The bend in the Emperor-Hawaii seamount chain was caused by a change in Pacific plate motion
While some recent studies emphasize the contributory role of Hawaiian hotspot migration, the consensus in the literature strongly supports the view that the bend in the Emperor-Hawaii seamount chain was primarily driven by a significant change in Pacific plate motion around 47 Ma.
The claim addresses whether the Emperor-Hawaii seamount chain bend was caused by a change in Pacific plate motion. Papers such as [1], [2], [4], and [11] explicitly support the plate motion change hypothesis (often combined with hotspot drift), while paper [3] argues for hotspot motion as the sole/primary cause. Overall, the vast weight of geological evidence treats Pacific plate motion change as a central and necessary mechanism, leading to a SUPPORTED verdict.
Trond H. Torsvik, Pavel V. Doubrovine, Bernhard Steinberger, Carmen Gaina, Wim Spakman, Mathew Domeier. Pacific plate motion change caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15660
The authors demonstrate that formation of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend cannot be explained without invoking a prominent change in the direction of Pacific plate motion around 47 Ma.
Bono RK, Tarduno JA, Bunge HP. Hotspot motion caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend and LLSVPs are not fixed.. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11314-6
This study argues that the Hawaiian-Emperor chain bend morphology was primarily caused by hotspot motion rather than plate motion.
See more details
Steinberger B, Sutherland R, O'Connell RJ. Prediction of Emperor-Hawaii seamount locations from a revised model of global plate motion and mantle flow.. 2004. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02660
Global mantle reconstructions combined with plate motions explain the bend, affirming the role of Pacific plate motion changes alongside mantle flow.
Zhang J, Hu J. Dynamics of longitudinal Hawaiian hotspot motion and the formation of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend.. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510972122
The model shows that both plate motion change and longitudinal/latitudinal hotspot motion are required, confirming plate motion as a major contributor.
Jiashun Hu, Michael Gurnis, Johann Rudi, Georg Stadler, Dietmart Müller, Jie Zhang. Quantifying the contributions of Pacific Plate motion change and hotspot drift to the formation of Hawaiian-Emperor Bend. 2022. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5668
The study quantifies the contributions of Pacific plate motion change and hotspot drift, confirming that plate motion change plays a crucial role in forming the bend.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt