Argentina

The active volcanoes of Argentina are located in the Andes mountains on the border with Chile and belong to the subduction zone of the Pacific underneath the Andean (South American) plate straddling the whole west coast of South America, see map below. Nevados Ojos del Salado volcano on the Chile/Argentina border is the world's highest volcano above sea level, but it rises only about 2,000 m above its base. The broad summit of Mauna Loa shield volcano is 2,700 m lower than Nevados Ojos del Salado, but its height above the base is almost 10 times that of the Andean volcano. In Argentina, the volcanic hazard is classified as  high  according to the information that is currently available. This means that the selected area is located less than 50 km from a volcano for which a potentially damaging eruption has been recorded in the past 2,000 years and that future damaging eruptions are possible.  Officials in Chile and Argentina ordered the evacuation of areas near the C...

The map b elow is a South America seismic hazard map with an estimated El Tigre Fault Location inset. The western part of Argentina not only shows a high hazard level but also contains the El Tigre Fault. The further you go east in Argentina, the less hazardous level there is with very low levels on the eastern edge. Argentina is in an active area of the South American plate, containing multiple faults. The El Tigre Fault is currently seismically active. The Gastre Fault Zone is an NW-SE striking dextral Jurassic Gastre fault system in central Patagonia, Argentina. The Huincul Fault Zone is an east-to-west oriented, continental scale fault that extends from the Neuquen Basin eastwards into the Argentine Shelf. The Magallanes-Fagnano Fault is a continental transform fault. The fault marks a transform boundary between the Scotia Plate and the South American Plate, cutting across the continental crust. The Reigolil-Pirihueico Fault is a second-order geological fault located in th...

Argentina is located on the South American Tectonic plate, the map below shows the area to the east of Argentina as passive, while the western side is active. The South American plate is touching the Nazca, Antarctic, and Scotia plates, and is on the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.  The plates in western Argentina are convergent, with the Nazca and Antarctic plates overriding the South American Plate. The plates to the south of Argentina are transforming between the Scotia and the South American plate. The southerly edge of the South American plate is a complex boundary with the Antarctic plate, the Scotia Plate, and the Sandwich Plate, while the westerly edge is a convergent boundary with the subducting Nazca Plate. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the...