Hotspot (geology)

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In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the idea in 1963 that volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands result from the slow movement of a tectonic plate across a "fixed" hot spot deep beneath the surface of the planet. Hotspots were thought to be caused by a narrow stream of hot mantle convecting up from the mantle-core boundary called a mantle plume [1], the latest geological evidence is pointing to upper-mantle convection as a cause[2][3][4]. This in turn has re-raised the antipodal pair impact hypothesis, the idea that pairs of opposite hot spots may result from the impact of a large meteor.[5] Geologists have identified some 40-50 such hotspots around the globe, with Hawaii, Réunion, Yellowstone, Galápagos, and Iceland overlying the most currently active.

[edit] See also

[edit] List of hotspots

Distribution of selected hotspots. The numbers in the figure are related to the listed hotspots on the left.
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Distribution of selected hotspots. The numbers in the figure are related to the listed hotspots on the left.
World map showing the locations of selected prominent hotspots.
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World map showing the locations of selected prominent hotspots.
Over millions of years, the Pacific Plate has moved over the Hawaii hotspot, creating a trail of underwater mountains that stretch across the Pacific
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Over millions of years, the Pacific Plate has moved over the Hawaii hotspot, creating a trail of underwater mountains that stretch across the Pacific
  • Afar hotspot
  • Amsterdam hotspot
  • Ascension hotspot
  • Azores hotspot (1)
  • Balleny hotspot (2)
  • Bermuda hotspot
  • Bouvet hotspot
  • Bowie hotspot (3)
  • Cameroon hotspot (17)
  • Canary hotspot (18)
  • Cape Verde hotspot (19)
  • Caroline hotspot (4)
  • Cobb hotspot (5)
  • Comoros hotspot (21)
  • Crozet hotspot
  • Darfur hotspot (6)
  • Discovery hotspot
  • East Australia hotspot (30)
  • Easter hotspot (7)
  • Eifel hotspot (8)
  • Fernando hotspot (9)
  • Galápagos hotspot (10)
  • Gough hotspot
  • Guadelupe hotspot (11)
  • Hawaii hotspot (12)
  • Heard hotspot
  • Hoggar hotspot (13)
  • Iceland hotspot (14)
  • Jan Mayen hotspot (15)
  • Juan Fernandez hotspot (16)
  • Kerguelen hotspot (20)
  • Lord Howe hotspot (22)
  • Louisvile hotspot (23)
  • Macdonald hotspot (24)
  • Marion hotspot (25)
  • Marquesas hotspot (26)
  • Meteor hotspot (27)
  • New England hotspot (28)
  • Pitcairn hotspot (31)
  • Raton hotspot (32)
  • Réunion hotspot (33)
  • St Helena hotspot (34)
  • St Paul hotspot
  • Samoa hotspot (35)
  • San Felix hotspot (36)
  • Shona hotspot
  • Society hotspot (Tahiti hotspot) (38)
  • Socorro hotspot (37)
  • Tasmanid hotspot (39)
  • Tibesti hotspot (40)
  • Trindade hotspot (41)
  • Tristan hotspot (42)
  • Vema hotspot (43)
  • Yellowstone hotspot (44)

[edit] External links

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