Hotspots exist in places such as:
- Areas of outstanding natural beauty
- Historic city centres
- Coastal areas with sandy beaches in hot countries
What are hot spots in geology?
Postulated hotspot volcano chains
- Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain ( Hawaii hotspot)
- Louisville Ridge ( Louisville hotspot)
- Walvis Ridge (Gough and Tristan hotspot)
- Kodiak–Bowie Seamount chain ( Bowie hotspot)
- Cobb–Eickelberg Seamount chain ( Cobb hotspot)
- New England Seamounts ( New England hotspot)
- Anahim Volcanic Belt ( Anahim hotspot)
- Mackenzie dike swarm ( Mackenzie hotspot)
What are geologic hot spots?
what are geologic hot spots? a volcanically active area of Earth's surface far from a tectonic plate boundary, located in the middle of Pacific Ocean where magma remains stationary while pacific plate moves ex- yellowstone and Hawaiian island chain.
What is a geological hot spot?
Hotspot (geology) Diagram showing a cross section through the Earth's lithosphere (in yellow) with magma rising from the mantle (in red). Lower diagram illustrates a hotspot track caused by the lithosphere's movement. In geology, hotspots (or hot spots) are volcanic locales thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared ...
What is a hotspot geography?
What is hotspot geography? A hot spot is an area on Earth that exists over a mantle plume. Hot spot volcanoes occur far from plate boundaries. Because the hot spot is caused by mantle plumes that exist below the tectonic plates, as the plates move, the hot spot does not, and may create a chain of volcanoes on the Earth’s surface.
What does hotspot mean in geography?
A hot spot is an area on Earth over a mantle plume or an area under the rocky outer layer of Earth, called the crust, where magma is hotter than surrounding magma. The magma plume causes melting and thinning of the rocky crust and widespread volcanic activity. 5 - 8. Earth Science, Geology, Geography, Physical ...
What is an hot spot?
Hotspot: A hotspot is a physical location where people can access the Internet, typically using Wi-Fi, via a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a router connected to an Internet service provider.
What is a hotspot in the ocean?
Oceanic hotspots are the surface expression of rising mantle plumes from the Earth's interior and are responsible for much of the intraplate volcanism observed in the ocean basins.
Where are hot spots on the Earth?
Most of these are located under plate interiors (for example, the African Plate), but some occur near diverging plate boundaries. Some are concentrated near the mid-oceanic ridge system, such as beneath Iceland, the Azores, and the Galapagos Islands. A few hotspots are thought to exist below the North American Plate.
What is a hotspot in plate tectonics?
Earth > Power of Plate Tectonics > Hot Spots A hot spot is an intensely hot area in the mantle below Earth's crust. The heat that fuels the hot spot comes from very deep in the planet. This heat causes the mantle in that region to melt. The molten magma rises up and breaks through the crust to form a volcano.
What is a hot spot quizlet?
Hotspot. A small area of the Earth's crust where an unusually high heat flow is associated with volcanic activity, A weak spot in the middle of a tectonic plate where magma surfaces; forms a volcano.
How is a hotspot formed?
Hotspots occur when one of the Earth's plates moves over an unusually hot part of the Earth's mantle. These hot areas are usually relatively stationary and result in large amounts of magma rising up, piercing a hole in the plate to form a volcano. As the plates move, a series of volcanoes can form.
Is Antarctica a hotspot?
Hokkaido University scientists have identified an atypical hotspot of sub-glacier melting in East Antarctica. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could further understandings and predictions of sea level rise caused by mass loss of ice sheets from the southernmost continent.
What are some examples of hotspots?
Examples include the Hawaii, Iceland, and Yellowstone hotspots. A hotspot's position on the Earth's surface is independent of tectonic plate boundaries, and so hotspots may create a chain of volcanoes as the plates move above them.
How many hotspots are there in the world?
To be classified as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must have lost at least 70 percent of its original natural vegetation, usually due to human activity. There are over 30 recognized biodiversity hotspots in the world.
What is a hotspot in geology?
In geology, the places known as hotspots or hot spots are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. Examples include the Hawaii, Iceland and Yellowstone hotspots.
