Rivers from Volcanic Island Arcs: The subduction weathering factory

Abstract

Here the focus is on the geochemistry of rivers draining volcanic arc regions. Although data are rather sparse, first order estimates show that volcanic arc settings are amongst the faster eroding regions of the Earth because they combine high precipitation regimes with high hydrothermal contributions in which increased temperature and increased acidity favor water–rock interaction. The hydrothermal contribution tends to obliterate the effect of climate and shows the importance of better evaluating the hydrothermal input from subduction zones, and the parameters that control it.