Evolution of Hawaiian volcanoes went through the rejuvenated stage, while its younger neighbors, East Molokai and West Maui, have evidently done so. It is currently unknown what stage of development the submerged volcano of Penguin Bank is in. In recent years research at other seamounts, for instance Jasper Seamount, has confirmed that the Hawaiian model applies to other seamounts as well. Evolution of Hawaiian volcanoes The fifteen volcanoes that make up the eight principal islands of Hawaii are the youngest in a chain of more than 129 volcanoes that stretch across the North Pacific Ocean, called the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. Hawaii's volcanoes rise an
Hawaiian Islands the Earth's mantle. The islands are about from the nearest continent. Captain James Cook visited the islands on January 18, 1778 and named them the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was one of his sponsors as the First Lord of the Admiralty. This name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name "Hawaii" gradually began to take precedence. The Hawaiian Islands have a total land area of . Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as Hawaii—the 50th state of