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volcanic arc

American  

noun

  1. a curving chain of active volcanoes formed above a subduction zone and adjacent to a convergent plate boundary.

volcanic arc Scientific  
/ vŏl-kăn′ĭk,vôl- /

  1. A curved chain of volcanoes in the overriding tectonic plate of a subduction zone. Volcanic arcs form as the result of rising magma formed by the melting of the downgoing plate. They are curved because of the curvature of the Earth. The Andes mountains form a volcanic arc.

  2. See also island arc

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.