How many hotspots are there in the mantle?
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. Hawaii, Réunion, Yellowstone, Galápagos, and Iceland are some of the most active volcanic regions to which the hypothesis is applied.
What is the hotspot hypothesis?
The hotspot hypothesis is now closely linked to the mantle plume hypothesis.
How do hotspots create volcanoes?
A hotspot's position on the Earth's surface is independent of tectonic plate boundaries, and so hotspots may create a chain of volcanoes as the plates move above them. There are two hypotheses that attempt to explain their origins.
What type of volcanoes are hotspots?
Most hotspot volcanoes are basaltic (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 in continental regions, basaltic magma rises through the continental crust, which melts to form rhyolites. These rhyolites can form violent eruptions. For example, the Yellowstone Caldera 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 in British Columbia, which was created by an early complex series of trachyte and rhyolite eruptions, and late extrusion of a sequence of basaltic lava flows.
How deep is the oceanic plateau?
used seismic tomography 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 to a depth of 800 km under eastern Siberia.
How do hotspot volcanoes form?
The latter form over subduction 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, near Alaska .
What is the hot spot on Earth?
Hotspot, region of Earth’s upper mantle that upwells to melt through the crust to form a volcanic feature. Most volcanoes that cannot be ascribed either to a subduction zone or to seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges are attributed to hot spots. The 5 percent of known world volcanoes not closely. Hotspot, region of Earth’s upper mantle ...
What percentage of volcanoes are hotspots?
Most volcanoes that cannot be ascribed either to a subduction zoneor to seafloor spreadingat mid-ocean ridges are attributed to hot spots. The 5 percent of known world volcanoes not closely related to such plate margins (seeplate tectonics) are regarded as hotspot volcanoes.
What is an encyclopedia editor?
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
What is a hotspot track?
Hot Spot Track. A chain of volcanoes (hotspot track) forms as a tectonic plate moves over a plume of hot mantle material (hotspot) rising from deep within the Earth. The landscapes of National Park Service sites along hotspot tracks differ depending on if the plate riding over the hotspot is capped by thin oceanic or thick continental crust. ...
Where is the youngest super volcano in the world?
Continental Hotspot: Yellowstone National Park contains the youngest of a chain of explosive super volcanoes that stretch across the Snake River Plain of Idaho to the Columbia Plateau in Oregon and Washington, where the Yellowstone Hotspot surfaced 17 million years ago.
What is a hotspot?
A hotspot is a large plume of hot mantle material rising from deep within the Earth. A line of volcanoes develops as a plate moves over a hotspot, much as a line of melted wax forms as a sheet of waxed paper is moved slowly over a burning candle. Several National Park Service sites lie above hotspots, or within volcanic regions formed as plates ...
What is the name of the rock that forms the North American Plate?
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Montana/Idaho. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is carved through rhyolite lava flows from the explosive Yellowstone Supervolcano, forming as the North American Plate, capped by thick continental crust, rides over the Yellowstone Hotspot. Photo courtesy of Robert J. Lillie.
Which two national parks represent different stages of passage of the Pacific Plate over the Hawaiian Hotspot?
Two national parks, Haleakala on Maui and Hawaii Volcano es on the Big Island called Hawaii, represent different stages of passage of the Pacific Plate over the Hawaiian Hotspot. National Park of American Samoa reveals another volcanic island chain formed as the Pacific Plate moves over a different hotspot.
Where is the Snake River Plain?
On the North American continent the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho connects the Columbia Plateau region of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon with Yellowstone National Park in the northwest corner of Wyoming.
What is the name of the volcano that erupts in Yellowstone National Park?
These eruptions are called geyser s. A famous geyser is Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. When it erupts, the water is 95.6 degrees Celsius (204 degrees Fahrenheit) and can reach more than 55 meters (180 feet) high. Kilauea, above, is one of five volcanoes on the "Big Island" of Hawaii—three of them active.
What is the name of the rock that pushes through the crust to form volcanoes?
