Ryukyu Arc

E45212

The Ryukyu Arc is a chain of volcanic islands and submarine features stretching from southern Japan toward Taiwan, formed along a convergent plate boundary in the western Pacific.


Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf island arc
subduction zone system
tectonic arc
adjacentTo Okinawa Trough
Ryukyu Trench
associatedWith back-arc spreading
hydrothermal activity
tsunami-generating earthquakes
borderedBy East China Sea to the northwest
Philippine Sea to the southeast
characterizedBy active volcanism
back-arc extension
frequent earthquakes
steep oceanic trench
country Japan
extendsFrom southern Japan
extendsToward Taiwan, Province of China
surface form: Taiwan
formedBy convergent plate boundary
subduction of Philippine Sea Plate beneath Eurasian Plate
geologicalFeature island chain
submarine ridge system
volcanic arc
hasAge Cenozoic
hasGeologicalProcess arc magmatism
crustal extension in back-arc region
oceanic plate subduction
hasMaximumElevation Mount Omoto-dake (Ishigaki Island)
hasPart Amami Islands
Daitō Islands
surface form: Daito Islands

Miyako Islands
Okinawa Island
surface form: Okinawa Islands

Okinawa Trough
Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Trench
Ryukyu back-arc basin
Yaeyama Islands
hasVolcanismType arc volcanism
subduction-related volcanism
locatedIn East China Sea
surface form: East China Sea region

western Pacific Ocean
overlies Philippine Sea Plate
parallelTo Ryukyu Trench
partOf Japanese island arcs
Pacific Ring of Fire
separates Philippine Sea from East China Sea
tectonicSetting Philippine Sea Plate
surface form: Philippine Sea Plate–Eurasian Plate boundary
trend southwest–northeast

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Philippine Sea hasIslandArc Ryukyu Arc
Sakurajima volcanicArc Ryukyu Arc