes Easter Island, Salas y Gómez Island and the Pukao Seamount which is at the ridge's young western ed ...

) * Austral–

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

–

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

chain (

Macdonald hotspot The Macdonald hotspot (also known as "Tubuai" or "Old Rurutu") is a volcanic hotspot in the southern Pacific Ocean. The hotspot was responsible for the formation of the Macdonald Seamount, and possibly the Austral-Cook Islands chain. It probably ...

) *

Juan Fernández Ridge The Juan Fernández Ridge is a volcanic island and seamount chain on the Nazca Plate. It runs in a west–east direction from the Juan Fernández hotspot to the Peru–Chile Trench at a latitude of 33° S near Valparaíso. The Juan Fernández I ...

(

Juan Fernández hotspot The Juan Fernández hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The hotspot created the Juan Fernández Ridge which includes the Juan Fernández Archipelago and a long seamount chain that is being subducted in the ...

) *

Tasmantid Seamount Chain The Tasmantid Seamount Chain is a long chain of seamounts in the South Pacific Ocean. The chain consists of over 16 extinct volcanic peaks, many rising more than from the seabed. It is one of the two parallel seamount chains alongside the Ea ...

(

Tasmantid hotspot The Tasmantid hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the South Pacific Ocean. Due to plate tectonics the hotspot was under different parts of the seabed in the past. It was initially centred under what is now the southern Coral Sea 60 mil ...

) *

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

(

Canary hotspot The Canary hotspot, also called the Canarian hotspot, is a hotspot and volcanically active region centred on the Canary Islands located off the north-western coast of Africa. Hypotheses for this volcanic activity include lithosphere extension perm ...

) *

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

(

Cape Verde hotspot Cape Verde is a volcanic archipelago situated above an oceanic rise that puts the base of the islands above the rest of the seafloor. Cape Verde has been identified as a hotspot and the majority of geoscientists have argued that the archipelago ...

)

List of volcanic regions postulated to be hotspots

Eurasian Plate

Eifel hotspot The Eifel hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in Western Germany. It is one of many recent volcanic formations in and around the Eifel mountain range and includes the volcanic field known as Volcanic Eifel. Although the last eruption occurred around 1 ...

(8) ** , w= 1 az= 082° ±8° rate= 12 ±2 mm/yr *

Iceland hotspot The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity which has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland. Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, with eruptions occur ...

(14) ** *** Eurasian Plate, w= .8 az= 075° ±10° rate= 5 ±3 mm/yr *** North American Plate, w= .8 az= 287° ±10° rate= 15 ±5 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the North Atlantic continental rifting (62 Ma),

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. *

Azores hotspot The Azores hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The Azores is relatively young and is associated with a bathymetric swell, a gravity anomaly and ocean island basalt geochemistry. The Azores hotspot lies just east of the ...

(1) ** *** Eurasian Plate, w= .5 az= 110° ±12° *** North American Plate, w= .3 az= 280° ±15° *

Jan Mayen hotspot The Jan Mayen hotspot is a proposed volcanic hotspot responsible for the volcanic activity that has formed the island of Jan Mayen in the northern Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an ...

(15) ** * Hainan hotspot (46) ** , az= 000° ±15°

African Plate

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina a ...

(47) ** *

Hoggar The Hoggar Mountains ( ar, جبال هقار, Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km. Geography Thi ...

hotspot (13) ** , w= .3 az= 046° ±12° *

Tibesti The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and is ...

hotspot (40) ** , w= .2 az= 030° ±15° * Jebel Marra/Darfur hotspot (6) ** , w= .5 az= 045° ±8° * Afar hotspot (29, misplaced in map) ** , w= .2 az= 030° ±15° rate= 16 ±8 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the

Afar Triple Junction The Afar Triple Junction (also called the Afro-Arabian Rift System) is located along a divergent plate boundary dividing the Nubian, Somali, and Arabian plates. This area is considered a present-day example of continental rifting leading to seaf ...

