ABSTRACT

Central America provides an accessible natural laboratory for the study of how tectonic and volcanic processes operate in tandem (Fig. 8.1). Two factors that make this region favorable for integrated tectonic-volcanic studies are that the outputs of the system are accessible for study in the onland arc, and that the oceanic inputs to arc systems are reasonably well constrained due to the large, rapidly expanding, and digital database of offshore geological and geophysical data (e.g., [1]) (Figs. 8.2 and 8.3).