Hot Spot Research Paper

As a tectonic plate slides into the mantle, the heat releases fluids trapped in the plate. Seawater and carbon dioxide, rise into the upper plate and can partially melt the overlying crust, forming magma. And magma most likely means volcanoes are around.

But there are some anomalies as there are earthquakes which don’t take place on a plate boundary and it’s the same with volcanoes. An example of this is Hawaii. Hawaii is a volcanic island which is found in the middle of a tectonic plate. Hawaii is an example of a hotspot. The places known as hotspots are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the mantle elsewhere. They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries. There are two hypotheses to explain them. One suggests that they are due to hot mantle plumes that rise from the core-mantle boundary. The other hypothesis postulates that it is not high

Anpother factor that can have an impact on the level of hazard posed by a volcano is the type of plate margin on which it occurs. Volcanoes occuring at constructive plate boundaries are usually much less violent than those occuring at destructive plate boundaries. This is because the magma produced by plates moving apart is Basic, and therefoe has a low viscosity, allowing it to flow easily. The lava is produced from a central vent or fissure and erupts regularly but not usually violently. Also,constructive plate boundaries are often found under the sea and create submarine volcanoes, such as along the Mid-Atalntic ridge, so pose few threats to humans. As a result, the hazards posed by volcanoes at constructive plat eboundaries is relatively low. However, the subduction of one plate under another at destrctive plat eboundaries can form an acidic magma chamber, due to the build up of intense heat. Acidic magma is very viscous and resisitant to flow, meaning that there is often a huge build up of pressure, which can result in very violent and dangerous eruptions involving ash and pyroclastic flow. This can pose a a serious hazard. Pyroclastic flowsa are extremely dense, containing toxic gases at very high temperatures, and can move at speeds over 100km/h. The consequences of such an unpredictable hazard can be extremely seruous

The west coast of North America has been tectonically and volcanically active for billions of years. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California were born of volcanoes, and magma has been erupting in the Long Valley to the east of the mountains for over three million years (Bailey, et. al., 1989). However, the climactic eruption of the region occurred relatively recently in the region's geologic history. About 760,000 years ago, a huge explosion of magma warped the Eastern Sierra into the landscape that exists today. The eruption depleted a massive magma chamber below the earth's surface so that the ceiling of the chamber imploded, forming what is now known as

Some rock’s in the Earth’s interior that are solid, are so hot that, if the pressure on these were released, or they are convected into a lower pressure zone, they could begin to melt

However, it was not until the second half of the 20th century that three major discoveries began to suggest how this might be possible. In 1948, a survey of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean revealed a continuous ridge running largely north to south. IT was around 1,000km wide and reaching heights of 2.5km. It was composed of volcanic rocks. Similar submarine mountain ranges were later found in the Pacific Ocean extending for over 5,000km. Magnetic surveys of the ocean floor in the 1950’s showed surprisingly regular patterns of palaeomagnetic striping about the ridges. When lavas erupt on the ocean floor, magnetic domains within iron-rich minerals in the lava are aligned with the magnetic field of the earth. This is fixed as the lava cools, and unless the rocks undergo major disturbance, they continue to record the earth’s polarity at the time of their cooling. However, as the earth’s polarity reverses around every 400,000 years, bands or stripes of normal and reverse polarity rocks are mirrored on either side of the mid-ocean ridges. This suggests that new rocks are being added equally on either side.

The Earth is always changing because of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics describes the behavior of earth's out shell, with pieces bumping and grinding each other about. Most of the world's active volcanoes are located along or near the boundaries between shifting plates and are called plate-boundary volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are one of the best examples of an intra-plate volcanic chain. They are developed by the northwest-moving Pacific Plate passing over an inferred hot spot that inmates the magma generating and volcano-formation process. The Ring of Fire in parts of the Pacific Ocean contain many active volcanoes which Mt. St. Helens is a part of. The zone along plate boundaries are the most geologically active regions on Earth.

For Hawaii, the ‘hot spot’ is under the sea floor, it creates under sea volcanoes. Over millions of years these volcanoes build up to sea level and become islands. As for Hawaii, the Pacific Plate has moved northwest across this ‘hot spot’ creating what we know today as the Hawaiian Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. In all,

A volcano is a weak spot in the crust where molten material, or magma, comes to the surface. In a volcano there is a magma chamber, pipe, vent, lava flow, and craters. A magma chamber is the pocket where magma collects under or below a volcano. The pipe of a volcano is the long tube in the ground that connects the Earth's surface to the magma chamber. A vent in a volcano is where the molten rock and gas from the volcano leave through an opening. The lava flow is a certain area that is covered by lava that is coming out of the vent. Lastly, a crater is a bowl shaped area that is formed at the top of the volcano.

The theory of plate tectonics states that earth’s crust is broken up into plates. Geologists speculate that a hot spot in the upper mantle of the earth's crust is responsible for the heat that derives the Yellowstone thermal and volcanic activity; the result of three gigantic volcanic eruptions that caused by the underlying hot spot. The volcanic eruptions started with the collapse of the mouth of its volcano and formed large volcanic craters called calderas. Yellowstone’s volcanic past has the first and the largest caldera that blew up about over two million years ago, and it was

First there are tectonic plates that collide together that will cause an earthquake which can make the volcano erupt.

Molten lava is rock that is so hot is has become liquid. It can erupt out of the mouth of volcanos. It can also pour out of natural tunnels known as lava tubes.

Volcanos typically formed as a consequence of plate tectonics. In fact, they tend to form when plates converge into each other. In the process of subduction, one plate of the lithosphere, cupped by oceanic crust, slides beneath another one, giving origin to a subduction zone. While sliding down, heat is generated and water is released, causing the formation of magma that rises up to the surface and forms volcanos parallels to overriding plate. The Pacific West region of the United States is known for presenting this type of structure in which the oceanic lithosphere pushes towards the continent and sinks down into the asthenosphere.

Plate tectonics theory is the scientific theory that describes the large-scale motion of the Earth’s lithosphere, which is broken up into tectonic plates. Volcanic landforms are undoubtedly very important in aiding our understanding of plate tectonic theory. However, there is other evidence that must be considered as well.

The Ring of Fire is the result of plate tectonics. Much of the volcanic activity occurs along subduction zones which are convergent plate boundaries where two tectonic plates come together. The heavier plate is shoved (or subducted) under the other plate. When this happens, melting of the plates produces magma. The magma rises up through the overlying plate, erupting to the surface as a volcano.