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by Morphius on April 14th, 2004

Morphius

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What is the meant by "The Ring of Fire"?

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  • by Duane Roelands on April 27th, 2004

    Duane Roelands

    The "Ring of Fire" is an arc stretching from New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America. It is composed of over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.

    This is a listing of major volcanic areas in the Ring of Fire:

    In South America the Nazca plate is colliding with the South American plate. This has created the Andes and volcanoes such as Cotopaxi and Azul.

    In Central America, the tiny Cocos plate is crashing into the North American plate and is therefore responsible for the Mexican volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Paricutun (which rose up from a cornfield in 1943 and became a instant mountains).

    Between Northern California and British Columbia, the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda plates have built the Cascades and the infamous Mount Saint Helens, which erupted in 1980.

    Alaska's Aleutian Islands are growing as the Pacific plate hits the North American plate. The deep Aleutian Trench has been created at the subduction zone with a maximum depth of 25,194 feet (7679 meters).

    From Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula to Japan, the subduction of the Pacific plate under the Eurasian plate is responsible for Japanese islands and volcanoes (such as Mt. Fuji).

    The final section of the Ring of Fire exists where the Indo-Australian plate subducts under the Pacific plate and has created volcanoes in the New Guinea and Micronesian areas. Near New Zealand, the Pacific Plate slides under the Indo-Australian plate.

    (http://www.crystalinks.com/rof.html)

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  • by dingle on November 10th, 2007

    dingle

    Where: New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America
    Length: 40,000 km
    Shape: Arc
    Number of Volcanoes: 452
    It is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes
    90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire

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  • by Glenn Blaylock on August 16th, 2004

    Glenn Blaylock

    Duane,

    You forgot the Philippine Plate. It is being subducted under the Eurasian Plate creating the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo being the volcano that erupted most recently there.

    Additionally, the Pacific Plate is being forced under the easter edge of the Philippine Plate thus creating volcanic islands there as well.

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