Abstract:
The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is located in the middle of North Pacific Ocean extending in a direction from northwest to southeast. It consists of two segments, the older Emperor chian trending in N10°W and the Hawaiian chanin extending in N110°E. The research interests of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain remain in the origin of seamount chain and the the sharp bend of the chain, which are the key to the investigation of the upwelling in the mantle, the movement of the lithosphere, and the exchange of material and energy between different layers. Paleomagnetism is the best tool for the kinematic studies on the seamount chain. In this paper, we summarized the previous studies on the formation mechanism of the Hawaiian-Emperor chain and the bend formed 47 Ma, with emphasis on the paleomagnetic evidence for the kinematics process of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. Key scientific topics and research directions were also discussed.