Sitting on the Hot Seat

Which is where Hawai'i is -- it's on top of a hot spot in the earth's crust. You can tell the direction of the Pacific plate's movement by looking at a map of the islands. The hot spot is stationary -- and it's been there for a while.



The map:

I like this one because it shows the portions of the Islands that are below sea level -- they're actually the tops of undersea mountains, which is what islands tend to be. And you can see to the northwest of the existing islands the older ones that have eroded down.

It's all pretty awesome.

(The map is from the National Benthic Survey, which looks totally fascinating itself.)

(And here's an article on the birth of an undersea mountain.)

Maybe I'll just spend the rest of the day poking around NOAA's websites.