In News
- A tsunami alert was issued in Indonesia after multiple eruptions of the Mount Ruang volcano.
- Indonesia, with 120 active volcanoes, faces frequent volcanic activity due to its location along the Ring of Fire.
What are Volcanic Eruptions?
- A volcano is a vent or fissure in Earth’s crust through which lava, ash, rocks, and gases erupt.
- A volcano can be active, dormant, or extinct.
- The magma is lighter than solid rock, it can rise through vents and fissures on the surface of the earth. After it has erupted, it is called lava.
Ring of Fire
- It is also called the Circum-Pacific Belt, which is a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
- It traces boundaries between several tectonic plates including the Pacific, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates.
- It is home to about 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes and about 90 percent of its earthquakes.
- Formation: The Ring of Fire is the result of the subduction of oceanic tectonic plates beneath lighter continental plates. The area where these tectonic plates meet is called a subduction zone.
- Here, the plate which is below at the convergent boundary is pushed down, or subducted, by the plate above. As the rock is subducted, it melts and becomes magma.