Andesitic Volcanism and Seismicity around the Pacific

Abstract

Circum-Pacific andesites, with associated basalts and dacites, are erupted from linear island arcs and marginal continental ranges whose ocean-side borders coincide approximately with the continent-side boundaries of belts of shallow seismicity that parallel adjacent trenches. The lines of active volcanoes stand above elongate subcrustal regions delineated by the intersection of inclined Benioff seismic zones and the subhorizontal Gutenberg low-velocity zone. Close correlation between content of potash in erupted lavas and vertical depth to the Benioff zone suggests that andesitic volcanism has its origins in the mantle where magmas are generated by events associated with earthquakes of intermediate focal depth.