Underwater Data Back Up Theory of Hawaii’s Origin

The prevailing theory on the origin of the Hawaiian Islands is that volcanoes that were formed are the result of a mantle plume, an upwelling of hot material from deep within the earth.
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But it is only a theory, one that has had its share of pessimists in recent years.

"People have been waiting for high resolution seismic images," said Cecilia J. Wolfe, University of Hawaii at Manoa. By showing how seismic waves from earthquakes travel through the mantle beneath Hawaii, seismometers that go a long way towards resolving the issue.

One reason that the issue is not resolved is the difficulty of putting seismometers on the sea around Hawaii. That problem has been overcome, using a network of seismographs deployed reimbursement on the seabed by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Together with data from seismometers on the islands, the data support the idea of a mantle plume beneath Hawaii. It is one of depth, too, that extends at least 900 km in the mantle.

The earthquake waves travel more slowly through areas of high temperature of the mantle. Using data from earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or greater, the researchers were able to muster the three-dimensional images of the mantle type of a TAC, "said Dr. Wolfe, author of a paper published in Science in the study. These images revealed the presence of the pen.

"Okay, and as deep as we saw, was very exciting," said Dr. Wolfe. "It really supports the idea that the feathers are the characteristics that come from the lower mantle."

For pessimists, Dr. Wolfe is optimistic that with further analysis of the data, the results are maintained. "More people are cautiously supportive," he said.