>While we're at it, how can a primarily westerly force (the tidal bulges) explain the northwestern movement of the Pacific plate?

Did you look at the recent NASA article on tides I posted? It shows the tides flowing in a Northwesterly direction toward the Aleutian Islands during the middle of the day.

>Convection cells have no problem with it and the history of Hawaii as it drifted across a hot spot confirms it.

What do you mean Hawaii drifted over a hot spot? Hawaii is the end crustal failure that started at Kamchatka, Russia and migrated south. It's known as the Emperor Seamount Chain.

While we're at it, notice that the Clarion Fracture Zone and Mendocino Fracture Zone are connected on the east by the San Andreas Fault. Out west, Hawaii is right between the endpoints of the two fracture zones. My view is that a big chunk of the Pacific Plate is buckling and may produce a new land mass in the next 5 million years or so in this area.

My question to you is how can convection cells in the mantle cause the shear cliffs near the plate boundaries and how can they cause features such as the Mendocino and Clarion Fracture Zones?

Do you know of a convection model for Hawaii I can look at? I hear generalizations about convection cells and see general diagrams, but has anybody produced an actual model for the known topographical structures in the Pacific?

Dave