The hottest areas on Earth are often located near volcanoes on the Earth's surface and in the depth of the oceans. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an underwater ridge and the boundary between huge rock plates along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. These rock plates are called tectonic plates, and they are so huge that the North American plate lies under Cuba, the United States, Canada, and Greenland, while the Eurasian plate lies under Europe and most of Asia. At several spots, beautiful volcanic islands came up from the ocean floor after a very long period of time. One group of such volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean is called the Azores. The Azores are located almost halfway between the United States and Portugal, while Iceland can be found in the very north between Greenland and Norway. These islands are covered with hot springs. Heated water from underground reaches the Earth's surface. Hot springs naturally discharge hot water, and they occur, because there is a lot of heat deep underground and the water circulates into these deep areas before it reaches the surface.

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