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Subduction zone physics: Sinking of the oceanic lithosphere (sediments, crust, mantle), by the contrast of density between the cold and old lithosphere and the hot asthenospheric mantle wedge, is the strongest force (but not the only one) needed to drive plate motion and is the dominant mode of mantle convection. [citation needed]
The figure is a schematic diagram depicting a subduction zone. The subduction slab on the right enters the mantle with a varying temperature gradient while importing water in a downward motion. A model of the subducting Farallon slab under North America. In geology, the slab is a significant constituent of subduction zones. [1]
A diagram illustrating the interseismic, preseismic, and postseismic periods for a subduction zone earthquake cycle. The over-riding plate bends to accumulate stress during the interseismic period and rebounds back to its previous position to release stress.
Subduction zones host a unique variety of rock types formed by the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions a subducting slab encounters during its descent. [4] The metamorphic conditions the slab passes through in this process generates and alters water bearing (hydrous) mineral phases, releasing water into the mantle.
Subduction zones are areas where one lithospheric plate slides beneath another at a convergent boundary due to lithospheric density differences. These plates dip at an average of 45° but can vary. Subduction zones are often marked by an abundance of earthquakes, the result of internal deformation of the plate, convergence with the opposing ...
The subduction of bathymetric highs such as aseismic ridges, oceanic plateaus, and seamounts has been posited as the primary driver of flat slab subduction. [3] The Andean flat slab subduction zones, the Peruvian slab and the Pampean (Chilean) flat slab, are spatially correlated with the subduction of bathymetric highs, the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernandéz Ridge, respectively.
Diagram of a subduction zone. The megathrust fault lies on the top of the subducting slab where it is in contact with the overriding plate. The term megathrust refers to an extremely large thrust fault, typically formed at the plate interface along a subduction zone, such as the Sunda megathrust.
A Wadati–Benioff zone (also Benioff–Wadati zone or Benioff zone or Benioff seismic zone) is a planar zone of seismicity corresponding with the down-going slab in a subduction zone. [1] Differential motion along the zone produces numerous earthquakes , the foci of which may be as deep as about 670 km (420 mi).