Volcanicarc

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Avolcanicarcisachainofvolcanoesformedaboveasubducting
plate,[1]positionedinanarcshapeasseenfromabove.Offshore
volcanoesformislands,resultinginavolcanicislandarc.Generally,
volcanicarcsresultfromthesubductionofanoceanictectonicplate
underanothertectonicplate,andoftenparallelanoceanictrench.The
oceanicplateissaturatedwithwater,andvolatilessuchaswater
drasticallylowerthemeltingpointofthemantle.Astheoceanicplate
issubducted,itissubjectedtogreaterandgreaterpressureswith
increasingdepth.Thispressuresqueezeswateroutoftheplateand
introducesittothemantle.Herethemantlemeltsandformsmagmaat
depthundertheoverridingplate.Themagmaascendstoformanarcof
volcanoesparalleltothesubductionzone.
Theseshouldnotbeconfusedwithhotspotvolcanicchains,where
volcanoesoftenformoneafteranotherinthemiddleofatectonic
plate,astheplatemovesoverthehotspot,andsothevolcanoes
progressinagefromoneendofthechaintotheother.TheHawaiian
Islandsformatypicalhotspotchaintheolderislands(tensofmillions
MarianaIslands,anoceanicislandarc
ofyearsold)tothenorthwestaresmallerandmorelushthanthe
recentlycreated(400,000yearsago)Hawaiiislanditself,whichis
morerocky.Hotspotvolcanoesarealsoknownas"intraplate"volcanoes,andtheislandstheycreateareknownas
VolcanicOceanIslands.Volcanicarcsdonotgenerallyexhibitsuchasimpleagepattern.
Therearetwotypesofvolcanicarcs:
oceanicarcsformwhenoceaniccrustsubductsbeneathotheroceaniccrustonanadjacentplate,creatinga
volcanicislandarc.(Notallislandarcsarevolcanicislandarcs.)
continentalarcsformwhenoceaniccrustsubductsbeneathcontinentalcrustonanadjacentplate,creating
anarcshapedmountainbelt.(Notallmountainbeltsforminthisway.)
Insomesituations,asinglesubductionzonemayshowbothaspectsalongitslength,aspartofaplatesubducts
beneathacontinentandpartbeneathadjacentoceaniccrust.
(Theterm"volcanicarc"isoftenconfusedwiththeterm"islandarc".Theformerisaseriesofvolcanoes,butnot
necessarilyoffshore.Thelatterisaseriesofislands,notnecessarilycomposedsolelyofvolcanoes.)
Volcanoesarepresentinalmostanymountainbelt,butthisdoesnotmakeitavolcanicarc.Oftenthereare
isolated,butimpressivelyhugevolcanoesinamountainbelt.Forinstance,VesuviusandtheEtnavolcanoesin
Italyarepartofseparatebutdifferentkindsofmountainousvolcanicensembles.
Theactivefrontofavolcanicarcisthebeltwherevolcanismdevelopsatagiventime.Activefrontsmaymove
overtime(millionsofyears),changingtheirdistancefromtheoceanictrenchaswellastheirwidth.

