The Hawaiian Islands were formed by such a hot spot occurring in the middle of the Pacific Plate. While the hot spot itself is fixed, the plate is moving. So, as the plate moved over the hot spot, the string of islands that make up the Hawaiian Island chain were formed.
On the Earth's outer crust, there are plates of rock that move called tectonic plates. When the Earth's tectonic plates come together, they form volcanoes. The islands of Hawaii actually sit in the middle of the Pacific Plate on a hot spot.
A hot spot is an area that is so warm that magma, or lava that sits inside of the rocks in a volcano, erupts and falls to the bottom of the ocean. Since Hawaii is located on a hot spot, it is very common for volcanoes to form and erupt there.
Over millions of years, five volcanoes erupted to create the eight islands of Hawaii. These volcanoes are Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, Kilauea, and Kohala.
Weathering, erosion, and deposition are processes that act together to wear down and build up the Earth's surface. These processes have occurred over billions of years. Weathering is any process that breaks down rocks and creates sediments. There are two forces of weathering, chemical and mechanical (physical).
