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Central America Volcanic Arc

Map of the Central American volcanic arc, with captions showing the location of several volcanoes – in the Mexico/Guatemala border: Tacaná; in Guatemala: Tajumulco, Santa Maria, Chicabal, Tolimán, Atitlán, Volcán de Fuego, Volcán de Agua, Pacaya, Chingo; in El Salvador: Apaneca Range, Chinchontepec or San Vicente, Chaparrastique or San Miguel, Chinameca and Conchagua; in Nicaragua: Cosiguina, Telica, Cerro Negro, Momotombo, Apoyeque-Chiltepe, Mombacho and Concepción; in Costa Rica: Orosí, Rincón de la Vieja, Miravalles, Arenal, Barva, Turrialba and Irazú; in Panama: Barú and La Yeguada.

The Central American Volcanic Arc (often abbreviated to CAVA) is a chain of volcanoes which extends parallel to the Pacific coastline of the Central American Isthmus, from Mexico to Panama. This volcanic arc, which has a length of 1,100 kilometers (680 mi)[1][2] is formed by an active subduction zone, with the Cocos plate subducting underneath the Caribbean plate,[3] the North American plate and the Panama plate.[4] Volcanic activity is recorded in the Central American region since the Permian.[4] Numerous volcanoes are spread throughout various Central American countries; many have been active in the geologic past, varying in intensity of their activity according to different factors.

  1. ^ Rose, W., Conway, F., Pullinger, C., Deino, A. and McIntosh, W., 1999. An improved age framework for late Quaternary silicic eruptions in northern Central America. Bulletin of Volcanology, 61(1-2), pp.106-120.
  2. ^ Whattam, S. and Stern, R., 2015. Arc magmatic evolution and the construction of continental crust at the Central American Volcanic Arc system. International Geology Review, 58(6), pp.653-686.
  3. ^ Álvarez-Gómez, J., Meijer, P., Martínez-Díaz, J. and Capote, R., 2008. Constraints from finite element modeling on the active tectonics of northern Central America and the Middle America Trench. Tectonics, 27(1)
  4. ^ a b Gazel, Esteban; Flores, Kennet E.; Carr, Michael J. (2021-05-30). "Architectural and Tectonic Control on the Segmentation of the Central American Volcanic Arc". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 49 (1): 495–521. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-082420-055108. ISSN 0084-6597.

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