Multiple choice

Hawaii Island are known for active volcanoes because

  1. They are locked in the subduction zone of the covering plates

  2. faults and fractures are found there

  3. They are situated over a hot plume

  4. they are situated on a mild oceanic ridge with rising convective currents
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Hawaii's volcanoes are located over a hotspot - a mantle plume of rising hot material that remains stationary while the Pacific Plate moves over it. This intraplate volcanism is NOT caused by subduction zones (no subduction beneath Hawaii), normal faulting, or mid-ocean ridge activity. The hotspot creates magma as the plume rises, resulting in active shield volcanoes.

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