1. ANDEAN REGION

2. plates  This plate between the South American plate and the subduction of the Nazca and the Antarctic plate  This plate boundary is located along the west coast of south America where the plate borders the countries of:  Colombia  Ecuador  Peru  Bolivia

3. type of plate boundary  It is a destructive plate boundary between the oceanic crust of the Nazca plate and the continental crust of the South American plate

4. processes that are involved  At this destructive plate boundary we find the oceanic crust of the Nazca plate subducting under the South American plate which causes it to melt into magma. This creates pressure which forces the hot magma up cracks (vents) in the earths crust, which eventually come out of the volcano's in the active volcanic zone.  Since the plates are moving into each other, and the continental crust can neither sink nor be destroyed, the material between them is forced upwards to form the Andes mountain range.

5. patterns of hazards  There have been:  2 earthquakes today  11 earthquakes in the past 7 days  49 earthquakes in the past month  The largest earthquake in South America:  today: 4.5 in Carúpano, Sucre, Venezuela  this week: 5.3 in San Juan, San Juan, Argentina  this month: 5.9 in Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile  There is estimated that an earthquake of magnitude 8.9 on the Richter scale is possible. It is predicted to threaten 2mil people who live in the area.

6. impacts – negative  Tectonic activity is very common in this area, and its damage is dependant on its location and strength  Typical impacts include:  Landslides  Possible tsunamis  Building and land (agriculture) damage Homelessness and loss of business  Deaths and injuries

7. impacts- positive  Tourist destination  Fresh mountain water  Precious minerals are very abundant in this region:  Mining in the Andes of Chile and Peru as the first and third major producers of copper in the world.  Peru also contains the largest goldmine in the world  Agriculture also benefits from the mineral rich soils