• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Geography / How Many Active Volcanoes Are There In the Pacific Ring of Fire and How Does Subduction Produce Lava?

How Many Active Volcanoes Are There In the Pacific Ring of Fire and How Does Subduction Produce Lava?

February 22, 2020 by Karen Hill

The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to more than half the world’s 1,500 active volcanoes.

Geologists use the term “active” to mean that a volcano may erupt again someday.

Earthquakes are also common in the Ring of Fire.

Encircling most of the Pacific Ocean, the Ring of Fire extends from New Zealand in the South Pacific, north to Asia and Japan, across the northern Pacific to Alaska, and then south along the west coasts of North, Central, and South America.

Volcanoes are more likely to occur in these areas because the edges of the tectonic plates on which the Pacific Ocean sits are slowly pushing under other ocean plates or the plates of the surrounding continents.

Geologists call this action subduction.

Subduction creates heat that melts materials inside the earth, creating magma.

The magma weighs less than the rock that surrounds it, so eventually it rises and comes out of the earth in the form of lava, the hot molten rock that is spewed from volcanoes.

Related Facts

  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • How Many Active Volcanoes Does the United States Have and Where Are They Located?
  • Where Do Most Earthquakes Happen On Earth and Where Is the Pacific Ring of Fire Located?
  • How Many Volcanoes On Earth Erupt Every Year and How Many Volcanoes In the United States Have Erupted?
  • How Is Burying Nuclear Waste Encased In Concrete In a Tectonic Subduction Zone An Effective Method of Disposal?

Filed Under: Geography

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Many Earthquakes Occur In the World Each Year and Where Do Most Earthquakes Occur On Earth?
Next Post: What Was the Most Powerful Earthquake Ever Recorded In History and What Was the Second Biggest Earthquake? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy