The Luzon Volcanic Arc is a chain of volcanoes in a north–south line across the

Luzon Strait The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This body of water is an i ...

from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

. The name "Luzon Volcanic Arc" was first proposed by Carl Bowin et al. to describe a series of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

to recent volcanoes due to eastward

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, ...

along the

Manila Trench The Manila Trench is an oceanic trench in the Pacific Ocean, located west of the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines. The trench reaches a depth of about , in contrast with the average depth of the South China Sea of about . It is ...

for approximately 1,200 km from the Coastal Range in Taiwan south to southern

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

in the Philippines. Islands that form part of the arc are the Eastern Coastal Range of

Green Island, Taiwan Green Island, also known by other names, is a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean about off the eastern coast of Taiwan. It is at high tide and at low tide, making it the seventh-largest island in Taiwan Area. The island is administ ...

Orchid Island Orchid Island, also known by other names, is a volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island. The island is part of Taiwan. It is separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is g ...

, Kaotai Rock,

Mavudis Mavulis Island is the northernmost of the Batanes Islands and the northernmost island in the Philippines. It is part of the province of Batanes. The island is uninhabited but it is guarded by the military. It is also frequently visited by local ...

or Y'ami Island, Mabudis, Siayan Island,

Itbayat Island Itbayat, officially the Municipality of Itbayat, ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Itbayat; tl, Bayan ng Itbayat), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 3,128 people. Itbayat ...

, Diogo Island,

Batan Island Batan Island ( ) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic province in the Philippines. It is the second largest of the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands in the country. Four of the six municipalities of Batanes are loca ...

, Unnamed volcano Ibuhos, Sabtang Island,

Babuyan The Babuyan Islands ( ), also known as the Babuyan Group of Islands, is an archipelago in the Philippines, located in the Luzon Strait north of the main island of Luzon and south of Taiwan via Bashi Channel to Luzon Strait. The archipelago consi ...

Didicas Didicas Volcano is an active volcanic island in the province of Cagayan in northern Philippines. The island, which was a submarine volcano and re-emerged from the sea in 1952, is NE of Camiguin Island, one of the Babuyan Islands in Luzon Strait. ...

Camiguin Island Camiguin, officially the Province of Camiguin ( ceb, Probinsya sa Camiguin; tl, Lalawigan ng Camiguin; Kamigin: ''Probinsya ta Kamigin''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bohol Sea, about off the northern coast of Min ...

. At the south end it terminates on

. The geochemistry of a number of volcanoes along the arc have been measured. There are five distinct geochemical domains within the arc (Mindoro, Bataan, Northern Luzon, Babuyan, and Taiwan). The geochemistry of the segments verified that the volcanoes are all subduction related (e.g., strong niobium anomalies and

calc-alkaline The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic m ...

characteristics). Isotopes and trace elements show unique geochemical characteristics in the north. Geochemical variations northward (Babuyan segment) were due to the subduction of sediments derived from the erosion of

continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called '' sial'' be ...

from China and Taiwan. There is a distinct increase in strontium isotopic ratios with latitude northward. This supports the conjecture that the variations were due to an increasing "crustal" component in subducted sediments as the continental blocks in the north were approached (China and Taiwan). The sediment thicknesses increased toward the north along the trench. The geochemistry and tectonic setting of the southern Luzon arc has been studied in detail. The geochemistry suggested that continental crust (probably from sediments) played an important role in the Macolod corridor and the Mindoro segments. Crustal collision had occurred in the south between the North Palawan-Mindoro crustal block and perhaps sediment contamination was derived from this region. This substantiates preliminary early isotope and trace element studies on the central Luzon arc Further work was done on the northern Luzon arc by McDermott et al. who found systematic variations in an assortment of isotopes with latitude not only in the lavas analyzed over the 500 km section of the arc but also in sediments along the trench. The only way to explain the latitudinal variations was through the addition of an increasing input of

terrigenous sediment In oceanography, terrigenous sediments are those derived from the erosion of rocks on land; that is, they are derived from ''terrestrial'' (as opposed to marine) environments. Consisting of sand, mud, and silt carried to sea by rivers, their c ...

s toward the continental regions in the north China and Taiwan During the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million ...

, 16-15 Ma, activity started in Taiwan.

volcanics are dated at 9.36 Ma, while north of Luzon, the volcanic islands are younger than 6.5 Ma.

References

{{coord missing, Philippines Volcanoes of the Luzon Strait Volcanic arcs

See also

References