volcanic arc
Tectonic fire chain
A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanoes formed above a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate slides beneath another.
The descending plate releases water into the mantle, lowering the melting point of rock and generating magma that rises to form volcanoes.
Volcanic arcs curve because of Earth's spherical geometry—the Aleutian Islands and Japanese archipelago are classic examples.
When formed on oceanic crust, they create island arcs; on continental crust, they form mountain ranges like the Andes.
- accretionary wedgeSediment pile at subduction zones
- calderaCollapsed volcanic summit basin
- subduction zoneWhere one plate slides under another
- stratovolcanoLayered cone-shaped volcanic mountain
- trenchLong narrow excavation
asthenosphere · andesite · Wadati-Benioff zone · magma chamber · plate boundary · explosive eruption · plate tectonics · volcanic island · lava dome · Ring of Fire · tephra · pyroclastic flow · geothermal · island chain · mantle · partial melting · crater · Japan
- geologybedrock, fault lines, faults, rock, basalt
- volcanoesvolcanic eruption, Mount Fuji, volcanic eruptions, caldera, lava
- Volcanic PlacesRing of Fire, Hawaii, Iceland, Indonesia, Yellowstone
- seafloorseabed, seafloor, ocean floor, mid-ocean ridge, sea bed
- volcanic featureslava, geyser, hot spring, crater, magma
- volcanic geologylava, magma, volcanic ash, volcanic rock, volcanic rocks