A POSSIBLE ORIGIN OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

TLDR

Recent studies of submarine geology, heat, and rock magnetism support continental drift, and the Hawaiian Islands are one of seven parallel chains of islands and seamounts in the Pacific, previously explained by volcanoes along parallel faults. The authors propose that convection currents in the Pacific, with faster upper layers than central parts, could generate linear chains of progressively older volcanic piles like the Hawaiian Islands. They argue that horizontal shear motion along faults and differential convection within mantle cells could extend these chains southeasterly, addressing inadequacies of earlier fault‑based models. This hypothesis aligns with seismic data and age determinations, supporting its plausibility.

Abstract

It is noted that different physicists and geologists have in recent years espoused not less than four groups of theories of the physical behavior of the Earth's interior. Recent observations of submarine geology, heat, and rock magnetism have tended to support some form of continental drift rather than the older concept of a rigid earth.The Hawaiian Islands are one of seven, parallel, linear chains of islands and seamounts in the Pacific Ocean of Tertiary to Recent age. Their nature had previously been explained in terms of a series of volcanoes along parallel faults. Horizontal shear motion along these faults was supposed to be extending them southeasterly.The inadequacies of this explanation are pointed out. If there are convection currents in the Pacific region and if the upper parts of these cells move faster than the central parts, sources of lava within the slower moving cores could give rise to linear chains of progressively older volcanic piles such as the Hawaiian Islands. This view is shown to be compatible with seismic observations and age determinations.