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
Indonesian Throughflow Indonesian Throughflow The Indonesian throughflow (ITF) is an ocean current with importance for global climate since it provides a low-latitude pathway for warm, fresh water to move from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean and this serves as the upper branch of the global heat conveyor belt. Higher ocean surface topography in the western Pacific than in the Indian Ocean drives upper thermocline water from the North Pacific through the western route of the Makassar Strait to either directly exit through the Lombok Strait or flow eastward into the Banda Sea. Weaker flow of saltier and denser South Pacific water