42 



OUTLINES OF GEOLOGY. 



91. Volcanoes, like mountains, may be arranged in groups. 

 By far the most extensive of these is that which bounds the 

 basin of the great ocean, for an extent equal to half the cir- 

 cumference of the globe. Beginning at the southern extre- 

 mity of South America, there is evidence of volcanic action 

 in Terra del Fuego and Patagonia; in Chili between 46 and 

 27 degrees south, there are 20 active volcanoes ; in Peru 

 although there is but one, the whole province is subject to 

 earthquakes ; in Quito, there are four active volcanoes ; in 

 the provinces of Pasto and Popayan, six ; in Guatemala and 

 Nicaragua, no less than twenty-one ; in Mexico, five ; seve- 

 ral in California ; Mount St. Elias, on the north-west coast, 

 has been seen in a state of eruption. We next find volca- 

 noes in the peninsula of Alaska, and the line of action ex- 

 tends through the Aleutian Islands to Kamschatka, in which 

 here are seven active volcanoes ; it then turns to the south, 

 and passes through the Kurile Islands to Jesso and Japan. 

 Between Japan and the Philippines are numerous small vol- 

 canic islands. In Luzonia, are three active volcanoes, and 

 the line is produced in a southern direction to the Moluccas. 

 Here it meets a transverse line of volcanic action running 

 east and west. Following it in the latter direction, it may 

 be traced to the western extremity of Java ; here it turns to 

 the north-west, and extends through Sumatra as far as Barren 

 Island, in the Bay of Bengal. Towards the east the trans- 

 verse line may be followed through New Guinea, New 

 Britain, and New Ireland. 



Another great line of volcanic action appears to diverge 

 from the former in Kamschatka. At any rate, there is evi- 

 dence of the existence of volcanoes in Chinese Tartary, and 

 they seem to be in communication with the volcanic country 

 on the shores of the Caspian. The Grecian Archipelago 

 exhibits traces of volcanic action, and volcanic islands are 

 still occasionally raised from the sea. Syria and Palestine, 



