INTRODUCTION |
Rather than presenting our program for
the next twelve months, allow me to talk
on a subject perhaps of mutual interest
to all of us, but a subject which is my
first and only love - an insight on
Philippine volcanism.
The Philippine lies on westem part of
the Circum-Pacific and in this area
there are about 220 quatemary active and
non-active volcanoes, at least a dozen
of which are active in historic times or
in solfataric stage, The Philippines
consist of several islands as a result
of collision of two major lithospheric
plates namely, the Southeast Asian and
Philippine sea plates, Six (6)major
subduction zones appear on these complex
volcanic arcs, and three (3) of them are
related to active volcanism in historic
times: The Manila trench, Negros Trench,
and the Philippine Trench. The other
subduction zones include the East Luzon
Trough and Cotabato Trench. Both
trenches became active only recently but
they lack volcanism and/or well
developed seismic zones. The last major
trench is the Sulu Trench which is an
extinct arc system.
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