The Aleutian Arc is a large

volcanic arc A volcanic arc (also known as a magmatic arc) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc lo ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. It consists of a number of active and dormant volcanoes that have formed as a result of subduction along the

Aleutian Trench The Aleutian Trench (or Aleutian Trough) is an oceanic trench along a convergent plate boundary which runs along the southern coastline of Alaska and the Aleutian islands. The trench extends for from a triple junction in the west with the Ulak ...

. Although taking its name from the Aleutian Islands, this term is a geologic grouping rather than a geographic one, and the Aleutian Arc extends through the Alaska Peninsula following the

Aleutian Range The Aleutian Range is a major mountain range located in southwest Alaska. It extends from Chakachamna Lake (80 miles/130 km southwest of Anchorage) to Unimak Island, which is at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It includes all of the mountain ...

to the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

. The Aleutian Arc reflects subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacif ...

. It extends from the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

in the west to the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east ...

in the east. Unimak Pass at the southwestern end of the Alaska Peninsula marks the eastward transition from an intra-oceanic in the west to a continental arc in the east. Due to the arcuate geometry of the trench, the relative velocity vector changes from almost trench-normal in the Gulf of Alaska to almost trench-parallel in the west. Along the oceanic part of the subduction zone, convergence varies from per year to the north-northwest in the east to per year towards the northwest in the west.

Volcanoes

Volcanoes within this arc include: *

Mount Adagdak Mount Adagdak is a Pleistocene age stratovolcano on the northernmost extremity of Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Located about from Anchorage, the mountain is located about south of Cape Adagdak, for which it was named in 1948 by ...

Mount Akutan Mount Akutan, officially Akutan Peak, is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Akutan Peak, at , is the highest point on the caldera of the Akutan stratovolcano. Akutan contains a 2 km-wide caldera formed during a major explosiv ...

Mount Amak Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

Mount Amukta The undissected stratovolcano of Amukta volcano makes up most of nearly circular, 7.7-km-wide Amukta Island (Amuux̂tax̂ in Aleut). It is the westernmost of the Islands of Four Mountains chain. The cone, about 5.8 km in basal diameter and to ...

Mount Aniakchak Mount Aniakchak (russian: Аниакчак) is a 3,700-year-old volcanic caldera approximately in diameter, located in the Aleutian Range of Alaska, United States. Although a stratovolcano by composition, the pre-existing mountain collapsed in ...

Augustine Volcano Augustine Volcano ( Sugpiaq: ''Utakineq'';https://uafanlc.alaska.edu/Online/G977K1985a/G977K1985a_02.PDF Dena'ina: ''Chu Nula'') is a lava dome volcano in Alaska consisting of a central complex of summit lava domes and flows surrounded by an a ...

* Black Peak * Bogoslof Island * Mount Carlisle *

Mount Chiginagak Chiginagak Volcano is a stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula, located about 15 km NW of Chiginagak Bay. Eruptive history An unglaciated lava flow and an overlying pyroclastic-flow deposit extending east from the summit are the most recent ...

* Cleveland Volcano * Cold Bay Volcano *

Mount Dana Mount Dana is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. Its summit marks the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of , it is the second highest mountain in Yosemit ...

Davidof Volcano Davidof Volcano is a potentially active stratovolcano and caldera remnant in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, USA, from Anchorage. Located on the eponymous island, Davidof is part of the Rat Islands sub-chain. It is also part of the "Aleutian Kr ...

Mount Denison Mount Denison is a stratovolcano and one of the highest peaks on the Alaska Peninsula. Discovered in 1923 by Harvard professor Kirtley Fletcher Mather, the mountain was named for the geologist's alma mater, Denison University. The mountain's con ...

Devils Desk Devils Desk is a stratovolcano in Alaska's Katmai National Park, split between the Kodiak Island and Lake and Peninsula boroughs of that U.S. state. Its peak, which is located in Kodiak Island Borough, lies above sea level. It has an elevation ...

* Mount Douglas *

Mount Dutton Mount Dutton is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska, on the Alaska Peninsula. Geography Dutton lies just short of from King Cove, a fishing headquarters for the locality. Geologic activity Dutton is a highly ...

* Mount Emmons * Fourpeaked Mountain * Mount Frosty * Gareloi Volcano * Great Sitkin * Mount Gilbert *

Mount Griggs Mount Griggs, formerly known as Knife Peak Volcano, is a stratovolcano, which lies 10 km behind the volcanic arc defined by other Katmai group volcanoes. Although no historic eruptions have been reported from Mount Griggs, vigorously active ...

Hayes Volcano Hayes Volcano is a stratovolcano in southwestern Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, 135 km northwest of Anchorage, that was not discovered until 1975. It is responsible for a series of six major tephra layers in the Cook Inlet region of A ...

