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Wandering Hot Spots Worry Geologists
New Scientist ^ | 12-18-2001 | Betsy Mason

Posted on 12/18/2001 4:04:43 AM PST by blam

Wandering hot spots worry geologists

09:48 18 December 01
Betsy Mason, San Francisco

"Hot spots" where plumes of molten magma break through the Earth's crust appear to be wandering across the planet - a discovery that undermines many of the accepted ideas about how the Earth's tectonic plates are moving.

Geologists thought that magma plumes such as the one that created the Hawaiian Islands remain in place as the plates of the Earth's crust move over them. For years, they have used these hot spots as a fixed frame of reference to gauge the motion of the plates relative to the Earth's core.

The Hawaiian Islands and their underwater neighbours, the Emperor Seamounts, were used by geologists as a record of the path followed by the plate that makes up the floor of the Pacific. The islands formed as the plume of upwelling magma erupted onto the surface of the floor, creating volcanoes.

But a new study by Robert Duncan of Oregon State University in Corvallis and his colleagues shows that the Hawaiian hot spot has probably shifted.

Different directions

The researchers measured the direction in which the minerals in the volcanic rocks of the islands were magnetised. When the lava flows that formed the islands cooled and solidified, the minerals lined up with the Earth's magnetic field, providing a record of their location at the time.

If the islands had all formed in the same place, over a stationary hot spot, they should all have the same magnetic fingerprint. But the minerals line up differently - evidence that the islands formed at different latitudes.

"The reference frame that we were all hanging onto turns out to have legs it can move around on," says team member David Scholl of Stanford University.

Sudden shift

The finding challenges ideas about how the plates have shifted in the past. For example, a prominent bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain that occurred 43 million years ago was thought to have been caused when the Pacific plate suddenly changed direction.

Now some geologists are throwing that idea overboard in favour of a moving hot spot.

The idea is likely to be controversial. "People suspected that hot spots were moving," says geologist Robert Butler of the University of Arizona in Phoenix. "But the one they all wanted to hang onto was the biggest, baddest hot spot of them all - the Hawaiian hot spot."

The research was presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: poleshift

1 posted on 12/18/2001 4:04:43 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
Obviously another effect of global warming...the "El Nino" pushed the hot spots a few feet, no doubt..
2 posted on 12/18/2001 4:08:11 AM PST by ken5050
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To: blam
"The reference frame that we were all hanging onto turns out to have legs it can move around on"

Might this not be true for other fields of science, too?
Things that science thought to be inviolate such as evolution and anthropology.
Psychology has already proven to be widely mistaken in some of its "reference frame" facts,
and now geology has been added to that list.

3 posted on 12/18/2001 4:22:22 AM PST by Psalm 73
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To: blam
Thanks for another interesting post.
4 posted on 12/18/2001 4:26:07 AM PST by NoCurrentFreeperByThatName
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To: Psalm 73
How dare you question the authority and authenticity of the "new religion;" its high priests and priestesses are beyond reproach by mere mortals such as yourself. V's wife.
5 posted on 12/18/2001 4:26:44 AM PST by ventana
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To: Psalm 73
might this not be true of other fields of science too?

you obviously enjoy having heaps of scorn dropped on you! let me help with your load.

the only true reference point is god. all others are relative and like the hot spots are here today and gone tomorrow. (but relative hot spots can help us get our bearings, as long as we do not place our faith in them.)

6 posted on 12/18/2001 4:36:28 AM PST by mlocher
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To: Psalm 73
Psychology has already proven to be widely mistaken in some of its "reference frame" facts, and now geology has been added to that list.

Ah ... but you are missing an important point:
Geology accepts the proven changes to its reference frame; Psychology, being merely opinion, does not.

7 posted on 12/18/2001 5:08:36 AM PST by bimbo
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To: bimbo
"Psychology, being merely opinion, does not."

But you'd be hard-pressed to find a college professor who still espouses Frued like in the old days when his theories were considered Gospel.
(Although in the case of Klinton, it still is all about the penis).

