GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Major hot spots include the Iceland hot spot, under the island of Iceland in the North Atlantic; the Réunion hot spot, under the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean; and the Afar hot spot, located under northeastern Ethiopia. Volcanic activity at hot spots can create submarine mountains known as seamounts.

Detailed explanation-2: -A frequently-used hypothesis suggests that hotspots form over exceptionally hot regions in the mantle, which is the hot, flowing layer of the Earth beneath the crust. Mantle rock in those extra-hot regions is more buoyant than the surrounding rocks, so it rises through the mantle and crust to erupt at the surface.

Detailed explanation-3: -Hotspots are found within continents, but not as commonly as within oceans. They are not common because it takes a massive mantle plume to penetrate the thick continental crust. Eruptions from these hotspots are rare but massive. The Yellowstone hotspot is a famous example of a continental hotspot.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Roughly 90% of all earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, and the ring is dotted with 75% of all active volcanoes on Earth.