GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Most volcanoes are found along a belt, called the “Ring of Fire” that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Some volcanoes, like those that form the Hawaiian Islands, occur in the interior of plates at areas called “hot spots.”

Detailed explanation-2: -Volcanoes form here in two settings where either oceanic plate descends below another oceanic plate or an oceanic plate descends below a continental plate.

Detailed explanation-3: -Most are located around the Pacific Ocean in what is commonly called the Ring of Fire. A volcano is defined as an opening in the Earth’s crust through which lava, ash, and gases erupt.

Detailed explanation-4: -Along plate boundaries, either plates sink below another plate (subduction), heating and creating magma, or plates pull apart, allowing magma to rise to the surface. In both these conditions, when the magma reaches the surface it creates volcanoes. Thus, most of the volcanoes are found on the plate boundaries.