The Central American Volcanic Arc (often abbreviated to CAVA) is a chain of

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

which extends parallel to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coastline of the

Central American Isthmus Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Ce ...

, from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. This volcanic arc, which has a length of 1,100 kilometers (680 mi)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. is formed by an active

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

zone, with the

Cocos Plate The Cocos Plate is a young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America, named for Cocos Island, which rides upon it. The Cocos Plate was created approximately 23 million years ago when the Farallon Plate ...

subducting underneath the

Caribbean Plate The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. Roughly 3.2 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) in area, the Caribbean Plate borders ...

.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) The region has been volcanically and geologically active for at least the past several million years. Numerous volcanoes are spread throughout various Central American countries; many have been active in the geologic past, some more so than others.

Tectonic history

The Cocos

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

is along the western edge of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. The latter is along the western edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate and can be split into two distinct regimes. These regimes are demarcated roughly by the

Costa Rican Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

border and can be differentiated by the different tectonic histories of each respective area. The southern portion is part of a

magmatic arc Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

, while the northern one is associated with several active margins. Different types of faults also exist within each regime and further serve to differentiate the northern and southern regions’ geologic and tectonic histories from one another. This Caribbean-Cocos tectonic plate interaction can further explain the volcanism and geologic history of the region. While previous literature has shown a wide range of ages for the subduction of the Cocos plate, it is now believed that this subduction began between two million years ago and three million years ago (between 2 Ma and 3 Ma),MacMillan, I., Gans, P. and Alvarado, G., 2004. Middle Miocene to present plate tectonic history of the southern Central American Volcanic Arc. ''Tectonophysics'', 392(1-4), pp.325-348.Morell, K., Kirby, E., Fisher, D. and van Soest, M., 2012. Geomorphic and exhumational response of the Central American Volcanic Arc to Cocos Ridge subduction. ''Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth'', 117(B4) though the area has been geologically active since at least 12 Ma, as evidenced by plate and plate boundary movements, as well as scarp subduction in the area. A gap in volcanism in Central America between 12 Ma and 5 Ma is understood to have occurred as well. Furthermore, the subduction of the Cocos tectonic plate itself is not thought to be what caused some of the changes in volcanism associated with the Central American Volcanic Arc; while the subduction of the Cocos Ridge is a continual event that has influenced volcanism in Central America, the subduction of the

Coiba Coiba is the largest island in Central America, with an area of , off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Chiriquí. It is part of the Tolé District of that province. History Coiba separated from continental Panama about 12,000 to ...

Ridge—a microplate in the region-- is thought to be the triggering event that instigated changes in volcanic activity in the geologic past. In short, the interaction of numerous tectonic plates—namely the Cocos,

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

, and

plates—over the past several million years has helped facilitate the continual existence of the Central American Volcanic Arc, influencing the tectonic and broad geologic history of the area.

Contemporary regional overview

The Central American Volcanic Arc consists of hundreds of volcanic formations, including

stratovolcanoes A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and peri ...

, composite volcanos, calderas, and

lava domes In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

. From a depositional standpoint,

ash falls Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash i ...

, ash flows, and deposits of

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they rem ...

are prevalent throughout the region.Williams, S. and Self, S., 1983. The October 1902 plinian eruption of Santa Maria volcano, Guatemala. ''Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research'', 16(1-2), pp.33-56.

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

and

argon Argon is a chemical element with the symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third-most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

isotope dating has been used to date these deposits to the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

, and it is suspected that several of these volcanos have been sporadically active for much of the past 200,000 years. Some volcanos in the area have even produced large explosive eruptions in the recent past, including the

October 25 Events Pre-1600 * 285 (or 286) – Execution of Saints Crispin and Crispinian during the reign of Diocletian, now the patron saints of leather workers, curriers, and shoemakers. * 473 – Emperor Leo I acclaims his grandson Leo II a ...

, 1902, eruption of the Santa Maria volcano in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. This Plinian eruption spewed upwards of twenty cubic kilometers of ash almost thirty kilometers into the sky. Much of this ash was fine-grained, averaging less than 2 millimeters in size. Similarly,

Cerro Negro Cerro Negro is an active volcano in the Cordillera de los Maribios mountain range in Nicaragua, about from the village of Malpaisillo. It is a very new volcano, the youngest in Central America, having first appeared in April 1850. It consist ...

