Related words. 1  poke noun. 2  poke around phrasal verb. 3  poke fun (at) phrase.  a pig in a poke 1  phrase. poke a hole in something phrase.  poke/shove/stick your nose into something 1  phrase. poke about phrasal verb at poke around.  poke fun at phrase at make fun of.
Because the subduction zone (which is also the plate boundary) is generally an arc-shape, geologists named those volcanoes volcanic arcs. A volcanic arc built on continental crust is called a continental arc; when built on oceanic crust the volcanoes form an island arc. Volcanic arcs are made of an arc-shaped chain of volcanoes. 2  The position of which could be continental or mid-ocean. 3  While an island arc must be offshore and does not necessarily be volcanic (e.g. Hellenic arc).
(The term volcanic arc is often confused with the term island arc. The former is a series of volcanoes, but not necessarily offshore. The latter is a series of islands, not necessarily composed solely of volcanoes.) Volcanoes are present in almost any mountain belt, but this does not make it a volcanic arc.