, 30 Ma. *

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

hotspot (17) ** , w= .3 az= 032° ±3° rate= 15 ±5 mm/yr *

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

hotspot (48) ** , w= .3 az= 055° ±15° rate= 8 ±3 mm/yr *

(18) ** , w= 1 az= 094° ±8° rate= 20 ±4 mm/yr * New England/Great Meteor hotspot (28) ** , w= .8 az= 040° ±10° *

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

hotspot (19) ** , w= .2 az= 060° ±30° *

Sierra Leone hotspot Sierra Leone hotspot is a proposed Hotspot (geology), hotspot in the Atlantic Ocean. The existence of this hotspot has been inferred from the Sierra Leone Rise and the Ceara Rise in the Atlantic Ocean, two submarine topographic features around the ...

* St. Helena hotspot (34) ** , w= 1 az= 078° ±5° rate= 20 ±3 mm/yr *

Gough Gough ( ) is a surname. The surname probably derives from the Welsh (English: "red"), given as a nickname to someone with red hair or a red complexion or as a reduced form of the Irish McGough which itself is an Anglicized form of Gaelic , a patro ...

hotspot (49), at 40°19' S 9°56' W. ** , w= .8 az= 079° ±5° rate= 18 ±3 mm/yr *

(42), at 37°07′ S 12°17′ W. ** *

Vema hotspot Vema Seamount is a seamount in the South Atlantic Ocean. Discovered in 1959 by a ship with the same name, it lies from Tristan da Cunha and northwest of Cape Town. The seamount has a flat top at a mean depth of which was eroded into the seamoun ...

(Vema Seamount, 43), at 31°38' S 8°20' E. ** ** Related maybe to the

Paraná and Etendeka traps The Paraná-Etendeka traps (or Paraná and Etendeka Plateau; or Paraná and Etendeka Province) comprise a large igneous province that includes both the main Paraná traps (in Paraná Basin, a South American geological basin) as well as the small ...

(c. 132 Ma) through the

. * Discovery hotspot (50) (

Discovery Seamounts Discovery Seamounts are a chain of seamounts in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, which include the Discovery Seamount. The seamounts lie east of Gough Island and once rose above sea level. Various volcanic rocks as well as glacial dropstones and sedi ...

) ** , w= 1 az= 068° ±3° * Bouvet hotspot (51) ** * Shona/Meteor hotspot (27) ** , w= .3 az= 074° ±6° *

(33) ** , w= .8 az= 047° ±10° rate= 40 ±10 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the

Deccan Traps The Deccan Traps is a large igneous province of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). It is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, taking the form of a large shield volcano. It consists of numerous layers of solidified flood ...

(main events: 68.5–66 Ma) *

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

hotspot (21) ** , w= .5 az=118 ±10° rate=35 ±10 mm/yr

Antarctic Plate

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

hotspot (25) ** , w= .5 az= 080° ±12° * Crozet hotspot (52) ** , w= .8 az= 109° ±10° rate= 25 ±13 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the

Karoo-Ferrar The Karoo and Ferrar Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are two large igneous provinces in Southern Africa and Antarctica respectively, collectively known as the Karoo-Ferrar, Gondwana,E.g. or Southeast African LIP, associated with the initial break-u ...

geologic province (183 Ma) *

(20) ** , w= .2 az= 050° ±30° rate= 3 ±1 mm/yr **

Île Saint-Paul Île Saint-Paul (Saint Paul Island) is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (''Terres australes et antarctiques françaises'', TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of . The island is located about south of the la ...

and

Île Amsterdam Île Amsterdam (), also known as Amsterdam Island and New Amsterdam (''Nouvelle-Amsterdam''), is an island of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean that together with neighbouring Île Saint-Paul to the south for ...

could be part of the Kerguelen hotspot trail (St. Paul is probably not another hotspot) ** Related maybe to the

Kerguelen Plateau The Kerguelen Plateau (, ), also known as the Kerguelen–Heard Plateau, is an oceanic plateau and a large igneous province (LIP) located on the Antarctic Plate, in the southern Indian Ocean. It is about to the southwest of Australia and is ...

(130 Ma) * Heard hotspot (53) ** , w= .2 az= 030° ±20° *

Balleny hotspot The Balleny hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the Southern Ocean. The hotspot created the Balleny Islands, which forms a chain that extends for about in a northwest-southeast direction. Due to plate tectonics the hot spot was under differ ...

