Wilson’s theory was that: hot spots exist below tectonic plates, and they’re cause of these volcanoes.But what causes the hot spots? Hmm, well, the most popular theory that’s been proposed is the Plume Hypothesis.According to this hypothesis, plumes, uh, basically columns of extremely hot magma.These plumes well up from deep inside the planet’s interior, maybe even as deep as its core,and rise all the way up to melt through the Earth’s crust.Imagine a burning candle, and imagine moving a sheet of heavy paper slowly over the flame of the candle,you’re gonna get a series of burned spots in the paper.Well, that’s just like what’s happening with the Hawaiian Islands, but instead of a sheet of paper, you’ve got a tectonic plate,and it’s moving over this plume of intensely hot magma.And rather than a series of burned spots in the paper,you’re getting a chain of volcanic islands where the hot plume melts though the crust under the Pacific Ocean at one point after anotherwith active volcanoes on the younger islands that are now just above the plume.