Contents
1 Petrology
2 Examples

2 Examples
2.1 Continentalarcs
2.2 Islandarcs
2.3 Ancientislandarcs
3 Seealso
4 References

Petrology
Inthesubductionzone,lossofwaterfromthesubductedslabinducespartialmeltingoftheoverridingmantleand
generateslowdensity,calcalkalinemagmathatbuoyantlyrisestointrudeandbeextrudedthroughthelithosphere
oftheoverridingplate.Thislossofwaterisduetothedestabilizationofthemineralchloriteatapproximately40
60kmdepth.[2][3]Thisisthereasonforislandarcvolcanismatconsistentdistancesfromthesubductingslab:
becausethetemperaturepressureconditionsforfluxmeltingvolcanismduetochloritedestabilizationwillalways
occuratthesamedepth,thedistancefromthetrenchtothearcvolcanoesisdeterminedonlybythedipangleof
thesubductingslab.
Onthesubductingsideoftheislandarcisadeepandnarrowoceanictrench,whichisthetraceattheEarths
surfaceoftheboundarybetweenthedowngoingandoverridingplates.Thistrenchiscreatedbythegravitational
pulloftherelativelydensesubductingplatepullingtheleadingedgeoftheplatedownward.Multipleearthquakes
occuralongthissubductionboundarywiththeseismichypocenterslocatedatincreasingdepthundertheisland
arc:thesequakesdefinetheWadatiBenioffzones.Thevolcanicarcformswhenthesubductingplatereachesa
depthofabout100km.
Oceanbasinsthatarebeingreducedbysubductionarecalled'remnantoceans'astheywillslowlybeshrunkenout
ofexistenceandcrushedinthesubsequentorogeniccollision.Thisprocesshashappenedoverandoverinthe
geologichistoryoftheEarth.
Intherockrecord,volcanicarcscanbeseenasthevolcanicrocksthemselves,butbecausevolcanicrockiseasily
weatheredanderoded,itismoretypicalthattheyareseenasplutonicrocks,therocksthatformedunderneaththe
arc(e.g.theSierraNevadabatholith),orinthesedimentaryrecordaslithicsandstones.

CascadeVolcanicArc,
acontinentalvolcanic
arc

Examples

TheAleutianArc,with
bothoceanicand
continentalparts.

TwoclassicexamplesofoceanicislandarcsaretheMarianaIslandsinthewesternPacificOceanandtheLesser
AntillesinthewesternAtlanticOcean.TheCascadeVolcanicArcinwesternNorthAmericaandtheAndesalong
thewesternedgeofSouthAmericaareexamplesofcontinentalvolcanicarcs.Thebestexamplesofvolcanicarcs
withbothsetsofcharacteristicsareintheNorthPacific,withtheAleutianArcconsistingoftheAleutianIslands
andtheirextensiontheAleutianRangeontheAlaskaPeninsula,andtheKurilKamchatkaArccomprisingthe
KurilIslandsandsouthernKamchatkaPeninsula.

Continentalarcs
CascadeVolcanicArc
AlaskaPeninsulaandAleutianRange
Kamchatka
Andes
NorthVolcanicZone
CentralVolcanicZone
SouthVolcanicZone
AustralVolcanicZone
CentralAmericaVolcanicArc

Islandarcs
AleutianIslands
KurilIslands
NortheasternJapanarc
JapaneseArchipelagoincludingtheRyukyuIslands
IzuBoninMarianaArc:
IzuIslands
BoninIslands
MarianaIslands
LuzonVolcanicArc
Philippines
TongaandKermadecIslands
AndamanandNicobarIslands
MentawaiIslands
SundaArc
LesserSundaIslands
TanimbarandKaiIslands
SolomonIslands
SouthAegeanVolcanicArc
Egean,orHellenicarc
LesserAntilles,includingtheLeewardAntilles
ScotiaArc:
SouthSandwichIslands
MascareneIslands

Ancientislandarcs
InsularIslands
IntermontaneIslands
Sakhalinislandarc

Seealso

Backarcbasin
Highisland
Islandarc
Subductionzonemetamorphism
Volcanicfield

References
1."VolcanicarcdefinitionfromtheDictionaryofGeology".Retrieved20141101.
2.Grove,T.L.,N.Chatterjee,S.W.Parman,andE.Mdard(2006),TheInfluenceofH2OonMantleWedgeMelting,
EarthandPlanetaryScienceLetters,249,7489.
3.Grove,T.L.,C.B.Till,N.Chatterjee,andE.Mdard(submitted2008),TransportofH2Oinsubductionzonesandits
roleintheformationandlocationofarcvolcanoes,Nature.

SubductionZoneVolcanism(http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/subducvolc_page.html)
TectonicsandVolcanoesofJapan(http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_asia/japan_tec.
html)
USGS:IslandArc,Oceanic,andContinentalVolcanoes(http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/VolcanoTypes/i
sland_oceanic_continental.html)
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Categories: Volcanicarcs Archipelagoes Platetectonics Coastalandoceaniclandforms
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