Andesite with distinctive calc-alkaline chemical composition and mineralogy (Table 1; Taylor and White, 1965) is the characteristic lava of the Quaternary volcanoes of the circum-Pacific island arcs. This was recognized at the turn of the century when andesites and associated rocks were referred to as the “Pacific Suite.” In contrast, products of intra-Pacific volcanoes are either alkaline or tholeiitic or a mixture of both. Along the eastern side of the Pacific, the boundary between these petrographic provinces is the continental margin of the Americas, but in the western and southwestern Pacific region, a line may be drawn between islands containing contrasting petrographic rock types. This boundary line is known as the andesite line (Fig. 1).
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© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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White, A.J.R. (1989). Andesite line . In: Petrology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_12
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