Catálogo de eventos volcánicos ocurridos en el Ecuador continental desde el Plioceno y análisis de la frecuencia eruptiva

Abstract

The Ecuadorian volcanic arc is composed of at least 84 eruptive centers of Plio-Quaternary age, most of them have a long and complex evolutionary history. The systematic compilation of available geological, geochronological and stratigraphic information allowed the creation of the first "Catalog of Volcanic Events Occurred in Continental Ecuador" covering the Pliocene and Quaternary periods. Holocene volcanic records showed clustering patterns during in which is observed an increase of eruptive frequency (common clustering), synchronic with the increase of its size (order clustering). This is consistent with a non-stationary magmatic feeding model where the Ecuadorian volcanic arc can be understood as a single regional magmatic system fed intermittently. The analysis of the spatial location of explosive eruptions warned of the presence of two areas in the volcanic arc where the greatest eruptive activity occurred during the Holocene: (1) The southern zone (ZAS) and (2) the central zone (ZAC). Due to its extension, the number of volcanic centers that integrate it, petrological nature, and more common eruptive styles, it is possible to deduce the existence of a high magmatic productivity associated to the ZAC.