South American Pacific margin as key target for geosciences and general culture

Abstract

Analysis of a relocated hypocentres database and of a global volcanic eruptions catalogue has made clear that the South American Pacific margin is a site of peculiar phenomena and related geophysical events. The already known maximum rate of deep earthquakes, the expected mean recurrence time of extreme magnitude earthquakes of a few tens of years, and the closeness of the region to the Nazca triple point – i.e. the region with the maximum rate of sea floor expansion – mean that the Andean margin deserves priority in preparing stable geophysical instrument arrays in anticipation of the next great earthquake, with the aim of increasing our understanding of the real nature of earthquakes, of the real geodynamics of active margins, and of global geodynamics and tectonics