Summary:
- Scientists count about 50 hotspots on the Earth.
- Hotspots lie directly above a column of hot rock called a mantle plume.
- Mantle plumes continuously bring hot rock up from the mantle toward the crust.
- The islands of Hawaii formed over a hotspot in the middle of the Pacific plate.
- Loihi seamount is currently active beneath the water southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
- One day, the volcano will rise above sea level and join the volcanoes of the island or create a new island.