Hot spots in the ocean create characteristic lines of volcanic islands. When magma rises to the surface, it breaks through the oceanic plate and produces a volcano. The plate moves, but the hot spot stays still. Therefore, it stops feeding the first volcanic structure and creates a new volcano. The extinguished volcano slowly erodes and coral reefs grow on its slopes, forming an atoll a ring- shaped island around a shallow stretch of water called a lagoon. The eroded volcano, which has sunk below the surface, is called a guyot. | |
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