8 posted on 12/18/2001 5:16:03 AM PST by Psalm 73
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To: mlocher
"you obviously enjoy having heaps of scorn dropped on you"

Oh, I wasn't conciously trying to bait the evolutionists here - I'm not one to change the subject of a thread.
Besides, I don't have the energy today to engage.

9 posted on 12/18/2001 5:20:15 AM PST by Psalm 73
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To: blam
Hmmmm, interesting. I'm not sure I buy it, though. There's not any question that the Hawaiian hot spot created the islands in a fairly linear fashion, and it's quite apparent that the Yellowstone hotspot one was under southern Idaho.

The changes in the magnetic field orientation could just as easily be explained by shift in the Magnetic North Pole. We know for a fact that there have been polarity shifts over geologic time and the current location of the Magnetic North Pole isn't even over the geologic North Pole.

Unless they can rule out these kinds of wobbles, I don't think I'm convinced.

10 posted on 12/18/2001 11:13:03 AM PST by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone
"Unless they can rule out these kinds of wobbles, I don't think I'm convinced.

I agree.

11 posted on 12/18/2001 1:41:51 PM PST by blam
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To: Psalm 73
Things that science thought to be inviolate such as evolution and anthropology.

Far as I know, nothing in science, including evolution and anthropology, is inviolate. Science is not religion -- it changes constantly to fit the known facts, regardless of what some may say.

12 posted on 12/18/2001 1:56:28 PM PST by Junior
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To: blam
And the article doesn't mention that a new Hawaiian island, Loihi, is being formed right now undersea. Right where we would expect to see it.

It was quite awhile ago that I last read anything about that in the press, but I'm not planning on buying any newly formed property there. It isn't expected to reach the surface of the ocean for another 50,000 years.

13 posted on 12/18/2001 2:01:11 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: blam
If the islands had all formed in the same place, over a stationary hot spot, they should all have the same magnetic fingerprint

There is a fly in the ointment. Earth's magnetic field does not seem to be constant. In fact it changes from day to day.

14 posted on 12/18/2001 2:01:37 PM PST by RightWhale
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To: Junior
Exactly. Science should not engage in religion and religion should not engage in science. No Nobel Prize winner in science has ever been a "creationist" Shouldn't that tell you something?
15 posted on 12/18/2001 2:05:49 PM PST by Eternal_Bear
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To: Psalm 73
Another science "fact" that now must be revised. What to do about all those textbooks.
16 posted on 12/18/2001 2:17:25 PM PST by Zorobabel
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To: Psalm 73
I am always amused at the hubris of scientists that when they dscover something say "this proves xyz"... then a few years later, someone else discovers something and says "this disproves xyz". The current sientific idol that may not be doubted is macro evolution. Yes, a theory, but according to some the "cornerstone of ALL science". I suppose the flat earth was the cornerstone as well. Anyway - if you want a touchstone - remember this - if a discovery is in agreement with God's Word, then it has been proven to be true. If it contradicts God's Word, you have error. The difficult part is to be sure that you understand what you are reading in God's Word. And don't bother listening to unbelievers tell you how to believe. That is a ridiculous ploy - much like when unbelievers tell you how to truly understand God's Word. God's word proves or disproves all scientific discovery. Science could never prove or disprve a thing in God's Word any more than pythagorum theorem could disprove pythagorus. Our society is one of cultured insolence. Hubris on steroids.
17 posted on 12/18/2001 2:24:54 PM PST by artios
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To: Eternal_Bear
"No Nobel Prize winner in science has ever been a "creationist" Shouldn't that tell you something?"

Sure, it tells me not to jump to conclusions,
it tells me to be wary of jumping on a bandwagon,
and it tells me that perhaps the Nobel Prize committee, in large part, may have another agenda besides the ultimate truth.
(Example: Fofi Annan as Nobel Peace Prize winner).

18 posted on 12/19/2001 3:07:49 AM PST by Psalm 73
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To: Psalm 73
Sorry, that's KOFI Annan, not FIFI Annan. : )
19 posted on 12/19/2001 3:11:01 AM PST by Psalm 73
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