MOUNTAIN SEMERU (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Geography)

Context: Recently, Mt. Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted.

Mountain Semeru

• Location: Active volcano in East Java, Indonesia.

o It is located in a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate subducts under the Eurasian plate.

• It is the highest mountain on the island of Java.
• Origin of Name: "Semeru" is derived from Meru, the central world mountain in Hinduism, or Sumeru, the abode of gods.
• Volcano in Indonesia: Indonesia, with themaximum number of active volcanoes in the world,is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific’s Ring of Fire.

Pacific’s Ring of Fire

• Also known as: Circum-Pacific Belt, is a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
• Length: Approximately 40,000 kilometers.
• Boundaries between several tectonic plates: Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates.
• Home of Volcanoes: More than 450 active and dormant volcanoes (75% of Earth’s total volcanoes) form a semicircle or horseshoe around the rim of the Pacific Ocean.