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The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andean cordillera in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
, and
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. It is formed as a result of
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
of the
Nazca plate The Nazca plate or Nasca plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru– ...
and Antarctic plate underneath the
South American plate The South American plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid ...
. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones which are separated by volcanic gaps. The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style, products, and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano belongs to, there are significant differences within volcanic zones and even between neighboring volcanoes. Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic Belt has a broad range of volcano-tectonic settings, as it has rift systems and extensional zones, transpressional faults, subduction of
mid-ocean ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a undersea mountain range, seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading ...
s and
seamount A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...
chains as well as a large range of crustal thicknesses and
magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...
ascent paths and different amounts of crustal assimilations. Romeral in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
is the northernmost active member of the Andean Volcanic Belt. South of latitude 49° S within the Austral Volcanic Zone volcanic activity decreases with the southernmost volcano Fueguino in
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
archipelago.


Volcanic zones

The Andean Volcanic Belt is segmented into four main areas of active volcanism; the Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral volcanic zones, each of which is a separate continental
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 ...
.


Northern Volcanic Zone

The Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) extends from
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
to
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and includes all volcanoes on the continental mainland of these countries. Of the volcanoes in this zone, 55 are located in Ecuador, while 19 are in Colombia. In Ecuador, the volcanoes are located in the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Real while in Colombia they are located in the
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and Central Ranges. The Pliocene Iza-Paipa volcanic complex in Boyacá, in the Eastern Ranges is the northernmost manifestation of the Northern Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcanic arc has formed due to
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
of the
Nazca plate The Nazca plate or Nasca plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru– ...
underneath western South America. Some volcanoes of the Northern Volcanic Zone, such as Galeras and
Nevado del Ruiz Nevado del Ruiz (), also known as La Mesa de Herveo () is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, being the highest point of both. It is located about west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolca ...
that lie in densely populated highland areas, are significant sources of hazards. It has been estimated that crustal thickness beneath this region varies from around 40 to perhaps more than .
Sangay Sangay (also known as Macas, Sanagay, or Sangai) is an Volcano#Active, active stratovolcano in central Ecuador. It exhibits mostly Strombolian eruption, strombolian activity. Geologically, Sangay marks the southern boundary of the Northern Volc ...
is the southernmost volcano of the Northern Volcanic Zone. The
Geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
Institute at the National Polytechnic School in
Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
, Ecuador houses an international team of seismologists and volcanologists whose responsibility is to monitor
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
's numerous active
volcanoes A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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 fo ...
in the Andean Volcanic Belt (which is part of the
Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
) and the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
.


Central Volcanic Zone

The Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ) is a volcanic arc in western South America and is one of the four volcanic zones of the Andes. The Central Volcanic Zone extends from
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
to
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and forms the western boundary of the
Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
plateau. The volcanic arc has formed due to subduction of the Nazca plate under western South America along the Peru–Chile Trench. To the south, the CVZ is limited by the ''Pampean flat-slab segment'' or ''Norte Chico flat-slab segment'', a region devoid of volcanism due to a lower subduction angle caused by the subduction of Juan Fernández Ridge. The CVZ is characterized by a
continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary 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 '' si ...
that reaches a thickness of approximately . Within this zone, there are 44 major and 18 minor volcanic centers that are considered to be active. This volcanic zone also contains not less than six potentially active large silicic volcanic systems, which include those of the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex, as are Cerro Panizos, Pastos Grandes, Cerro Guacha, and La Pacana. Other silicic systems are Los Frailes ignimbrite plateau in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
, and the
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
complexes of Incapillo and Cerro Galán in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.


