Fig. 1
From: On the relative motions of long-lived Pacific mantle plumes
Inter-hotspot distances as a function of age and the geographic locations of the Hawaii and Louisville and Rurutu hotspots. a–c The black lines represent the distance between the two compared model hotspot chains (see Methods) and a dashed purple line displays the modern day inter-hotspot distance. One sigma uncertainties are provided for reconstructed model ages at 1 Ma increments and the gray shading represents distance uncertainties assuming a plume radius of 75 km. The circles represent the distance between a seamount of a given age and the point where a coeval modeled seamount falls geographically on the compared hotspot chain, confirming the estimated uncertainty bounds on the inter-hotspot distances. The inferred center of a seamount was used for the geographic location. a Hawaii compared to Louisville; b Hawaii compared to Rurutu; c Rurutu compared to Louisville. d A digital elevation map (ETOPO1)71 of the western Pacific showing the modeled reconstructions of the Hawaii-Emperor (orange), Rurutu (blue), and Louisville (green) chains. Stars denote the current hotspot locations presumed at Loihi Seamount72, Arago Seamount15, and the inferred Louisville hotspot location35. Blue hexagons represent the location of seamounts with Rurutu-like geochemical compositions34 but lack age determinations. Blue triangles represent HIMU seamounts within the Western Pacific Seamount Province (WPSP) that contain ages consistent with belonging to the Rurutu chain13,32
