What Does That Formation Have To Do With The Movement Of Tectonic Plates? ?
You can imagine that the crust of the earth is like a very thin skin floating on a big ball of molten rock. Like a puzzle, it consists of different parts called tectonic plates that move very slowly. Most volcanoes occur where two plates meet: When two plates move apart causing a gap, hot molten rock – called lava – rises up between them. This type of volcano occurs on the ocean floor, so it is mostly invisible. Only if the amount of magma is big enough, it rises above the surface of the ocean and an island is created. A long time ago, Iceland was formed this way. If two plates collide and one plate is forced beneath the other plate, the friction causes the first to melt and magma rises up. Only a small part of the volcanoes on earth are formed like this, but their eruptions are the most violent and dangerous ones. Sometimes volcanoes also form in the middle of the plates, in so-called hotspots. These are places that are connected to the hot mantle of the earth by channels. The Hawaiia