Southern Volcanic Zone

The South Volcanic Zone (SVZ) extends roughly from Central Chile's Andes at the latitude of
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, at ca. 33°S, to Cerro Arenales in
Aysén Region The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region (, , '), often shortened to Aysén Region or Aisén,Examples of name usage1, official regional government site refers to the region as "Región de Aysén"., Chile's official meteorological ...
at ca. 46°S, a distance of well over . The arc has formed due to the subduction of the Nazca plate under the South American plate along the Peru–Chile Trench. The northern boundary of the SVZ is marked by the flat-slab subduction of the Juan Fernández Ridge, which is believed to have produced a volcanic gap called the Pampean flat-slab segment in the Norte Chico region since the late
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...
. The southern end of the SVZ is marked by the Chile triple junction where the Chile Rise subducts under South America at the
Taitao Peninsula The Taitao Peninsula ( Spanish: ''Península de Taitao'') is a westward-facing landmass on the south-central Pacific west coast of Chile. The peninsula is connected to the mainland via the narrow Isthmus of Ofqui, over which tribal peoples and ea ...
, giving origin to the ''Patagonian Volcanic Gap''. Further south lies the Austral Volcanic Zone. From north to south the Southern Volcanic Zone is divided into four segments according to the characteristics of the
continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary 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 '' si ...
, volcanoes and
volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...
s: *Northern SVZ (NSVZ; 33°S–34°30′S) *Transitional SVZ (TSVZ; 34°30′S–37°S) *Central SVZ (CSVZ; 37°S–41.5°S) *Southern SVZ (SSVZ: 41.5°S–46°S) In Central Southern Volcanic Zone and Southern Southern Volcanic Zone, magma ascent occur primarily by the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault. The Principal Cordillera of Andes (east Santiago) rose in late Cenozoic and became extensively glaciated about one million years ago. This meant lavas from NSVZ volcanoes begun to be channeled along a network of glacial valleys ever since. The Maipo caldera exploded about 450 thousand years ago, leaving behind copious amounts of ash and ignimbrite rock that can be observed today both in Chile and Argentina. During the
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Nazca and the
South American plate The South American plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid ...
from per year to per year 2–3 million years ago contributed to a narrowing of the southern SVZ that occurred possibly 1.6 million years ago. The southern part of the SVZ retained vigorous activity only in the west, especially around the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone, while eastern volcanoes such as Tronador and Cerro Pantoja became extinct. The magmas of modern (
Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
) volcanoes in the Transitional Southern Volcanic Zone are derived from heterogenous sources in the
Earth's mantle Earth's mantle is a layer of silicate mineral, silicate rock between the Earth's crust, crust and the Earth's outer core, outer core. It has a mass of and makes up 67% of the mass of Earth. It has a thickness of making up about 46% of Earth's ...
. Many lesser parts of melts are derived from subducted
oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramaf ...
and subducted sediments. Towards the east, in the backarc region, the degree of melting in the mantle that originated volcanism is less than that of the subducted crust influences. Several volcanoes of the SVZ are being monitored by the Southern Andean Volcano Observatory (OVDAS) based in
Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...
. The volcanoes monitored have varied over time, but some, like Villarrica and Llaima, are monitored constantly. In recent years, there have been major eruptions at
Chaitén Chaitén (, ) is a Chilean List of towns in Chile, town, Communes of Chile, commune and former capital of the Palena Province in Los Lagos Region. The town is north of the mouth of Yelcho River, on the east coast of the Gulf of Corcovado. The town ...
(2008–2010), Cordón Caulle (2011) and Calbuco (2015).


Austral Volcanic Zone

The Austral Volcanic Zone (AVZ) is a
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 ...
in the Andes of southwestern South America. It is one of the four volcanic zones of the Andes. The AVZ extends south of the Patagonian Volcanic Gap to
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
archipelago, a distance of well over 600 mi (1,000 km). The arc has formed due to subduction of the Antarctic plate under the South American plate. Eruption products consist chiefly of alkaline
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
and basanite. Volcanism in the Austral Volcanic Zone is less vigorous than in the Southern Volcanic Zone. Recorded eruptions are rare due to the area being unexplored well into the 19th century; the cloudy weather of its western coast might also have prevented sightings of eruptions. The Austral Volcanic Zone hosts both glaciated stratovolcanoes as well as subglacial volcanoes under the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.


Volcanic gaps

The different volcanic zones are intercalated by volcanic gaps, zones that, despite lying at the right distance from an oceanic trench, lack volcanic activity. The Andes has three major volcanic gaps the ''Peruvian flat-slab segment'' (3 °S–15 °S), the ''Pampean flat-slab segment'' (27 °S–33 °S) and the ''Patagonian Volcanic Gap'' (46 °S–49 °S). The first one separates the Northern from the Central Volcanic Zone, the second the Central from the Southern and the last separates the Southern from the Austral Volcanic Zone. The Peruvian and Pampean gaps coincide with areas of flat slab (low angle) subduction and therefore the lack of volcanism is believed to be caused by the shallow dip of the subducting
Nazca plate The Nazca plate or Nasca plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru– ...
in these places. The shallow dip has in turn been explained by the subduction of the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernández Ridge for the Peruvian and Pampean gaps respectively. Since the Nazca and Juan Fernández Ridge are created by volcanic activity in Pacific hotspots (
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
and Juan Fernández) it can be said that volcanic activity in the Pacific is responsible for the suppression of volcanism in parts of the Andes. The Patagonian gap is different in nature as it is caused not by the subduction of an aseismic ridge but by the subduction of the Chile Rise, the boundary ridge between the Nazca and the Antarctic plate.


