A paper in Nature Communications by Bono et al. (2019) sheds light on the motion of Hotspots

Controversy surrounds the fixity of both hotspots and large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs). Paleomagnetism, plate-circuit analyses, sediment facies, geodynamic modeling, and geochemistry suggest motion of the Hawaiian plume in Earth’s mantle during formationof the Emperor seamounts. Herein, we report new paleomagnetic data from the Hawaiianchain (Midway Atoll) that indicate the Hawaiian plume arrived at its current latitude by 28Ma. A dramatic decrease in distance between Hawaiian-Emperor and Louisville chain sea-mounts between 63 and 52 Ma confirms a high rate of southward Hawaiian hotspot drift (~47 mm yr−1), and excludes true polar wander as a relevant factor. These findings further indicate that the Hawaiian-Emperor chain bend morphology was caused by hotspot motion, not plate motion. Rapid plume motion was likely produced by ridge-plume interaction anddeeper influence of the Pacific LLSVP. When compared to plate circuit predictions, the Midway data suggest ~13 mm yr−1 of African LLSVP motion since the Oligocene. LLSVP upwellings are notfixed, but also wander as they attract plumes and are shaped by deepmantle convection.