Volcanic islands, such as Hawaii, and other hotspot locations are widely believed to lie above hot rising conduits of mantle rock known as mantle plumes. However, their existence is not universally accepted and has been a source of debate over recent years. There is increasing evidence to support the plume concept, such as improved seismic imaging of the mantle showing plume-like structures beneath several hotspots. This book combines reviews of existing evidence for mantle plumes with the results from recent studies and uses them to understand the upper mantle structure beneath several of the world's volcanic regions.

The book comprises 16 individual papers, each focusing on a particular volcanic region or geological discipline. Firstly, there is a review on the fluid dynamics of mantle plumes that summarizes what is known from laboratory experiments and numerical modelling about their structure and evolution. Next come four case studies from well-studied volcanic regions including the major hotspots Hawaii and Iceland. The final 11 papers concentrate on the volcanic Eifel region in Germany. From 1997–2003 this region was the target of a concerted scientific effort meaning that the Eifel plume is now one of the best-characterized in the world. Studies make use of data from geophysics, geology, petrology, geochemistry and geodesy to build a detailed picture of the upper mantle beneath the Eifel region.

As a whole, this book provides a comprehensive summary of recent and established research on mantle plumes and the techniques used to study them. Given that two-thirds of the book contains papers on the volcanic Eifel region in Germany, it is not ideal if you seek specific information on an alternative hotspot location. However, the strength of this section is that it provides an excellent example of how results from a large number of disciplines can (and should) be combined to develop the maximum level of understanding of the study area.

In general, the authors provide more details than one usually finds in a scientific paper about the techniques involved and how each method can be used to understand the nature and evolution of the volcanism. This means that the papers will be useful to a wider range of people than just those interested in the results. As well as appealing to experts due to the inclusion of research at the forefront of the field, this book is accessible to non-experts thanks to the comprehensive background summaries and method explanations. Each paper is written as a self-contained unit making it easy for readers to dip in and extract the desired information.