The Hawaiian Trough, otherwise known as the Hawaiian Deep, is a moat-like depression of the seafloor surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. The weight from the Volcanic Island chain depresses the plastic Lithosphere that is already weakened by the underlying thermal hotspot, causing subsidence to occur. The location with the greatest rate of subsidence is directly above the hotspot with a rate of about  2.5 millimeters  per year. The Hawaiian Trough is about  5500 meters  deep and has a radius of about  14 km  .Rees, B. A., Detrick, R. S., & Coakley, B. J. (1993). Seismic stratigraphy of the Hawaiian flexural moat. Geologic Society of America Bulletin, 105, 189–205. The subsiding lithosphere is balanced out and through the concept of isostasy a part of the crust surrounding the trough is levered upwards creating the Hawaiian Arch. The Hawaiian Arch extends about  200 meters  above the surrounding ocean floor, and contains tilted coral reefs.
The Hawaiian Trough, otherwise known as the Hawaiian Deep, is a moat-like depression of the seafloor surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. The weight from the Volcanic Island chain depresses the plastic Lithosphere that is already weakened by the underlying thermal hotspot, causing subsidence to occur. The location with the greatest rate of subsidence is directly above the hotspot with a rate of about 0.1 inch ( 2.5 millimeters ) per year. The Hawaiian Trough is about 18,045 feet ( 5500 meters ) deep and has a radius of about 8.7 miles ( 14 km ) .Rees, B. A., Detrick, R. S., & Coakley, B. J. (1993). Seismic stratigraphy of the Hawaiian flexural moat. Geologic Society of America Bulletin, 105, 189–205. The subsiding lithosphere is balanced out and through the concept of isostasy a part of the crust surrounding the trough is levered upwards creating the Hawaiian Arch. The Hawaiian Arch extends about 656 feet ( 200 meters ) above the surrounding ocean floor, and contains tilted coral reefs.
A
0.1 inch (
A
)
A
18,045 feet (
A
)
A
8.7 miles (
A
)
A
656 feet (
A
)