Volcanology and the Plate Tectonics

Abstract

Plate tectonics-related aspects of volcanoes and volcanology are reviewed. They include : 1. the reason why a paper with the title of the present paper did not appear in the early 1970’s, when such papers were written in other disciplines of Earth Sciences, 2. aseismic slabs beneath arc volcanic zones, 3. tectonic significance of an independent group of monogenetic volcanoes (IGMV) as contrasted to polygenetic volcanoes which occur in the region with crustal stress field more compressional (or less tensional) than what is indicated by the IGMV. In the last chapter, a model is presented to explain the repeated life histories of Hawaiian volcanoes which consist of principal and post-erosional periods separated by an erosion interval of a few Ma. A polygenetic volcano is constructed during the principal period and an IGMV during the post-erosional period. According to the model, the two periods are interpreted as surface expressions of heating (compressional) and subsequent cooling (tensional) stages, respectively, mainly by a vertical line heat source of, created within a fast-moving plate by a fixed hot spot.