Altogether, no less than 150 active
volcanoes exist in the chain of islands which stretch from Behring's
Straits down to the Antarctic circle; and if we include the volcanoes
on Indian and Pacific Islands which appear to be situated on lines
branching from this particular band, we shall not be wrong in the
assertion that this great system of volcanic mountains includes at least
one half of the habitually active vents of the globe. In addition to
the active vents, there are here several hundred very perfect volcanic
cones, many of which appear to have recently become extinct, though some
of them may be merely dormant, biding their time.
A third series of volcanoes starts from the neighborhood of Behring's
Straits, and stretches along the whole western coast of the American
continent. This is much less continuous, but nevertheless very
important, and contains, with its branches, nearly a hundred active
volcanoes. On the north this great band is almost united with the one
we have already described by the chain of the Aleutian and Alaska
volcanoes. In British Columbia about the parallel of 60 degrees N. there
exist a number of volcanic mountains, one of which, Mount St. Elias, is
believed to be 18,000 feet in height. Farther south, in the territory of
the United States, a number of grand volcanic mountains exist, some of
which are probably still active, for geysers and other manifestations of
volcanic activity abound. From the southern extremity of the peninsula
of California an almost continuous chain of volcanoes stretches through
Mexico and Guatemala, and from this part of the volcanic band a branch
is given off which passes through the West Indies, and contains the
volcanoes which have so recently given evidence of their vital activity.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269