An article appeared in Scientific American in 1878 with the title "The Ring of Fire, and the Volcanic Peaks of the West Coast of the United States", which outlined the phenomenon of volcanic activity around the boundaries of the Pacific. Three decades later, a book about the Perry Expedition to Japan commented on the Ring of Fire volcanoes as follows: "They are in the line of that immense circle of volcanic development which surrounds the shores of the Pacific from Tierra del Fuego around to the Moluccas." ( Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1852–54). Scrope described the chains of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean's rim in his book "Considerations on Volcanos". The existence of a belt of volcanic activity around the Pacific Ocean was known in the early 19th century for example, in 1825 the pioneering volcanologist G.P. This historical link between volcanoes and fire is preserved in the name of the Ring of Fire, despite the fact that volcanoes do not burn the Earth with fire. Historyįrom Ancient Greek and Roman times until the late 18th century, volcanoes were associated with fire, based on the ancient belief that volcanoes were caused by fires burning within the Earth. Ībout 90% of the Earth's earthquakes and about 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. Ībout 76% of the Earth's seismic energy is released as earthquakes in the Ring of Fire. Another Ring of Fire Andean volcano on the Argentina-Chile border is Llullaillaco (6,739 m or 22,110 ft), which is the world's highest historically active volcano, last erupting in 1877. It forms part of the border between Argentina and Chile and it last erupted in AD 750. The world's highest active volcano is Ojos del Salado (6,893 m or 22,615 ft), which is in the Andes Mountains section of the Ring of Fire. Plosky Tolbachik), and submarine seamounts (e.g. Other types of volcano are also found in the Ring of Fire, such as subaerial shield volcanoes (e.g. Lavas at the Ring of Fire's stratovolcanoes are mainly andesite and basaltic andesite but dacite, rhyolite, basalt and some other rarer types also occur. Mount St Helens), which are formed by explosive eruptions of tephra, alternating with effusive eruptions of lava flows. Many of these subaerial volcanoes are stratovolcanoes (e.g. Most of Earth's active volcanoes with summits above sea level are located in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire has existed for more than 35 million years but subduction has existed for much longer in some parts of the Ring of Fire. īeside and among the currently active and dormant volcanoes of the Ring of Fire are belts of older extinct volcanoes, which were formed long ago by subduction in the same way as the currently active and dormant volcanoes the extinct volcanoes last erupted many thousands or millions of years ago. More than 350 of the Ring of Fire's volcanoes have been active in historical times. The four largest volcanic eruptions on Earth in the Holocene epoch all occurred at volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire contains approximately 750–915 volcanoes (about two-thirds of the world's total) that have been active during the Holocene. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in each part of the Ring of Fire occur independently of eruptions and earthquakes in the other parts of the Ring. The Ring of Fire is not a single geological structure. Consumption of oceanic lithosphere at these convergent plate boundaries has formed oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, back-arc basins and volcanic belts. The collisions have created a nearly continuous series of subduction zones, where volcanoes are created and earthquakes occur. the Pacific Plate) under and around the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics: specifically the movement, collision and destruction of lithospheric plates (e.g. Although there is consensus among geologists about most areas included in the Ring of Fire, they disagree about the inclusion of a few areas, for example, the Antarctic Peninsula and western Indonesia. The Ring of Fire includes the Pacific coasts of South America, North America, Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, and some islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped belt about 40,000 km (25,000 mi) long and up to about 500 km (310 mi) wide. The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. : Active volcanoes Global map of subduction zones, with subducted slabs contoured by depth Subduction zone : Earthquakes of magnitude ≥ 7.0 (depth 0–69km) The Pacific Ring of Fire, with trenches marked with blue lines Global earthquakes (1900–2013) For other uses, see Ring of Fire (disambiguation).
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