Back2Basics: The Pacific Ring of Fire

• Overview: The Pacific Ring of Fire is a 40,000-km-long horseshoe-shaped zone encircling much of the Pacific Ocean, known for intense geological activity.
• Volcanic Density: This region contains around 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes—more than 450 in total.
• Seismic Activity: Approximately 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur within this zone.
• Geographic Spread: It extends from New Zealand through Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan, across to the Aleutian Islands, and then down the western coasts of North and South America.
• Tectonic Plates Involved: Several major tectonic plates intersect here, including the Pacific, Philippine, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Nazca, and North American plates.
• Subduction Zones: Much of the Ring features subduction zones, where one tectonic plate slides beneath another, generating magma and leading to volcanic eruptions.
• Plate Movement: The movement of these plates is slow—typically just one to two inches per year—but it results in significant geological events over time.

1. The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian territory.

2. Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar.

3. The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Options: (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 (c) 3 only (d) 1 and 3