, a 250-meter-tall volcano in northwest

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, erupted in 1971, 1992, and 1995.Roggensack, K., Hervig, R., McKnight, S. and Williams, S., 1997. Explosive Basaltic Volcanism from Cerro Negro Volcano: Influence of Volatiles on Eruptive Style. ''Science'', 277(5332), pp.1639-1642. The two latter eruptions, occurring in the 1990’s, had similar magmatic compositions to one another, both broadly basaltic. However, as the water and carbon dioxide contents of each eruption were different—with the earlier eruption having higher levels of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

and

water vapor (99.9839 °C) , - , Boiling point , , - , specific gas constant , 461.5 J/( kg·K) , - , Heat of vaporization , 2.27 MJ/kg , - , Heat capacity , 1.864 kJ/(kg·K) Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous pha ...

, and the later eruption degassing many of its volatiles-- markedly different styles of eruption occurred, with the 1992 eruption of

much more explosive than its 1995 counterpart. Other volcanos in Central America include the Salvadorian Santa Ana,

Izalco Izalco (in Nawat: ''Itzalku'') is a municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador. Volcan Izalco is an icon of the country of El Salvador, a very young Volcano on the flank of Santa Ana volcano. From when it was born in 1770 until 1 ...

, and

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

volcanoes, the Nicaraguan

Masaya Masaya () is the capital city of Masaya Department in Nicaragua. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast of Managua. It is located just east of the Masaya Volcano, an active volcano from which the cit ...

volcano, and the Costa Rican

Miravalles The Miravalles Volcano is an andesitic stratovolcano in Costa Rica. The caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are e ...

, Irazú, and Poás volcanoes.Melián, G. et al., 2005. Subduction process and diffuse CO₂ degassing rates along Central America volcanic arc, ''Geophysical Research Abstracts'', Vol. 7, 09598, 2005 Many remain sporadically active to this day, and likely will continue to be active into the future, as geologic and tectonic processes continue to shape the region. File:Active Margin.svg, Graphical representation of a subduction zone File:VolcanesdeGuatemala00 D.png, Volcanic front of the

Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to: Places and mountains Mexico *Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona *Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico *S ...

Notes

References

* Abratis, M., 1998. Geochemical variations in magmatic rocks from southern Costa Rica as a consequence of Cocos Ridge subduction and uplift of the Cordillera de Talamanca. PhD thesis, Universitat zu Gottingen, p. 134. * 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) * Collins, L.S., Coates, A.G., Jackson, J.B.C., Obando, J.A., 1995. Timing and rates of emergence of the Limon and Bocas del Toro basins: Caribbean effects of Cocos Ridge subduction? In: Mann, P. (Ed.), Geologic and Tectonic Development of the Caribbean Plate Boundary in Southern Central America. Spec. Pap.-Geol. Soc. Am. 295, pp. 263– 289. * deBoer, J.Z., Drummond, M.S., Bordelon, M.J., Defant, M.J., Bellon, H., Maury, R.C., 1995. Cenozoic magmatic phases of the Costa Rican island arc (Cordillera de Talamanca). In: Mann, P. (Ed.), Geologic and Tectonic Development of the Caribbean Plate Boundary in Southern Central America. Spec. Pap.-Geol. Soc. Am. 295, pp. 35– 55. * Grafe, K., 1998. Exhumation and thermal evolution of the Cordillera de Talamanca (Costa Rica): constraints from fission track analysis, ⁴⁰Ar – ³⁹Ar and ⁸⁷Rb– ⁸⁷Sr chronology. PhD thesis, Universitat Tubingen, p. 113. * Lonsdale, P., Klitgord, K.D., 1978. Structure and tectonic history of the eastern Panama Basin. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 89, 981–999. * MacMillan, I., Gans, P. and Alvarado, G., 2004. Middle Miocene to present plate tectonic history of the southern Central American Volcanic Arc. ''Tectonophysics'', 392(1-4), pp.325-348. * Melián, G. et al., 2005. Subduction process and diffuse CO₂ degassing rates along Central America volcanic arc, ''Geophysical Research Abstracts'', Vol. 7, 09598, 2005 * Morell, K., Kirby, E., Fisher, D. and van Soest, M., 2012. Geomorphic and exhumational response of the Central American Volcanic Arc to Cocos Ridge subduction. ''Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth'', 117(B4) * Roggensack, K., Hervig, R., McKnight, S. and Williams, S., 1997. Explosive Basaltic Volcanism from Cerro Negro Volcano: Influence of Volatiles on Eruptive Style. ''Science'', 277(5332), pp.1639-1642. * 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. * 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. * Williams, S. and Self, S., 1983. The October 1902 plinian eruption of Santa Maria volcano, Guatemala. ''Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research'', 16(1-2), pp.33-56. {{coord, 10, 26, 31, N, 84, 41, 17, W, type:mountain_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Volcanoes of Guatemala Volcanoes of El Salvador Volcanoes of Honduras Volcanoes of Nicaragua Volcanoes of Costa Rica Volcanoes of Panama Regions of Central America Volcanic arcs