What is Volcanoes of South America?
[[File:Oceanic-continental convergence Fig21oceancont.gif|thumb|300px|Simplified sketch of the present-situation along most of the Andes]] The '''volcanoes of South America''' are part of the [[Pacific Ring of Fire]]. Most of them are along the backbone of the [[Andes]]. The Andes, together with the volcanoes, has been produced by the movement of the [[Americas]] towards the west. This has been happening for a long time, certainly 60 million years or more. This [[continental drift]] leads to [[subduction]] of [[plate tectonics|oceanic plate]]s beneath the [[continental plate]]s of the land mass. In turn, this produced the mountain ranges ([[orogeny]]) and the volcanic activity. A rather different cause is at work on the [[Galápagos Islands]]. There, a [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]] under the plate caused the islands and their volcanoes to rise up from the sea floor. ==Andes== ===Bolivia=== The country of [[Bolivia]] hosts numerous active and extinct [[volcanoes]] across its territory. The active volcanoes are located in western Bolivia where they make up the western limit of the [[Altiplano]] plateau. Many of the active volcanoes are international mountains shared with [[Chile]].<ref>Baker, M.C.W. and Francis, P.W. 1978. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V61-473FFWF-75-1&_cdi=5801&_user=651519&_pii=0012821X78900080&_orig=search&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F1978&_sk=999589997&view=c&wchp=dGLzVlz-zSkWA&md5=9afa9d66f5755895c4eb958e68a05da6&ie=/sdarticle.pdf UPPER CENOZOIC VOLCANISM IN THE CENTRAL ANDES - AGES AND VOLUMES]{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Apart from Andean volcanoes, Bolivia has the remnants of ancient volcanoes around the [[Precambrian]] Guaporé Shield in the eastern part of the country. ===Chile=== [[Image:Llaima eruption2 crop.jpg|thumb|right|[[Llaima|Llaima's]] 2008 eruption]] Earthquake activity in Chile is related to [[subduction]] of the [[Nazca Plate]] to the east. Chile notably holds the record for the largest [[earthqu