The ring of fire
The ring of fire is an enormous chain of volcanoes all around the pacific ocean .the ring goes trom New Zealand up to Asia and across the ocean to Alaska,From Alaska the ring continues Southward along the coast both North and South America more than seventy-five percent of the world's volcanoes are located in this ring.
Scientists are interested in studying the ring of fire because they can observe plate tectonics at work there. In 1912 a German scientist, Alfred wegener, came up with the first theory of land movement . Wegener said continents are made up of lighter rocks resting on heavier material. Similar to the way large things move while floating
On water, Wegener suggested that the positions of the continents were not fixed, but that they moved slightly. Later, scientists discovered most of Wegener’s ideas were right on the mark. They then developed the theory called plate tectonics
According to plat Tectonics, the surface of the earth consist of a number of enormous plates or sections of rock, each about eighty kilometers thick plates float and slowly move at speeds between on to ten centimeters . The every year. That is about the rate your fingernails grow! Within the ring of fire, new material for the earth’s plates is constantly being created as hot liquid rock called magma flows from the center of the earth of the earth up to the ocean floor. All the existing plates on the earth’s surface have to move slightly to make room for the new material.
As plates move both away and toward each other, they run into each other. When they hit each other, one plates might move under another. This process is called subduction. Subduction frequently cause earthquakes. It may also resuly.
In the bottom plate melting due to extream temperatures under the top plate. The magma created in this process can rise to the earth’s surface and come out through volcanoes, as can be seen along the Ring of Fire.