GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the case of the Hawaiian Islands, the Pacific Plate is continually moving to the northwest over the Hawaiian hot spot. This movement caused the Hawaiian chain of islands to form.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Hawaiian Islands were formed by such a hot spot occurring in the middle of the Pacific Plate. While the hot spot itself is fixed, the plate is moving. So, as the plate moved over the hot spot, the string of islands that make up the Hawaiian Island chain were formed.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Hawaii hotspot is a highly active seismic zone with thousands of earthquakes occurring on and near Hawaiʻi island every year.

Detailed explanation-4: -Silica-saturated basaltic magma is the source of the voluminous lava flows, erupted frequently and rapidly in the primitive shield-building stage of activity, that form the bulk of each Hawaiian volcano.

Detailed explanation-5: -(3) Transform Boundaries Tectonic Plates and Active Volcanoes of the World: Most active volcanoes are located along or near the boundaries of Earth’s shifting tectonic plates. Hawaiian volcanoes, however, occur in the middle of the Pacific Plate and are formed by volcanism over the Hawaiian “Hot Spot” (see text).