Ring Of Fire Essay

The Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity around the edges of the Pacific Ocean; this is where three-fourths of Earth’s volcanoes occur. Sadly, over the last two hundred years these disasters have claimed over one million lives. The Ring of Fire stretches 2500 miles from South America along America’s northwest coast to Alaska and then down through Russia, Japan, Southeast Asia and all the way to New Zealand. Volcanoes are extremely dangerous and scientists are on the search to try and figure out what causes them to erupt. For example, in August 1833, a volcano irrupted creating the loudest sound ever recorded in history. In May 1980, Mt. St. Helen caused one billion dollars of damage. Seventy-five percent of all …show more content…
A scientist named Dr. Ball is shown in the video climbing up the the side of one of the lava flows. She describes the difference in lava. For example, Hawaii volcano lava is runny, like honey is. More blocky type lava is going to be a lot more like peanut butter, as the viscosity is much greater. The viscosity of lava is determined by the amount of silica it contains. Silica is the most abundance mineral in the Earth’s crust. The more silica, the thicker the lava is going to be. The Ring of Fire lava contains a large amount of silica; therefore, making it sticky and less able to flow. This type of lava is lethal, as it is so thick that things do not move through the lava very well. If magma is runny, the gases can safely escape but in this type of stick, silica rich magma, the gases get trapped, resulting in horrible consequences. However, it is not usually the initial explosion that kills, it is what happens next. These eruptions create plumes that can go up for tens of miles, have temperatures of 1300 degrees Fahrenheit and speeds of one hundred miles per …show more content…
For example, they find a rock called a black smoker, pumping out superheated water. The video goes on to explain that not only are the volcanoes in the Ring of Fire dangerous but an even bigger killer is the earthquakes. Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes occur around the Pacific and sadly end with disastrous results. Different earth quakes are discusses and the results of the different earth quakes. The video shows a seismic station and explains that there are several thousand seismic stations all the way from Alaska down to California. The seismic station monitors any kind of seismic activity and is used to not only record the severity of the earthquake but the location of the earthquake as