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Figure 6 illustrates the global distribution of volcanoes, highlighting key volcanic regions and the geological features associated with their occurrence. Volcanoes are predominantly located along tectonic plate boundaries, and their distribution can be categorized into several major regions:
1. Pacific Ring of Fire:
- This region is the most prominent and active volcanic zone, encircling the Pacific Ocean. It is characterized by a high concentration of volcanoes along the boundaries of the Pacific Plate.
- Countries in this region include Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, and the western coasts of North and South America.
2. Mid-Atlantic Ridge:
- This underwater mountain range extends through the Atlantic Ocean, where the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate are diverging.
- Notable volcanic islands like Iceland are situated along this ridge, formed by volcanic activity.
3. East African Rift Zone:
- This is a divergent tectonic plate boundary in East Africa where the African Plate is splitting into the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate.
- The region hosts several active volcanoes, including Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Nyiragongo.
4. Mediterranean and Aegean Volcanic Belts:
- These belts are associated with the complex tectonic interactions between the African Plate, Eurasian Plate, and Arabian Plate.
- Notable volcanoes include Mount Etna in Italy and Santorini in Greece.
- Volcanic activity is also observed in intraplate regions, known as hotspots, where magma from deep within the Earth rises to the surface.
- Examples include the Hawaiian Islands and the Yellowstone Caldera in the United States.
- Plate Boundaries:
- Most volcanoes are found along convergent and divergent plate boundaries where tectonic activities create conditions for magma to reach the surface.
- Convergent boundaries, where plates collide, often form explosive stratovolcanoes, while divergent boundaries typically generate shield volcanoes through more effusive eruptions.
- Along subduction zones, oceanic and continental plate collisions result in volcanic arcs, such as the Andes mountain range in South America.
- Unlike boundary-related volcanoes, hotspots arise from mantle plumes and can occur in the interior of tectonic plates, independent of plate boundaries.