Translations:AY Honors/Volcanoes/Answer Key/119/en

The Pacific Ring of Fire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_ring_of_fire

Of the more than 800 active volcanoes that have been identified, most are located along the margins of the ocean basins—most notably along the within the circum-Pacific belt known as the Ring of Fire. This active zone includes a chain of continental volcanoes that consist primarily of composite volcanoes.

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, island arcs, and volcanic mountain ranges and/or plate movements. It is sometimes called the circum-Pacific belt or the circum-Pacific seismic belt. 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.