In 1963, Wilson proposed that small, long lasting, exceptionally hot areas of magma exist under Earth's surface; these heat centres create thermally active mantle plumes, which in turn sustain long-lasting volcanic activity. This intraplate volcanism builds peaks that rise above the surrounding landscape. Plate tectonics cause the local tectonic plate (in the case of the Anahim hotspot, the North American Plate) to slowly slide over the hotspot, carrying its volcanoes with it without affecting the plume. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the magma supply for the volcano is slowly cut off, eventually going extinct. No longer active enough to overpower erosion, the volcano slowly erodes away. As the cycle continues, a new volcanic centre manifests and a volcanic peak arises anew. The process continues until the mantle plume itself collapses.