(2) ** , w= .2 az= 325° ±7° *

Erebus hotspot The Erebus hotspot is a volcanic hotspot responsible for the high volcanic activity on Ross Island in the western Ross Sea of Antarctica. Its current eruptive zone, Mount Erebus, has erupted continuously since its discovery in 1841. Magmas of t ...

(54) **

South American Plate

* Trindade/Martin Vaz hotspot (41) ** , w= 1 az= 264° ±5° * Fernando hotspot (9) ** , w= 1 az= 266° ±7° ** Possibly related to the

Central Atlantic Magmatic Province The Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) is the Earth's largest continental large igneous province, covering an area of roughly 11 million km2. It is composed mainly of basalt that formed before Pangaea broke up in the Mesozoic Era, near the ...

(c. 200 Ma) * Ascension hotspot (55) **

North American Plate

Bermuda hotspot The Bermuda hotspot is a supposed midplate hotspot swell in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda, proposed to explain the extinct volcanoes of the Bermuda Rise as well as the Mississippi Embayment and the Sabine Uplift southwest of the Mississ ...

(56) ** , w= .3 az= 260° ±15° *

(44) ** , w= .8 az= 235° ±5° rate= 26 ±5 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the

Columbia River Basalt Group The Columbia River Basalt Group is the youngest, smallest and one of the best-preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, covering over mainly eastern Oregon and Washington, western Idaho, and part of northern Nevada. The basalt grou ...

(17–14 Ma). *

Raton hotspot The Jemez Lineament is a chain of late Cenozoic volcanic fields, long, reaching from the Springerville and White Mountains volcanic fields in East-Central Arizona to the Raton-Clayton volcanic field in Northeastern New Mexico. The lineament w ...

(32) ** , w= 1 az= 240°±4° rate= 30 ±20 mm/yr *

(45) ** (

Nazko Cone Nazko Cone is a small potentially active basaltic cinder cone in central British Columbia, Canada, located 75 km west of Quesnel and 150 kilometers southwest of Prince George. It is considered the easternmost volcano in the Anahim Volcanic ...

)

Australian Plate

* Lord Howe hotspot (22) ** , w= .8 az= 351° ±10° *

(39) ** , w= .8 az= 007° ±5° rate= 63 ±5 mm/yr *

East Australia hotspot The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic province in southeast Australia which includes the Peak Range in central Queensland, the Main Range on the Queensland-New South Wales border, Tweed Volcano in New South Wales, and the Newer Volcanics Pro ...

(30) ** , w= .3 az= 000° ±15° rate= 65 ±3 mm/yr

Nazca Plate

(16) ** , w= 1 az= 084° ±3° rate= 80 ±20 mm/yr * San Felix hotspot (36) ** , w= .3 az= 083° ±8° *

(7) ** , w= 1 az= 087° ±3° rate= 95 ±5 mm/yr *

Galápagos hotspot The Galápagos hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the East Pacific Ocean responsible for the creation of the Galápagos Islands as well as three major aseismic ridge systems, Carnegie, Cocos and Malpelo which are on two tectonic plates. The hots ...

(10) ** *** Nazca Plate, w= 1 az= 096° ±5° rate= 55 ±8 mm/yr *** Cocos Plate, w= .5 az= 045° ±6° ** Possibly related to the

Caribbean large igneous province The Caribbean large igneous province (CLIP) consists of a major flood basalt, which created this large igneous province (LIP). It is the source of the current large eastern Pacific oceanic plateau, of which the Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateau i ...

(main events: 95–88 Ma).

Pacific Plate

(23) ** , w= 1 az= 316° ±5° rate= 67 ±5 mm/yr ** Possibly related to the

Ontong Java Plateau The Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) is a massive oceanic plateau located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands. The OJP was formed around (Ma) with a much smaller volcanic event around 90 Ma. Two other southwestern Pacific ...

(125–120 Ma). *

Foundation hotspot Foundation Seamounts are a series of seamounts in the southern Pacific Ocean. Discovered in 1992, these seamounts form a long chain which starts from the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. Some of these seamounts may have once emerged from the ocean. Th ...

