Volcanoes

The Location of Volcanoes There are about 2,500 known active volcanoes. Almost all of them are located together, in chains stretching across the earth. Many of these chains are thousands of miles long. Some geologists believe that this distribution related to a theory of the development of the earth’s surface called plate tectonics. Mount St. Helens is a fart of the Ring of Fire, a circle of active volcanoes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. There …

…it can also be pierced by the magma that lies underneath, especially along the lines of weakness at plate margins. Volcanoes are not found everywhere in the world. They occur mostly around the edges of the Pacific Ocean in a huge band called the Ring of Fire. There are more groups of volcanoes in the east, Africa, Iceland, Southern Italy, and the Caribbean. There are even some in the frozen continent of Antarctica. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**