Peruvian gap

Between the latitudes of 3 °S–15 °S in Peru the last volcanic activity occurred 2.7 million years ago in
Cordillera Blanca The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "white range") is a mountain range in Peru that is part of the larger Andes range and extends for between 8°08' and 9°58'S and 77°00' and 77°52'W, in a northwesterly direction. It includes several peaks ove ...
. The lack of volcanism in central and northern Peru is widely attributed to a side effect of the flat-slab (low angle)
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
of the
Nazca plate The Nazca plate or Nasca plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru– ...
occurring there. While the subduction of the Nazca Ridge has often been credited for causing this flat-slab and hence the lack of volcanism, many researchers find the gap too wide to be explained by this alone. One hypothesis claims that the flat-slab is caused by the ongoing subduction of an oceanic plateau. This hypothetical plateau named ''Inca Plateau'' would be a mirror image of the Marquesas Plateau in the South Pacific.


Pampean gap

The Pampean gap or Norte Chico separates the Andes Central and Southern volcanic zones. A low
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
angle caused by the subduction of Juan Fernández Ridge has been pointed out as causing or contributing to the suppression of volcanism.


Magma path distribution

The distribution of magma paths in a volcanic system are typically controlled by the regional tectonic activity. In a typical setting, the magma path is thought to be parallel to the maximum stress (either in compressional or extensional stress regimes). In the case of the Andes, the maximum stress is oriented in the east–west direction as the Nazca plate is subducted underneath the South American plate in the eastern direction. Recent studies conducted by Tibaldi et al. have discovered that the magma paths and dyke distribution in the Andean Volcanic Belt are not parallel to the maximum stress (E-W direction). Instead, the magma path generally follows a north–south/Northwest-Southeast trend in the Andes. Tibaldi et al. concluded that the magma path distribution is actually controlled by pre-existing structures and crustal weaknesses in the crust rather than the regional stresses.


Back-arc volcanism

Back-arc The back-arc region is the area behind a volcanic arc. In island arc, island volcanic arcs, it consists of back-arc basins of oceanic crust with abyssal zone, abyssal depths, which may be separated by remnant arcs, similar to island arcs. In conti ...
volcanism is a significant phenomenon in Argentine
Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
and
Mendoza Province Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...
. Flat-slab
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
along the Peru–Chile Trench during the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...
has been pointed out as being responsible for back-arc volcanism in Mendoza and
Neuquén Province Neuquén () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west. It also me ...
during 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), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
. Notable back-arc volcanoes include Payun Matru, Agua Poca, Payun Liso, Pali-Aike Volcanic Field, Tromen, Cochiquito Volcanic Group and Puesto Cortaderas. Other significant back-arc volcanism regions include the
Argentine Northwest The Argentine Northwest (, NOA) is a geographic and historical region of Argentina comprising the provinces of Catamarca Province, Catamarca, Jujuy Province, Jujuy, La Rioja Province, Argentina, La Rioja, Salta Province, Salta, Santiago del Estero ...
where the Galán Caldera is located and the Andean foothills of Ecuador's Cordillera Real, where a series of alkaline volcanoes like Sumaco develops.


Geothermal activity

The Andean Volcanic Belt represents a large geothermal province, with numerous
hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
, solfataras and
geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring with an intermittent water discharge ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Ea ...
s associated with its volcanoes. Already in the pre-Columbian era, the indigenous peoples used the various hot springs as places of healing. The geothermal exploration in the Chilean Andes was pioneered in the 1960s, although the site of El Tatio was investigated previously in the 1920s. Compared to neighboring
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
, the Andean region is poorly explored and exploited for geothermal resources.


See also

* List of volcanoes in Argentina * List of volcanoes in Bolivia * List of volcanoes in Chile * List of volcanoes in Peru


References


External links


B and 11B behaviour in the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes. Insights on the devolatilization of the slab and related magma genesis processes.OVDAS website
{{Andean volcanoes Volcanic belts Volcanoes of Peru Volcanoes of Ecuador Volcanoes of Argentina Volcanoes of Colombia Volcanoes of Bolivia Volcanoes of South America