Hotspots are localized areas of volcanism and high heat flow within the earth's lithosphere above a mantle plume hot enough to melt portions of the overriding plate. As a plate moves over a mantle plume, volcanoes previously above the plume...

In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the idea in 1963 that volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands result from the slow movement of a...

1. Alaska Referred to as "The Great Land," Alaska is home to soaring snow-capped mountains, sprawling tundra, and a remote Arctic north – all of which shelter a wide range of wildlife that is otherwise threatened or endangered in the continental United States. Humpback whales,...

Mercury levels near some coal-burning power plants are five times higher than previous government estimates, calling into question how the Environmental Protection Agency identifies biological hotspots and prompting a Maine senator to propose a national monitoring system.At least five sites in the Northeast are mercury...

Every day, tourist buses trundle along the Hollywood Walk of Fame and through Beverly Hills so that sightseers can gawk at celebrities and gasp at their mansions.A lesser-known tour through the industrial back streets of the county also leaves participants gasping, but for another reason."On...

This bump on the flat Texas coast, one of the nation's premier bird-watching meccas where thousands of people from around the world are lured each year, took a direct hit from the tiny but intense Hurricane Humberto.But it doesn't seem to have bothered the migratory...