island arc
noun
a curved chain of islands, as the Aleutians or Antilles, usually convex toward the ocean and enclosing a deep-sea basin.
Origin of island arc
First recorded in 1905–10
Words nearby island arc
islamite,
islamize,
islamofascism,
islamophobia,
island,
island arc,
island flap,
island of the sun,
island universe,
island-hop,
islander
British Dictionary definitions for island arc
island arc
noun
an arc-shaped chain of islands, such as the Aleutian Islands or the Japanese Islands, usually lying at the edge of a Benioff zone, indicating volcanic activity where the oceanic lithosphere is descending into the earth's interior
Scientific definitions for island arc
island arc
A usually curved chain of volcanic islands bounded on the convex side by a deep oceanic trench. Island arcs form in the overriding tectonic plates of subduction zones as the result of rising melt from the downgoing plate. The arcs are curved because of the curvature of the Earth. The Aleutian Islands, in Alaska, are an island arc. An island arc is a kind of volcanic arc.