Question

Use the picture to answer the following question

By observing this chain of volcanoes and their resulting seamounts, what information can scientist gather?

A) the bend formed as the plate moved to the northwest
B) the type of magnetic polarity reversal that occurred
C) whether the type of lava that created the chain is andesitic or basaltic

Answer 1

d) that the plate movement was southeast

Step-by-step explanation:

From the present picture, we can see a volcanic island arc. There are numerous islands with volcanic origin, and their direction is roughly northwest-southeast. The oldest and largest island is located on the southeast, while the youngest islands are located in the northwest.

We can conclude two things from this:

- The island arc has formed due to a hot spot. The hot spot is static, while the plate moves on top of it. As the plate moves into a particular direction, the volcanoes are formed and then lose their activity because they are moved away from the hot spot, creating new volcanic islands all the time.

- The direction of the movement of the plate is toward southeast. This can be concluded because the direction of the volcanic islands is always in the opposite direction from the the movement of the plate.