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The Kuril archipelago is an active volcanic island arc formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Okhotsk Plate. The Pacific is currently subducting at a rate of ~8 cm/yr.  Proto-subduction and initial arc formation began in the Late Cretaceous between the Kula and Okhotsk Plates.  It ceased in the Eocene, and resumed in Oligocene.  For more about the tectonic history, go here.