The Pacific Ring of Fire – An Analysis
The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area which witnesses frequent seismic-activity due to tectonic plates colliding with each other, moving away from each other, or sliding adjacent to each other. This area is also known as the Circum-Pacific Belt and the Ring of Fire. The shape of this area roughly resembles a horseshoe spread across 40,000 km in the Pacific Ocean.
Seismic activity around the Ring of Fire is not stand-alone since it also takes place due to volcanic eruptions as well. The Pacific Ring of Fire is said to contain approximately 452 volcanoes. Also, 75% of the total active-volcanoes in the world are situated here.
The horrible triad of earthquake, volcanic eruption, and tsunami has made untold miseries for people living in USA, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia, Russia, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and New Zealand.
These three death-knells are primarily the result of shifting of tectonic plates and volcanic eruptions (Sometime, both ring an omen of death at the same time).
Plate tectonics talks about the creation of the Earth’s crust. This crust is created by floating land-masses atop molten rock, otherwise known as magma. These land-masses are known as tectonic plates and are always in motion. The list given below puts forth the names of the different tectonic plates that together create the Earth’s crust.
- Australian plate
- African plate
- Arabian plate
- Antarctic plate
- Caribbean plate
- Cocos plate
- Eurasian plate
- Filipino plate
- Indian plate
- Juan de Fuca plate
- North American plate
- Nazca plate
- Pacific plate
- South American plate
- Scotia plate
The volcanoes that spit out “fire” are situated all around the area known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. Some of them are present right on top of areas where tectonic plates converge, slide, or diverge.
For example:
- Mount St. Helens – an active volcano – situated right at the “meeting point” of the Juan de Fuca plate and the North American plate.
- Krakatau – An underwater volcano – situated between Java and Sumatra
- Metis Shoal – An underwater volcano – situated near the Tonga Islands
- Kavachi – An underwater volcano – situated near the Solomon Islands
- Monowai seamount – An extremely active underwater volcano – situated roughly midway between the island sections of Tonga and Kermadec
The subduction zones present in the Pacific Ring of Fire in the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western portions are given below.
- Northern:
- Pacific plate (certain area) – North-American plate
- Juan de Fuca plate – North American plate
- Southern:
- Plates beneath Mariana Islands, Philippine, Bougainville, Tonga, and New Zealand – Pacific plate
- Eastern:
- Nazca plate – South American continent
- Cocos plate – Caribbean Plate (Central America)
- Western:
- Pacific plate – Kamchatka Peninsula
For a deep-sea diver, the chance of getting “lost in darkness” is quite high due to the presence of a large number of deep-sea trenches in the Pacific Ring of Fire. These trenches are given below.
- Java (Sunda) trench
- Kermadec trench
- Tonga trench
- Bougainville trench
- Marianas trench
- Philippine trench
- Ryukyu trench
- Izu Bonin trench
- Japan trench
- Kurile trench
- Aleutian trench
- Middle America trench
- Peru-Chile trench
- South Sandwich trench
- Puerto Rico trench
So, an ode of mystery, disaster, earthquake, and eruptions form the saga of the Pacific Ring of Fire!
