By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
I am sure you have heard the song Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, but did you know there is an area of the earth called the ring of fire? Johnny’s song was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. It was originally recorded by Anita Carter. This song became quite popular as Johnny Cash performed it and was one of his biggest hits. In the song the ring of fire is a metaphor about love.
But the ring of fire found here on earth is crazy to think about. Here’s the deal….
it is found along the rim of the Pacific Ocean. It is also nicknamed “the Rim of Fire”, the Girdle of Fire”, and lastly the “Pacific Ring of Fire”. The name comes from the fact that it is a string of volcanoes and even earthquakes that take place very much in a circular formation.
Now, not all these volcanoes or earthquakes happen at the same time to create a huge visible ring of fire, but all have happened at one time or another. And if a volcano isn’t going off then some kind of an earthquake is happening. This ring is all along the shores of land that surround the Pacific Ocean. It is called a tectonic belt. It is about 25,000 miles long in circumference. This belt also has a width of about 310 miles wide! That is crazy! That is pretty wide. And very long.
There are active and dormant volcanoes all around the world. But this ring of fire makes up about 90% of them. And among these are most of the world’s largest recorded volcanoes. Scientist have documented between 800-900 active or dormant volcanoes in this tectonic belt.
Calling it a belt or a ring makes us think it is a single structure, but it is really a conglomerate of different shifts and converging land plates around the Pacific Ocean. The ocean boundaries include Antarctica, South America, North America, the Philippines, Eurasia, and even Australia.
These shifting plates under the ocean have formed basins, trenches, arcs, and volcanic belts! It is estimated to have existed for more than 35 million years! That is really mind blowing to think about. There are even remnants of extinct volcanoes. Did you know a volcano can become extinct? I didn’t. Interesting. Approximately 350 of the Ring of Fire’s volcanoes have been active and event historical. The four largest epoch eruptions on earth are all in the ring of fire.
Where are my song-writing friends? I think a new Ring of Fire song is in order. It is peculiar that this area on earth in the shape of a ring has so much activity. There is always something new to discover.
Beyond love songs and volcanoes, another round thing to talk about is the “Blue Hole” in Sandusky Ohio. It is a major sink hole full of water from springs in the earth that was discovered in the 1920’s. It became a large tourist attraction. It is close to Cedar Point and estimated to be about 45 feet deep a perfectly round seemingly bottomless pond that is blue and about 75 feet in diameter.
If you look this up there are great aerial photos of it. The earth is full of surprises. There are other blue holes as well. Some of the ones discovered are in Jamaica, Belize, China, Egypt, New Mexico and Tennessee. If you know of others let us know. If you have visited one, tells us about it. I would suspect is it not as fabulous in person as it would be from the air. Any private pilots out there who have taken photos from above of any of these lovelies?
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