Hawaii's unique volcanoes explained

[terracore]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I found this video to be a quick and concise explanation of our island chain that stretches to Siberia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0tnqPmwWvk

[geochem]

quote:

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Originally posted by terracore

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I found this video to be a quick and concise explanation of our island chain that stretches to Siberia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0tnqPmwWvk

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I like Physics Girl and what she does to popularize science concepts and convey the fun and excitement that a career in science can bring.

But she has some serious errors in this one... The mantle plume doesn't come to the surface - the vast majority of it attaches itself to base of the crust - only a small fraction of the plume actually melts and rises to the surface. The flood basalts are not discharged as a massive explosion - they are, as their name implies, massive outpourings of lava (continuous? episodic? I'm not sure that we know) accompanied by massive discharge of volcanic gases (think Leilani fissures multiplied by 100K) - big time extinction but no explosion a la Yellowstone... She might also have mentioned that the reason the mountain chain ends where it does is because there's the Aleutian trench - the older volcanoes have been subducted along with the crust that they were formed on...

I know, picky, picky - but if you're going to do these things, best to get the concepts straight...

[ElysianWort]

fyi: this young geologist used the word "viscous" to describe magma. I believe there was a squabble when pbmaise used that word and some other posters were ragging on him because they didn't find it to their suiting.

[glassnumbers]

I think she's pretty hot, so I'm willing to forgive a few scientifical errors here and there

Aloha

[My 2 cents]

quote:

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Originally posted by ElysianWort

fyi: this young geologist used the word "viscous" to describe magma. I believe there was a squabble when pbmaise used that word and some other posters were ragging on him because they didn't find it to their suiting.

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I believe the squabble was simply nit-picking about the spelling, i.e., "viscus" instead of "viscous".

[terracore]

Well, the word "lava" is actually used in the definition of viscous. I understand the difference between magma and lava but still...
vis·cous
#712;visk#601;s/
adjective
adjective: viscous

having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid; having a high viscosity.
"viscous lava"
synonyms: glutinous, gelatinous, thick, viscid, mucous, mucoid, mucilaginous, gummy, gluey, adhesive, tacky, adherent, treacly, syrupy; technicalviscoelastic;
informalgooey, gloppy
"it's impossible to clean up this viscous substance with water"

[My 2 cents]

"Informalgooey" - That's a new one for me. I like it. Maybe we should use it instead of "viscous" to avoid further confusion.