Question

click on the orange + sign over hawaii (in the pacific ocean) and answer the following: 1. which tectonic plate interaction caused the formation of the hawaiian islands?: 2. describe what a “hot spot” is: 3. what will eventually happen to the hawaiian islands?:

Explanation:

Question 1

The Hawaiian Islands were formed by the Pacific Plate moving over a stationary hot spot in the Earth's mantle. This is a case of intra - plate volcanism, where volcanic activity occurs within a tectonic plate rather than at plate boundaries. The hot spot melts the overlying plate, and as the plate moves, a chain of volcanoes (the Hawaiian Islands) is formed. So the tectonic plate interaction here is the Pacific Plate moving over a hot spot (intra - plate volcanic activity due to a hot spot, with the Pacific Plate being a lithospheric plate moving across the hot spot in the asthenosphere).

A hot spot is a region in the Earth's mantle where heat rises from deep within the Earth (possibly from the core - mantle boundary) as a thermal plume. This hot, buoyant material melts the overlying lithospheric plate, leading to volcanic activity. Hot spots are relatively stationary with respect to the moving tectonic plates. When a tectonic plate moves over a hot spot, a chain of volcanoes (like the Hawaiian Islands) can form as the plate moves and new volcanoes are created over the hot spot while older ones move away from it.

The Pacific Plate is moving in a north - west direction over the Hawaiian hot spot. As the plate continues to move, the existing Hawaiian Islands will move away from the hot spot. Over time, the islands will no longer have active volcanic activity (since they are no longer over the hot spot). They will be subjected to erosion (by wind, water, and waves) and subsidence (as the oceanic crust cools and becomes denser, causing the islands to sink). Eventually, the Hawaiian Islands will erode and subside to the point where they become seamounts (underwater mountains) or atolls (if they are surrounded by coral reefs that continue to grow as the island sinks). New volcanic islands will continue to form over the hot spot in the direction of the Pacific Plate's movement (to the north - west of the current Hawaiian Islands).

Answer:

The formation of the Hawaiian Islands was caused by the Pacific tectonic plate moving over a stationary hot spot in the Earth's mantle. This is an intra - plate volcanic process, where the movement of the Pacific Plate across the hot spot led to the sequential formation of the Hawaiian volcanic island chain as magma from the hot spot erupted onto the ocean floor and built up the islands.

Question 2