Ring of Fire volcanic development which surrounds the shores of the Pacific from Tierra del Fuego around to the Moluccas." (Matthew Perry, "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1852-54," Introduction, Section I, "Name, Extent, and Geography") About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. The next most seismically active region (5–6% of earthquakes and 17% of the world's largest earthquakes) is the Alpide belt, which extends from Java to the northern Atlantic Ocean via the Himalayas and southern Europe. All but three of the
Warm core ring Warm core ring A warm core ring is a type of mesoscale eddy which breaks off from an ocean current, e.g. the Gulf Stream or the Kuroshio Current. The ring is an independent circulatory system of warm water which can persist for several months. The rest of this article will use the Gulf Stream by way of an example but these mesoscale eddies also form in most powerful ocean currents, such as the Kuroshio or Agulhas currents. Such rings can be detected using infrared satellites or sea height anomalies and are easily identifiable against the surrounding colder waters. These systems