Until recently, it had been a common misconception amongst scientists that both oceanic and continental rocks were of the exact same nature, it was only when technological improvements enabled scientists to conduct underwater surveillance that it was discovered that there were differences between the formations of oceanic and continental rocks. Underwater rocks are formed in the same way, from volcanoes, whereas land rocks show traces of a long history. The rocks around the ring of fire are formed in a very similar way to underwater rocks, this puzzled many scientists who were unsure as to how rock samples from opposite ends of the Pacific could be virtually identical. It was only after the discovery of the Ring of fire that the answers to this mystery began to emerge.
A big earthquake off the coast of Alaska prompted an investigation that gave rise to one of the most amazing geological discoveries ever witnessed. Geologist George Plathka, who was sent to investigate the Alaskan quake noted that the tides were out of phase with the barnacles on the rocks, which normally grow according to the sea level. He used this discovery to map out how the geography of Alaska had changed after the earthquake. Plathka discovered that there were areas along the Alaskan coast that had been uplifted as much as 12 metres, whilst other areas had sunk down about 2 metres.
The most puzzling mystery amongst many, was the fact that whilst one area had been lowered another adjacent area had been uplifted, how and why did this happen? Normally when an earthquake of this magnitude occurs along the ring of fire, it happens along a fault line and is clearly visible, however in the case of the Alaskan earthquake there was no visible fault line which confused and bothered George Plathka for many years. It was only after the conduction of additional research when it was finally discovered that the fault must lie offshore, under water. Upon this sudden realization it was discovered that the ocean floor was being subducted under Alaska, only then did scientists realize the importance of the oceanic trench off the Alaskan coast as this trench circled the whole of the Pacific margin and therefore suggested that the entire floor of the Pacific was being subducted under the surrounding continents and back into the earth’s mantle.
The whole concept of subduction was now clear: oceanic crust was continually being formed along the mid oceanic ridge via the mechanism of sea floor spreading; this oceanic crust would then ultimately, be subducted back into the earth’s mantle and recycled. This discovery was an extraordinary revelation as it was suddenly realized that the entire surface of the Earth was in constant motion, it was this discovery that prompted the birth of the theory of plate tectonics. It was the theory of plate tectonics that enabled scientists to explain the formation of continents and land masses along the ring of fire.
Recent experiments have revealed that water is the key to the Ring of fire; the subduction of oceanic plates into the earth results in the creation of pressure which forces water out of the rocks, the water reduces the melting point of magma which causes the magma to rise to the surface thus creating volcanoes on the surface of continental plates, gasses emitted from volcanic action along the Ring of fire have been found to have high nitrogen concentrations. However, the majority of the magma never reaches the surface as it gets trapped in the crust thereby creating large volumes of rock which explains the formation of the continents.
