9303402 Bercovici The spatial variability of hotspot signatures is a basic feature of the dynamics of mantle plumes. This variability is most clearly expressed in the formation of discrete islands along the axis of the Hawaiian chain, large wavelength variation in the geoid and topography of the Hawaiian swell, differing geochemical signatures of the volcanoes that comprise the islands, and in the dual, parallel ridge system that exists on many of the islands. The purpose of this project is to examine the causes of this spatial variability in the context of the dynamics of mantle plume heads spreading beneath and/or interacting with the lithosphere. This will be done through a synthesis of geophysical and geochemical data analyses with geodynamical modelling. ***
