- South America’s Andean Belt has significant volcanic arcs across Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile as the Nazca (primarily) and Antarctic Plates (southern tip of Chile) are subducted beneath the South American Plate. There are more active Holocene volcanoes 157# here than any other volcanic region in the world and 6# of the 47# “super eruptions”.
- There is a range of volcano-tectonic settings including rift systems, extensional zones, transpressional faults, and ridge and seamount subductions.
- The Northern Volcanic Zone has 19# volcanoes in Columbia and 55# volcanoes in Ecuador. The Central Volcanic Zone from Peru to Chile has 44# major and 18# minor active volcanic centres. The Southern Volcanic Zone in Chile and Argentina has 57# active Holocene volcanoes (41# in Chile, 9# in Argentina, and 7# on their border). The Austral Volcanic Zone in southern Chile and Argentina has at least 17# active volcanic centres.
- With so many active volcanic centres, these regions have significant geothermal energy potential:
- The Andes Centre of Excellence in Geothermal Energy (CEGA) in Chile has identified two volcanic complexes and five individual volcanoes with potential for high enthalpy geothermal energy production across more than 300# geothermal areas.
- Columbia has 15# active volcanoes with 9# areas of geothermal interest. Bolivia has evaluated two high enthalpy projects across ~70# geothermal areas. Ecuador has multiple potential geothermal fields.
