earth science

List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain

List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain rather than just read about it. In short: The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is a series of volcanoes and seamounts extending about 6,200 km (3,900 mi) across the Pacific Ocean. The chain was produced by the movement of the ocean crust over the Hawaiʻi hotspot, an upwelling of hot rock from the Earth's mantle.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is a series of volcanoes and seamounts extending about 6,200 km (3,900 mi) across the Pacific Ocean. The chain was produced by the movement of the ocean crust over the Hawaiʻi hotspot, an upwelling of hot rock from the Earth's mantle. As the oceanic crust moves the volcanoes farther away from their source of magma, their eruptions become less frequent and less powerful until they eventually cease to erupt altogether. At that point, erosion of the volcano and subsidence of the seafloor cause the volcano to gradually diminish. As the volcano sinks and erodes, it first becomes an atoll island and then an atoll. Further subsidence causes the volcano to sink below the sea surface, becoming a seamount. Once a seamount is 600 m (2,000 ft) or more under the surface, it is also classed as a guyot. This list documents the most significant volcanoes in the chain, ordered by distance from the hotspot, but there are many others that have yet to be properly studied. The chain can be divided into three subsections. The first, the main windward Hawaiian islands consist of the eight youngest and easternmost Hawaiian islands. This is the youngest part of the chain and includes volcanoes with ages ranging from 400,000 years to 5.1 million years. The island of Hawaiʻi comprises five volcanoes, of which two (Kilauea and Mauna Loa) are still active. Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount (formerly Lōʻihi) continues to grow offshore, and is the only known volcano in the chain in the submarine pre-shield stage. The second part of the chain is composed of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, collectively referred to as the Leeward isles, the constituents of which are between 7.2 and 27.7 million years old. Erosion has long since overtaken volcanic activity at these islands, and most of them are atolls, atoll islands, and extinct islands. They contain many of the most northerly atolls in the world, including Kure Atoll, the northernmost atoll in the world. The oldest and most heavily eroded part of the chain are the Emperor seamounts, which are 39 to 85 million years old. The Emperor and Hawaiian chains are separated by a large L-shaped bend that causes the orientations of the chains to differ by about 60 degrees. This bend was long attributed to a relatively sudden change in the direction of plate motion, but research conducted in 2003 suggests that it was the movement of the hotspot itself that caused the bend. As of 2006, the issue is still under debate. All of the volcanoes in this part of the chain have long since subsided below sea level, becoming seamounts and guyots (see also: the seamount and guyot stages of Hawaiian volcanoes). Many of the volcanoes are named after former emperors of Japan. The seamount chain extends to the West Pacific, and terminates at the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, a subduction zone at the border of Russia.

Hawaiian archipelago

Northwestern Hawaiian islands

Emperor seamounts

Notes

References

External links This abstract contains preliminary data for several of the seamount dates; these dates are revised in the subsequent paper (as reported above): Sharp, W.D.; Clague, D.A. (2002). "An Older, Slower Hawaii-Emperor Bend". AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 61. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union: T61C–04. Bibcode:2002AGUFM.T61C..04S.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain

In research: List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cenozoic volcanoes, Cretaceous volcanoes, Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

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Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

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Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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