The Hawaian Islands sit on the Pacific Plate. As this plate moves, it appears that it is moving over a "hot spot" in the mantle.
The test of this idea: the islands should be in a row and
their ages should increase as you go along the chain.
[ Determining ages of rocks: later]
Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA soper@bovine.uoregon.edu