that because in this stage eruptions are very infrequent (occurring thousands or even tens of thousands of years apart), erosion is still the primary factor controlling the volcano's development. After this stage the volcano becomes extinct and never erupts again. Coral atoll stage Eventually, erosion and subsidence break the volcano down to sea level. At this point, the volcano becomes an atoll, with a ring of coral and sand islands surrounding a lagoon. All the Hawaiian islands west of the Gardner Pinnacles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are in this stage. Atolls are the product of the growth of tropical marine organisms, so this island type is only found in warm tropical waters. Eventually, the Pacific Plate carries the volcanic atoll into waters too cold for these marine organisms to maintain a coral reef by growth. Volcanic islands located beyond the warm water temperature requirements of reef-building organisms become seamounts as they subside and are eroded away at the surface. An island that is located where the ocean water temperatures are just sufficiently warm for upward reef growth to keep pace with the rate of subsidence is said to be at the Darwin point. Islands in more northerly latitudes evolve towards seamounts or guyots; islands closer to the equator evolve towards atolls (see Kure Atoll). Guyot stage After the reef dies, the volcano subsides or erodes below sea level and becomes a coral-capped seamount. These flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Most, if not all, the volcanoes west of Kure Atoll as well as most, if not all, the volcanoes in the Emperor Seamount chain are guyots or seamounts. Other patterns Not all Hawaiian volcanoes go through all of these stages of activity. An example is Koʻolau Range on Oʻahu, which was prehistorically devastated by a cataclysmic landslide, never underwent the postshield stage and went dormant for hundreds of thousands of years after the shield stage before coming back to life. Some volcanoes never made it above sea level; there is no evidence to suggest that West Molokai 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. Application to other groups In recent years research at other seamounts, for instance Jasper Seamount, has confirmed that the Hawaiian model applies to other seamounts as well. See also