Which of the following continents has no active volcanoes?
Correct answer: (A) Australia.
Australia is the only continent with no currently active volcanoes because it lies away from major tectonic plate boundaries.
Explanation
Australia has no currently active volcanoes on the continent. Geoscience Australia explains that active volcanoes generally occur near major tectonic plate boundaries, while Australia is rare because there are no plate boundaries on the continent. That matches the core plate-tectonic reason in this question: the Australian continent sits within the Indo-Australian Plate rather than along an active margin. The continent is not volcanically featureless; the Newer Volcanics Province in Victoria records earlier volcanic activity and is described by Geoscience Australia as dormant for the past 5,000 years. So the answer turns on the word active: Australia preserves evidence of past volcanism, but unlike the other listed continents, it has no active volcanoes on the continent today.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) South America is wrong because the Andes include many volcanoes, so it is not a continent without active volcanism.
- (C) Africa is wrong because it has active volcanoes such as Mount Nyiragongo, so the statement does not fit Africa.
- (D) Antarctica is wrong because Mount Erebus is active, which rules out Antarctica as a continent with no active volcanoes.
Concept
This tests the World Geography concept that active volcanism is closely linked to plate boundaries. It recurs in RAS-style physical geography because one continent-wise exception, Australia, follows directly from that tectonic principle.