Question

A map identifying the locations of the three volcanoes.

Use the map to identify where Surtsey and Eldfell formed, where Merapi formed, and where Kilauea formed. Describe whether each volcano was formed on a divergent boundary, a convergent boundary, or a hot spot.

Answer 1

On the map:

- Surtsey and Eldfell: both are off the south coast of Iceland (Eldfell on Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar/Westman Islands; Surtsey a bit further south).
- Plate setting: formed at a divergent plate boundary (the Mid‑Atlantic Ridge rift system that runs through Iceland). (Iceland’s volcanism is enhanced by a mantle plume, but the immediate mechanism for Surtsey/Eldfell is rifting along the divergent boundary.)

- Merapi: on the island of Java, Indonesia (central-northern Java, near Yogyakarta).
- Plate setting: formed at a convergent boundary — an island‑arc/subduction zone where the Indo‑Australian Plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian (Sunda) Plate.

- Kīlauea: on the island of Hawaiʻi (southeastern flank of the Big Island).
- Plate setting: formed over a hot spot (a mantle plume beneath the Pacific Plate), producing intra‑plate shield volcano volcanism.