[n 1] The chain was produced by the movement of the ocean crust over the Hawaiʻi hotspot, an upwelling of hot rock from the Earth's mantle.
[failed verification][1] This list documents the most significant volcanoes in the chain, ordered by distance from the hotspot, but there are many others that have yet to be properly studied.
Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount (formerly Lōʻihi) continues to grow offshore, and is the only known volcano in the chain in the submarine pre-shield stage.
[1] The second part of the chain is composed of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, collectively referred to as the Leeward isles, the constituents of which are between 7.2 and 27.7 million years old.
[citation needed] The seamount chain extends to the West Pacific, and terminates at the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, a subduction zone at the border of Russia.