What is the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain?

The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is a massive underwater mountain range spanning about 6,200 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean. Created by the Hawaii hotspot, the chain consists of over 80 identified undersea volcanoes, atolls, and islands that stretch from near the Aleutian Trench down to the Hawaiian archipelago. As the Pacific plate moves over the volcanic mantle plume, older volcanoes are carried away and erode below sea level over millions of years.

What we know

• The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain stretches about 6,200 kilometers from near the Aleutian Trench to the Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount. [2]
• The mountain chain contains over 80 identified undersea volcanoes along its length. [2]
• Meiji Seamount is the oldest seamount in the chain at approximately 82 million years old. [3]
• Classic hotspot theory attributes the nearly 60-degree bend in the chain to a shift in the movement direction of the Pacific Plate. [5]

Still open

• Scientists debate whether the 47-million-year-old bend in the chain was caused purely by a shift in Pacific Plate motion or by the movement of a mobile hotspot itself.

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureHow do volcanic hotspots form?
• a case in pointWhat is the Detroit Seamount?
• how it workedHow does plate tectonics shape ocean floor mountain ranges?
• whoWho was John Tuzo Wilson?
• whereWhere is the Aleutian Trench located?
• an unexpected connectionWhy is a Pacific seamount named after an American cruiser?While most Emperor seamounts are named after historical Japanese emperors and empresses, the Detroit Seamount breaks this tradition by being named after the US light cruiser USS Detroit.

Sources

• [1]Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain (Wikidata Q632794) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Detroit Seamount · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Nintoku Seamount · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Hawaii hotspot · CC BY-SA 4.0