Figure 11-22: Hot-Spot Volcanoes on Earth A hot spot under the Pacific plate has remained essentially stationary for 70 million years while the plate has moved some 6000 km to the northwest. The upwelling magma has thus produced a long chain of volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are the newest of these; the oldest, the Emperor Seamount Chain, have eroded so much that they no longer protrude above the ocean surface.
(World Ocean Floor, based on bathymetric studies by Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp. Painting by Heinrich C. Berann. Copyright Marie Tharp, 1977)