The Galapagos hot spot is located to the west of the archipelago. Lava flowing from this location formed the archipelago. The location of the hot spot does not change, while the archipelago is gradually moving away from it (about 7 cm per year), which allows the formation of new islands in these places.
The islands in the eastern part of the archipelago are the furthest from the hot spot, so they are the oldest - their geological age is estimated at 3-6 million years. The western part of the archipelago was formed last, and the youngest islands are less than a million years old.
