Discovering the Earth: Hotspots

Post Reading Questions

1. The Hawaiian Islands are located in the North Pacific Ocean.
2. The Hawaiian-Emperor chain was formed exclusively from volcanic activity, while some
other islands were formed as a result of upheaval from tectonic plate collisions.
3. The further north and west an island in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain is, the older it is.
4. A hotspot is a relatively stable and stationary magma pocket that persists in the outermost
layer of the earth, called the lithosphere (which is made up of the earth’s crust and the
rigid rock portion of the upper mantle).
5. Shield volcanoes are volcanoes characterized by smooth, gently rising sides and a broad,
flat top.
6. The Hawaiian-Emperor hotspot became active around 86 million years ago.

Vocabulary
7. linear
8. elevation
9. phenomenon
10. breach
11. oriented
12. buoyancy
13. eroded
14. rudimentary

1. b
2. d
3. c
4. a
5. b

1. F
2. T
3. T
4. T
5. F
6. T
7. T
8. F

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Reading Check
1. d
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. c
6. d
7. d
8. b
9. a
10. c
11. d
12. b
13. a
14. a
15. The Hawaiian Islands are “younger” than the Meiji Seamount and “older” than the Loihi
Seamount. We know this because the author states that the Meiji Seamout was formed 86
million years ago and is now completely submerged in the Pacific Ocean. The Loihi
Seamount is still under the ocean’s surface, yet it could begin to rise as tectonic plates
shift (within 10,000—100,000 years). Since the Hawaiian Islands are above—ground
now, they are between the two seamounts in age.
16. c
17. b

Literary Analysis-Scientific Article

1. c
2. a
3. c
4. The example of the lava lamp helps the reader understand the rise of a mantle plume and
its role in the formation of a hotspot. The lava rises in the lamp as long as it is heated by
the light at the bottom. When the lava cools, it falls back down. Similarly, the hot rock
rises in the earth’s mantle and falls back down toward the core when it cools. However,
some pieces of rock are large and hot enough to manage to pierce the earth’s crust and
create a hotspot.
5. The purpose of the examples is to clarify the idea that hotpots release a small amount of
lava over a long period of time in comparison with volcanic eruptions that produce a
relatively large amount of lava over a short period of time. The purpose of the examples
is to support the claim that hotpots have a long life span.
6. b
7. c
8. The Pacific plate that carries the volcanoes and seamounts travels over the hotspot. The
heat from the hotspot leads to the creation of lava and volcanic activity. As the plate
moves toward the northwest, the volcano that is farthest away from the hotspot becomes
inactive, erodes, and sinks while new volcanoes form in the area around the hotspot.

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 9. The hotspot may cause the Hawaiian Islands to move much farther north and relocate to
an area between the coasts of Alaska and Russia. However, it will take millions of years
for this drastic change to happen. As the text mentions, it takes 30 to 60 million years for
an island to form and then go through the steps that lead to erosion and sinking.

Usage
1. d
2. c
3. f
4. b
5. a
6. e

Table: N/A

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