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A hot spot is said to be a volcano that is recognized by an age progression from one end of the chain to the other. An active volcano commonly serves as an "anchor" at one end of the chain. After minutes of searching the web I found a hot spot that was not included in the Hawaii or Yellow Stone hot spots. I found my hot spot near India by the island of About 66 - 68 million years ago present-day India was above the hot spot and great volumes of basaltic lava erupted to produce the Deccan Traps.
As the plate moved northeast over the hot spot more volcanic centers formed: The Maldives from 55 - 60 million years ago, the Chagos Ridge 48 million years ago, the Mascarene Plateau 40 million years ago, and the Mauritius Islands from 18 - 28 million years ago. The youngest volcanoes, Piton des Neiges and Piton de la Fournaise, formed in the last 5 million years. The summits of these volcanoes make the island of Reunion. Piton de la Fournaise is supposed to be one of the biggest volcanoes on Earth. From the ocean floor it is over 21, 600 feet (6, 600 m) tall.
The base of the volcano has a diameter of 135 miles (220 km) (the base of Mount St. Helens has a diameter of about 9 km). Because of Piton de la Fournaise's great size its unstable and collapses to form giant landslides like those in Hawaii. A volcano above a hot spot does not erupt forever.
Eventually the movement of the tectonic plate carries the volcano off of its magma supply. The volcano becomes extinct and cools. The plate beneath the volcano and above the hot spot also cools. The rocks that make the volcano and plate become more dense.
The volcano and the plate gradually subside as they move away from the hot spot. Even giant volcanoes, like Piton de la Fournaise, will eventually disappear into the ocean. As the volcano subsides below sea-level the top is eroded flat by waves. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Million Years Ago Hot Spot
