Structure of the Earth: hotspots

Question 1

What is a hotspot?

Answer 1

A hotspot is a weakness in the crust where there is an unusually high heat flow using magma to rise.
They are usually located away from plate boundaries, thus not following the principal.

Question 2

How does a hotspot volcano form?

Answer 2

1. a weakness in the crust opens up due to the pressure building underneath.
2. because the mantle is under the crust magma starts hosting through the crack.
3. then over millions and millions of years layers of dried magma/igneous rock build up and reach the surface.
4. the tall pile of igneous rock then reaches the surface and starts ejecting lava hence becoming a volcano.
5. our time the curst moves away from the hotspot very slowly due to continental drift and the volcano loses its source of lava.
6. the hotspot then moves to another area of the crust and repeats the steps forming another volcano.

Question 3

Why do hotspot volcanos become extinct quicker than normal volcanoes?

Answer 3

Hotspot volcanos become extinct quicker because they lose their source of lava/magma whereas normal volcanoes do not.

Question 4

Give an example of a hotspot.

Answer 4

The string of islands known as Hawaii