**1. Introduction**

The Arxan-Chaihe Volcanic Field (ACVF) is a young intracontinental volcanic field located in the northeast of China (**Figure 1**). The volcanic field is best defined as a monogenetic volcanic field on the basis of the presence of small-volume volcanic edifices, eruptive products and typical landforms such as tuff rings, scoria (cinder) cones, fissure controlled vents, and complex, but small volcanic cones being the key elements of the volcano types preserved. Early research in the region focused on characterizing the volcanology of the area, however, in recent years research on the active volcanism in Northeast (NE) China has shed some light on magma genesis, volcanic edifice growth and volcanic hazards at some iconic locations such as the Changbaishan volcano, Longgang or Wudalianchi Volcanic Fields (**Figure 1**) [1]. This research has defined the basic characteristics of some of these

### **Figure 1.**

*The general geological map of NE China: The red areas mark the active volcanic fields; the black areas indicate the ceased Cenozoic volcanic fields; also the solid lines in the territory of NE China are the markers of regional fault systems [1]. VF- volcanic field, VG – Volcanic group.*

volcanic regions, outlining the geochemical characteristics of the volcanic rocks and linking magma genesis to lithospheric processes. Volcanological research from NE. China are increasingly appearing in the international literature [2–8], however, there volcanic regions are largely unstudied. Among these is the Arxan-Chaihe Volcanic Field (ACVF). Several research outputs have made basic observations of the volcanic history of the region, but a systematic study has only recently been undertaken. Here we report a summary of volcanological observations made in the last six years of research on the ACVF. The aim of the study is to understand the eruptive history, volcanic stratigraphy, eruption styles and associated volcanic hazards that may be associated with the ACVF.

In this book chapter, we summarize the field-based observations of two major field campaigns to provide some basic descriptions of the recognized volcanic products including the most accessible and iconic volcanoes that form the core of the newly established Arxhan UNESCO Global Geopark [9]. We included Tongxin Lake on the northeast corner of ACVF, the Heaven Lake, Tuofengling Lake, Dichi Lake and Yanshan volcanic group (informally identified as the "Triple Vent") (**Figure 2**) to

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*Basic Volcanic Elements of the Arxan-Chaihe Volcanic Field, Inner Mongolia, NE China*

**Figure 2.**

*mentioned in the text.*

*The map of vent distributions of ACVF (red dots) in relationship with the patters indicating the distributions of volcanic eruptive products from previous research [10]. Numbers refer to locations* 

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94134*