The melted rock , known as magma, often pushes through cracks in the crust to form volcano es. Hot spot volcanism is unique because it does not occur at the boundaries of Earth’s tectonic plate s, where all other volcanism occurs. Instead it occurs at abnormal ly hot centers known as mantle plume s. Scientific models depict these plumes ...
How does a hot spot form?
A hot spot is fed by a region deep within the Earth’s mantle from which heat rises through the process of convection. This heat facilitate s the melting of rock at the base of the lithosphere, where the brittle, upper portion of the mantle meets the Earth’s crust. The melted rock, known as magma, often pushes through cracks in the crust to form volcano es.
How big are seamounts?
Some scientists estimate that seamounts make up 28.8 million square kilometers (17.9 million square miles) of the Earth’s surface, an area larger than any other habitat. Depending on the amount of volcanic activity, seamounts can rise hundreds or thousands of meters from the seafloor.
What are the hot spots in the North Atlantic?
Major hot spots include the Iceland hot spot, under the island of Iceland in the North Atlantic; the Réunion hot spot, under the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean; and the Afar hot spot, located under northeastern Ethiopia. Volcanic activity at hot spots can create submarine mountains known as seamount s.
Where is the youngest hot spot in the world?
The active Yellowstone Caldera, in Yellowstone National Park in northwest Wyoming, is the hot spot’s youngest large feature, having last erupted just 640,000 years ago. Hot spots don't always create volcanoes that spew rivers of lava. Sometimes, the magma heats up groundwater under the Earth’s surface, which causes water ...
What is the definition of groundwater?
groundwater. Noun. water found in an aquifer. habitat. Noun. environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time. hot spot. Noun. intensely hot region deep within the Earth that rises to just underneath the surface.
What causes volcanic hot spots?
Volcanic hot spots are plumes of molten rock which rise from the mantle and cause the crust to melt , creating magma resulting in volcanic activity. The map below shows the location of volcanic hot spots.
Where do volcanoes occur?
For example, the Hawaiian volcanic islands, located in the middle of the Pacific Plate, are formed due to a hotspot. Volcanic hot spots are plumes of molten rock which rise from the mantle and cause the crust to melt, creating magma resulting in volcanic activity.
Overview
In geology, hotspots (or hot spots) are volcanic locales thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. Examples include the Hawaii, Iceland, and Yellowstone hotspots. A hotspot's position on the Earth's surface is independent of tectonic plate boundaries, and so hotspots may create a chain of volcanoes as the plates m…
Origin
The origins of the concept of hotspots lie in the work of J. Tuzo Wilson, who postulated in 1963 that the formation of the Hawaiian Islands resulted from the slow movement of a tectonic plate across a hot region beneath the surface. It was later postulated that hotspots are fed by narrow streams of hot mantle rising from the Earth's core–mantle boundary in a structure called a mantle plume. W…
Composition
Most hotspot volcanoes are basaltic (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 in continental regions, basaltic magma rises through the continental crust, which melts to form rhyolites. These rhyolites can form violent eruptions. For example, the Yellowstone Caldera was formed by some of the most powerful volcanic explosions in geologic history. However, wh…
Contrast with subduction zone island arcs
Hotspot volcanoes are considered to have a fundamentally different origin from island arc volcanoes. The latter form over subduction 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 fu…
Hotspot volcanic chains
The joint mantle plume/hotspot hypothesis envisages the feeder structures to be fixed relative to one another, with the continents and seafloor drifting overhead. The hypothesis thus predicts that time-progressive chains of volcanoes are developed on the surface. Examples are Yellowstone, which lies at the end of a chain of extinct calderas, which become progressively older to t…
Former hotspots
• Euterpe/Musicians hotspot (Musicians Seamounts)
• Mackenzie hotspot
• Matachewan hotspot
See also
• Anorogenic magmatism
• Cold spot
• Mantle plume
Further reading
• "Plates vs. Plumes: A Geological Controversy". Wiley-Blackwell. October 2010.
• Boschi, L.; Becker, T.W.; Steinberger, B. (2007). "Mantle plumes: Dynamic models and seismic images" (PDF). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 8 (Q10006): Q10006. Bibcode:2007GGG.....810006B. doi:10.1029/2007GC001733. ISSN 1525-2027.