Heat flow, Hawaiian area

Fifty-three measurements of the outward flow of heat through the ocean floor have been made around the Hawaiian Islands. The heat flow values ranged from a low of 0.71 to a high of 1.9 μcal/cm2/sec. The mean value for all the measurements (this includes ten previous measurements) north and east of the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii is 1.38 μcal/cm²/sec. A statistical analysis on these values indicates that the mean outward flow of heat through the area southeast of Hawaii, 1.60 μcal/cm²/sec, is significantly greater than the mean flow, 1.30 μcal/cm²/sec, through the Hawaiian arch. The similarity of all the values to the oceanic average indicates, however, that neither area is thermally active and suggests that the source of the present activity on Hawaii does not extend beyond the island.