Ngatemato seamounts Ngatemato seamounts (Name derived from a ruling family in Rapa) are a series of seamounts in the southern Pacific Ocean. These seamounts have the shape of ridges and display calderas. The Aureka () and Make () seamounts are part of the Ngatemato ...

(57) ** , w= 1 az= 292° ±3° rate= 80 ±6 mm/yr *

(24) ** , w= 1 az= 289° ±6° rate= 105 ±10 mm/yr * North Austral/President Thiers (

President Thiers Bank President Thiers Bank is a broad guyot, which lies northwest of Rapa and southeast of Raivavae, in the Austral Islands. Its summit reaches a depth of . It may have been created by the Macdonald hotspot. Another theory sees in the seamount the ...

, 58) ** , w= (1.0) azim= 293° ± 3° rate= 75 ±15 mm/yr *

Arago hotspot Arago hotspot is a hotspot in the Pacific Ocean, presently located below the Arago seamount close to the island of Rurutu, French Polynesia. Arago is part of a family of hotspots in the southern Pacific, which include the Society hotspot and t ...

(Arago Seamount, 59) ** , w= 1 azim= 296° ±4° rate= 120 ±20 mm/yr * Maria/Southern Cook hotspot (

Îles Maria Îles Maria or simply Maria, also known as Hull Island, is a small coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Its original name is Nororotu. The nearest island is Rimatara situated to the ESE. The atoll consists of four islets (''îles''), with a dense ...

, 60) ** , w= 0.8 az= 300° ±4° *

Samoa hotspot The Samoa hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the south Pacific Ocean. The hotspot model describes a hot upwelling plume of magma through the Earth's crust as an explanation of how volcanic islands are formed. The hotspot idea came from ...

(35) ** , w= .8 az= 285°±5° rate= 95 ±20 mm/yr * Crough hotspot (

Crough Seamount Crough Seamount (named after the geologist Thomas Crough) is a seamount in the Pacific Ocean, within the exclusive economic zone of Pitcairn. It rises to a depth of and is paired with a taller but overall smaller seamount to the east. This seamou ...

, 61) ** , w= .8 az= 284° ± 2° *

Pitcairn hotspot The Pitcairn hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the south-central Pacific Ocean. Over the past 11 million years, it has formed the Pitcairn-Gambier hotspot chain. It is responsible for creating the Pitcairn Islands and two large seamounts ...

(31) ** , w= 1 az= 293° ±3° rate= 90 ±15 mm/yr * Society/Tahiti hotspot (38) ** , w= .8 az= 295°±5° rate= 109 ±10 mm/yr *

Marquesas hotspot The Marquesas hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is responsible for the creation of the Marquesas Islands – a group of eight main islands and several smaller ones – and a few seamounts. The islands and seamounts fo ...

(26) ** , w= .5 az= 319° ±8° rate= 93 ±7 mm/yr *

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

hotspot (4) ** , w= 1 az= 289° ±4° rate= 135 ±20 mm/yr *

(12) ** , w= 1 az= 304° ±3° rate= 92 ±3 mm/yr * Socorro/Revillagigedos hotspot (37) ** * Guadalupe hotspot (11) ** , w= .8 az= 292° ±5° rate= 80 ±10 mm/yr *

(5) ** , w= 1 az= 321° ±5° rate= 43 ±3 mm/yr * Bowie/Pratt-Welker hotspot (3) ** , w=.8 az= 306° ±4° rate= 40 ±20 mm/yr

Former hotspots

* Euterpe/Musicians hotspot ( Musicians Seamounts) *

Matachewan hotspot The Matachewan hotspot was a volcanic hotspot responsible for the creation of the large 2,500 to 2,450 million year old Matachewan dike swarm, as well as continental rifting of the Superior and Hearne cratons during the Paleoproterozoic period. ...

References

External links

Formation of Hotspots

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs)

Maria Antretter, PhD Thesis (2001): ''Moving hotspots – Evidence from paleomagnetism and modeling''

Do Plumes Exist?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotspot (Geology) Plate tectonics Volcanology * Structure of the Earth