Hotspot motion caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend and LLSVPs are not fixed

Controversy surrounds the fixity of both hotspots and large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs). Paleomagnetism, plate-circuit analyses, sediment facies, geodynamic modeling, and geochemistry suggest motion of the Hawaiian plume in Earth’s mantle during formation of the Emperor seamounts. Herein, we report new paleomagnetic data from the Hawaiian chain (Midway Atoll) that indicate the Hawaiian plume arrived at its current latitude by 28 Ma. A dramatic decrease in distance between Hawaiian-Emperor and Louisville chain seamounts between 63 and 52 Ma confirms a high rate of southward Hawaiian hotspot drift (~47 mm yr(−1)), and excludes true polar wander as a relevant factor. These findings further indicate that the Hawaiian-Emperor chain bend morphology was caused by hotspot motion, not plate motion. Rapid plume motion was likely produced by ridge-plume interaction and deeper influence of the Pacific LLSVP. When compared to plate circuit predictions, the Midway data suggest ~13 mm yr(−1) of African LLSVP motion since the Oligocene. LLSVP upwellings are not fixed, but also wander as they attract plumes and are shaped by deep mantle convection.