Planetary Aspects of Volcanism: Insights Into the Volcano - Tectonic Relationship on Earth

There are many alternative definitions of a volcanic system, each focusing on different aspects of volcanic and/or magmatic activity. Although all of these definitions contribute to increase our understanding of volcanic phenomena, each was conceived with a specific aspect of volcanism in mind, therefore reducing its utility when problems beyond its own limits are considered, and perhaps more importantly, introducing subtle biases in the form in which we approach the study of this type of phenomena. In particular, the volcano-tectonic relationship most commonly used in volcanology textbooks seems to be biased towards volcanic activity on Earth, disregarding the presence of this type of phenomena in other planets, moons and even asteroids of our solar system. As a cursory examination of volcanism in the solar system reveals, the causes of volcanic activity deserve to be examined independently of any tectonic influence. Any model of volcanism of this type, however, needs to be flexible enough to accommodate tectonic variables if so required. In this work, such a flexible model of volcanism is outlined. This model is constructed by first exploring the form in which the Tectonic and the Volcanic systems are related to each other in different planets by using a mechanical analogy. Second, the analogy is used to identify key components of the volcanic system that need to be quantified first, therefore leading to the introduction of fundamental physical principles in the conceptual model of volcanism that is independent of the tectonic scenario. Third, the predictive capabilities of this model are compared to specific cases on Earth where the type of required information has been gathered previously. The results suggest that the physical constraints of the model are reasonable, therefore paving the road for further studies aiming to identify the tectonic contribution of volcanism on a case by case basis. Two corollaries of this study are that we need to learn to formulate the relevant questions before getting an accurate answer, and that there is a limitation concerning the type of conclusions that can be drawn about one system when observing a different one.