Mount Iliamna Iliamna Volcano, or Mount Iliamna ( Dena'ina: ''Ch’naqał’in''; Sugpiaq: ''Puyulek''), is a glacier-covered stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range in southwest Alaska. Located in the Chigmit Mountain subrange in Lake Cl ...

* Isanotski Peaks * Mount Kaguyak *

Mount Kanaga Kanaga Volcano, or Mount Kanaga, is a stratovolcano at the northern tip of Kanaga Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

Kasatochi Island Kasatochi Island ( ale, Qanan-tanax̂; russian: Касаточий остров), also known as Kasatochi volcano, is an active stratovolcano and part of the Andreanof Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands of southwestern Alaska. On 7 August 2 ...

Mount Katmai Mount Katmai (russian: Катмай) is a large stratovolcano (composite volcano) on the Alaska Peninsula in southern Alaska, located within Katmai National Park and Preserve. It is about in diameter with a central lake-filled caldera about i ...

* Mount Kialagvik *

Kiska Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is require ...

Korovin Volcano Korovin Volcano is one of four volcanic centers of the Atka Volcanic Complex, located near the town of Atka on the northeast part of Atka Island in the Aleutian Islands chain, Alaska, United States.

Mount Kukak Mount Kukak is an almost completely ice-covered stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula of Alaska, United States. Although the last eruption from Mount Kukak is unknown, it displays vigorous fumarolic A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in ...

* Mount Kupreanof * Mount Mageik *

Makushin Volcano The Makushin Volcano (also known as Mount Makushin) is an ice-covered stratovolcano located on Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Islands of the U.S. state of Alaska. With an elevation of , its summit is the highest point on the island. Makushin is ...

* Mount Martin *

Novarupta Novarupta (meaning "newly erupted" in Latin) is a volcano that was formed in 1912, located on the Alaska Peninsula on a slope of Trident Volcano in Katmai National Park and Preserve, about southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. Formed durin ...

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; russian: Нунивак, Nunivak) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at ...

Mount Okmok Mount Okmok is the highest point on the rim of Okmok Caldera (Unmagim Anatuu in Aleut) on the northeastern part of Umnak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands of Alaska. This wide circular caldera truncates the top of a large shield volcano. The ...

Mount Pavlof Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

Pavlof Sister Pavlof Sister is a stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ale, Alasxix̂; Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the m ...

Pogromni Volcano Pogromni Volcano is a stratovolcano on Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands. Near it are 5 cinder cones, and a mountain called Pogromni's Sister. Pogromni is old and eroded with a single glacier on its flank and base. Eruptions have been attri ...

* Mount Recheshnoi *

Mount Redoubt Redoubt Volcano, or Mount Redoubt ( Dena'ina: ''Bentuggezh K’enulgheli''), is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located at the head of the Chigmit Mountains subrange in Lake Clark N ...

* Saint Paul Island * Mount Seguam * Segula Island *

Semisopochnoi Island Semisopochnoi Island or Unyak Island (obsolete russian: Семисопочной, modern russian: Семисопочный Semisopochny "having seven hills"; ale, Unyax̂) is part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska ...

Mount Shishaldin Shishaldin Volcano, or Mount Shishaldin (), is a moderately active volcano on Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands chain of Alaska in the United States.

* Snowy Mountain *

Mount Spurr Mount Spurr ( Dena'ina: ''K'idazq'eni'') is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska, named after United States Geological Survey geologist and explorer Josiah Edward Spurr, who led an expedition to the area in 1898. The Alaska Volcano Obse ...

* Mount Steller *

Tanaga The Tanaga is an indigenous Filipino poem, traditionally in the Tagalog language. Format The Tanaga consists of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, with a ...

Trident Volcano Trident Volcano is an eroded volcanic complex on the Alaska Peninsula in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Up to 23 domes comprise the complex stratovolcano, with the greatest elevation of . The most recent major activity produced a dome in an amphi ...

* Ugashik-Peulik * Mount Veniaminof * Mount Vsevidof *

Mount Westdahl Westdahl Peak, also known as Westdahl Volcano or Mount Westdahl, is a stratovolcano of the Aleutian Range, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The volcano last erupted from November 29, 1991 to January 15, 1992.

Yantarni Volcano Yantarni Volcano is an andesitic stratovolcano in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is on the Alaska Peninsula, in the Aleutian Range, between Mount Aniakchak and Mount Chiginagak volcanoes. The volcano was not discovered until 1979 due to its remote ...

References

External links

Geoprisms.org: Aleutian Arc
Aleutian Islands Aleutian Range Volcanic arcs Volcanism of Alaska {{Volcanology-stub