Volcanoes and Plate Boundaries: What’s the Connection?
ANSWER KEY
When and where on the planet have volcanoes erupted recently? What kinds of volcanoes
occur in those locations? Can the type of volcano give us clues as to what is happening at
a plate boundary?
In this activity, you will find out about some of the world's most recently active
volcanoes. You'll also learn about the relationship among the type of volcano, its
location, and the type of plate boundary where it sits.
Volcano Name
Date of
Eruption or
Activity
Arenal, Costa
Rica
9/5/03
Hekla, Iceland
2/26/00
Iwate-san,
Honshu, Japan
Fernandina,
Galapagos
Islands
Ruapehu, New
Zealand
Cleveland
Volcano,
Chuginadak
Island, Alaska
Karymsky,
Kamchatka,
Russia
7/10/98
1/25/95
Volcano Type
(Shield or
Stratovolcano)
Stratovolcano
Shield
Stratovolcano
*Shield
Location
(Longitude &
Latitude)
10.46 N,84.70 W
63.98 N,19.70 W
39.85 N,141.00 E
Tectonic Plates
Involved
Caribbean /
Cocos Plates
North American /
Eurasian Plates
(Mid-Atlantic
Ridge)
Eurasian / North
American Plates
0.37 S, 91.55 W
Nazca Plate
9/13/99
Stratovolcano
39.3 S, 175.6 E
Australian /
Pacific Plates
3/20/01
Stratovolcano
52.49 N,169.57 W
North American /
Juan De Fuca
Plates
Ongoing
Stratovolcano
54.0 N, 159.5 E
Nyamuragira,
Congo, Africa
8/6/01
Shield
1.4 S, 29.2 E
Lascar, Chile
12/9/03
Erta Ale,
Ethiopia
1/14/03
Etna, Sicily,
11/9/03
Italy
Kilauea,
Ongoing
Hawai’i
 Hot Spot volcanoes
Stratovolcano
23.32 S, 67.44 W
Shield
13.6 N, 40.7 E
*Shield
37.7 N, 15.0 E
*Shield
19.45 N, 155.29 W
North American /
Juan De Fuca
Plates
African Plate
(East African Rift
Zone)
South American /
Nazca Plates
African Plate
(East African Rift
Zone)
Eurasian Plate
Pacific Plate
1) Visit the Current Volcanic Activity site,
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/current.html to find the location,
type, and most recent date of eruption or activity for each of the volcanoes listed on
the worksheet. Enter all of this information in the table.
2) Visit the Map of Major Tectonic Plates of the World
http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eastern/plates.html and the World Map With Grid Lines
http://swiki.dlese.org/CA-Pilot/uploads/WorldMapWithGridLines.pdf to determine
the tectonic plate location for each volcano listed above and enter that information in
the table.
3) Visit Plate Boundaries, Eastern Hemisphere ADD URL – THIS HAS BEEN
POSTED ON SWIKI and Plate Boundaries, Western Hemisphere ADD URL – THIS
HAS BEEN POSTED ON SWIKI to find the types of boundaries where the
volcanoes are located to help you answer the questions below.
QUESTIONS:
a) Which volcanoes are occurring along convergent plate boundaries?
Arenal, Costa Rica; Iwate-san, Honshu, Japan; Ruapehu, New Zealand; Cleveland
Volcano, Chuginadak Island, Alaska; Karymsky, Kamchatka, Russia; Lascar,
Chile.
b) Which volcanoes are occurring along divergent plate boundaries? Hekla,
Iceland; Erta Ale, Ethiopia; Nyamuragira, Congo (NOTE that the African
volcanoes along the East African Rift Zone are thought by some to be divergent
boundary volcanoes and /or hot spot volcanoes)
c) Which volcanoes occur at areas that are not on plate boundaries? What type are
they? How would you explain their presence? Fernandina, Galapagos Islands –
shield volcano; Kilauea, Hawai’I – shield volcano, Etna, Sicily, Italy – shield
volcano. These volcanoes do not occur at divergent boundaries, but are
considered “hot spot” volcanoes.