Australia is the only continent in the world without an active volcano.
Although 75% of volcanoes are found in the Ring of Fire — a tectonic belt stretching 25,000 miles from Asia up to Alaska and down South America — every continent on the planet is home to volcanoes, whether they were created through continental rifts (as in the Ring of Fire) or magma hot spots (like Hawaii’s volcanoes). However, no active volcanoes can currently be found on the mainland of the Land Down Under, although it is home to some extinct volcanic specimens. This is because the continent is missing tectonic plate boundaries. It’s at these boundaries — where two tectonic plates meet — that most volcanoes form. Instead, Australia rests squarely on the Australian Plate.
Although Australians might feel like they’re missing out, the country technically has two active volcanoes in its outlying external territories, on Heard Island and McDonald Island, located some 2,485 miles southwest of Perth. But with both islands uninhabited — and a two-week boat ride being the only way to get there — few Australians (or anyone else for that matter) will ever lay eyes on the country’s remote volcanic exceptions.
Although both are in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Antarctica seem to have nothing in common. Australia is well known for its scorching deserts, which make up nearly 20% of its landmass, and it’s filled with some of the most amazing animal life on Earth. Antarctica, on the other hand, is extremely cold, and it’s home to only one native insect. However, dig into each continent’s geologic past, and you’ll find that they were once part of a larger landmass known as Gondwana. That was true only 30 million years ago — a relative stone’s throw in Earth’s 4.6 billion-year-long existence. In fact, fossil records in the Antarctic even show that it was once home to marsupials.
