Volcanic Hotspots

A hotspot is a region of high volcanic activity not directly connected to a tectonic plate boundary. It is caused by upwelling of deep mantle plumes. Since their locations within the Earth are relatively "fixed", slow tectonic plate movements over them can create volcanic island chains/undersea ridges. Geologists have identified some 40-50 such hotspots around the globe although the causes of volcanism at some of them is debated.

See this site for list and map.

Recently it is understood that they are no longer 'fixed' as previously thought due to the recent study published in Science magazine and reported on here at Science Daily. Hotspots are not stationary they move because the Earth's mantle is in constant motion.
See Science Daily

Ecology

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Brazilian Atlantic Islands Fernando de Noronha - Fernando Hotspot
French Austral Lands and Seas Kerguelen hotspot
Galapagos Islands Galapagos Hotspot
Hawaii Volcanoes Hawaiii Hotspot
Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Hotspot: "The Lord Howe Rise contains a line of seamounts which formed during the Miozene period when this part of Zealandia existed over the Lord Howe Hotspot"
Mount Etna
Papahanaumokuakea Hawaiii Hotspot
Pitons of Reunion Reunion Hotspot
Teide National Park Canary Hotspot
Yellowstone Yellowstone Hotspot

Map of Volcanic Hotspots

Load map

Legend

  • ●● Cultural
  • ●● Natural
  • ●● Mixed
  • ●● Tentative

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