hot spots in geology question - help?

[emacetk]

why are hot spots important for the study of plate motions?

[chelseablue]

Because hot spots (i.e hawaiian) form volcanoes above them. When the plate moves, the volcano moves but the hot spoy stays in the same place and produces a new volcano. Over time, you end up with a long chain of volcanoes. The oldest is furthest away from the hot spot and they get younger as they get closer. Since you have a chain of volcanoes that all formed in the same place, you can follow the plate motion.

[ireil11]

Because a hot spot, like Hawaii, is a constant flow of magma under the earth's crust and as the magma is forced up it creates volcanos then island, but as the plate moves the flow of amgma stays the same so thus creating another island and so and so on, so to really answer ur question plate motion is important because w/o a plate to move u would have just a HUGE island w/ one volcano w/ a constant flow of magma creating it.