The chain of Hawaiian islands can be used to calculate the rate of movement of the Pacific Plate over the last few million years. The island of Hawaii currently sits on the hot spot and is therefore 0 million years old. The island of Kauai used to sit on the hot spot; it is approximately 5.1 million years old and is now approximately 473 km away from the hot spot, to the northwest.

Given these parameters, what is the average rate of motion of the Pacific Plate in cm per year?

Using the age and distance from the Hawaiian hot spot of the island of Kauai, it's calculated that the average speed of movement for the Pacific Plate over the last 5.1 million years is approximately 9.27 cm/year.

Explanation:

The islands formed by the Hawaiian hot spot allow us to calculate the speed of plate movement. The island of Kauai, which is 5.1 million years old, is now approximately 473 km away from the hot spot. If we consider that distance and time are related to speed, dividing the distance Kauai traveled (473,000m) by the time it took (5.1 million years) gives us an average speed of movement for the Pacific Plate. To convert this to centimeters per year, we find that the Pacific Plate has an average speed of approximately 9.27 cm/year.

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topeadeniran2 topeadeniran2 · Answer 2 · 2023-11-09T15:45:35-05:00

The average rate of motion of the Pacific Plate will be 9.27 cm per year.

From the information given, the following can be deduced:

Distance = 473 km = 47300000cm
Time = 5.1 million years = 5100000 years.

Therefore, the rate of plate movement will be:

= Distance / Time

= 47300000 / 5100000.

= 9.27cm/yr

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