Galapagos, Ecuador
Sometimes a hot spot finds itself under a Mid-Ocean Ridge, a point of sea-floor spreading. The islands are then built on each of the spreading plates, and eventually form a V-shaped pattern as the ocean floors move farther away from the ridge. The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, the Easter Islands, and the Pitcurin Islands in the Pacific are parts of such chains. |
Easter Islands, Chile
Sometimes a hot spot finds itself under a Mid-Ocean Ridge, a point of sea-floor spreading. The islands are then built on each of the spreading plates, and eventually form a V-shaped pattern as the ocean floors move farther away from the ridge. The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, the Easter Islands, and the Pitcurin Islands in the Pacific are parts of such chains. Walvis RidgeA chain of extinct volcanoes or volcanic islands like Walvis Ridge can form where the tectonic plate moves over a hot spot. The active volcanoes all lie at one end of the chain or ridge, and the ages of the islands or the ridge increase with their distance from those sites
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Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii
The Hawaiian are the product of a mantle hot spot in the middle of the Pacific Plate. The hot spot's current activity is underneath the southern end of the island of Hawaii. Once the volcanoes go extinct, the islands continue to erode until slipping below sea level. The Pacific Plate is carrying the length of islands and seamounts to the northwest side as it drifts Pitcairn Island
Sometimes a hot spot finds itself under a Mid-Ocean Ridge, a point of sea-floor spreading. The islands are then built on each of the spreading plates, and eventually form a V-shaped pattern as the ocean floors move farther away from the ridge. The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, the Easter Islands, and the Pitcurin Islands in the Pacific are parts of such chains. |