Ja. Tarduno et Rd. Cottrell, PALEOMAGNETIC EVIDENCE FOR MOTION OF THE HAWAIIAN HOTSPOT DURING FORMATION OF THE EMPEROR SEAMOUNTS, Earth and planetary science letters, 153(3-4), 1997, pp. 171-180
The bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain is the best example of a change
in plate motion recorded in a fixed-hotspot frame of reference. Alter
natively, the bend might record primarily differences in motion of the
Hawaiian hotspot relative to the Pacific lithosphere. New paleomagnet
ic data from the Emperor chain support the latter view. Although the r
ate of motion is difficult to constrain because of uncertainties posed
by true polar wander and limited sampling of the chain, the best avai
lable paleomagnetic data suggest Pacific hotspots may have moved at ra
tes comparable to those of lithospheric plates (> 30 mm yr(-1)) in lat
e Cretaceous to early Tertiary times (81-43 Ma). If correct, this requ
ires a major change in how we view mantle dynamics and the history of
plate motions. In the early to mid-Cretaceous (128-95 Ma), hotspots in
the Atlantic moved at similar rates. These episodes during which grou
ps of hotspots appear to move rapidly are separated by times of much s
lower motion, such as the past 5 m.y. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.