Table of ContentsBasic ResearchAnalysis and InterpretationAssessmentConclusionThe statement is: "How does the age of the Hawaiian Islands affect hotspot distance?" » Scientists believe that continental drift could be to blame. This evidence of continental drift presents several aspects that could be studied. Scientists believe that millions of years ago all continents were connected, but over time the continents began to drift, resulting in gradual movement of countries. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay “Continental drift was a revolutionary scientific theory developed in the years 1908-1912 by Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), a German meteorologist, climatologist and geophysicist, who hypothesized that the continents were all originally part of a huge landmass.” The theory has been around since 1880 but has often been denied, but recently more and more evidence suggests that it might have been a possible thing in the past. These continents began to move because of tectonic plates beneath the Earth's surface. This is what the continents sit on and if these plates collide they can create mountains or volcanoes which can then create a hot spot. Tectonic plates move because convection currents beneath them spring up and settle onto land, which happens constantly. Subsequently, the research question to be investigated is: How does the age of the Hawaiian Islands affect the distance from the hotspot? Basic Research Hot spots are extremely hot areas inside the coat. A hot spot is an extremely hot area inside the coat. It is so hot that it begins to melt rocks and then produce magma. Once magma forms, it passes through the crust and creates active volcanoes. When ocean volcanoes move away from hot spots, they eventually cool and can create small islands and chunks of land. Compared to continental volcanoes, they move away and cool again but die out. One of the most common active hotspots is in Hawaii; “Hawaiian hotspot has been active for at least 70 million years.” Analysis and Interpretation As volcanoes age, islands begin to be pushed out and move away from other continents. Necker Island is the oldest, 10,000 years old. Necker is also the one that has moved furthest from a hot spot, at 1,200 km. Compared to Hawaii's youngest volcano Mauna Kea, which is only 375,000 years old. Mauna Kea is also the least developed volcano. It was only about 190 kilometers covered. The 5.1 million year old island of Kauai is located between Mauan Kea and Necker. Kauai has moved approximately 575 kilometers. This shows us that the older the volcano is, the more it moves and is pushed back.AssessmentThe data collected for the research was published more than 10 years ago. This can affect our data since it was created so long ago, meaning the distance may be wrong and inaccurate. Since there is no way of knowing how the data was collected, it is possible that it was estimated or wildly inaccurate. Even though the data was quite old, it came from reliable sources. For example, for this research we used a book published in 1987 and the two main authors who wrote it were Brent Dalrymple and David Clauge. These two authors are researchers and Brent Dalrymble is an American geologist. Keep in mind: this is just one.