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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 Tonga–Kermadec subduction zone is a convergent plate boundary that stretches from the southwest of the Kermadec plate (northeast of New Zealand) to the northwest tip of the Tonga plate, with the Pacific plate being subducted under both the Kermadec and Tonga plates.
Subduction zones are areas where one lithospheric plate slides beneath another at a convergent boundary due to lithospheric 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 plate, and ...
Oblique subduction has led to rotation of microblocks about nearby poles of rotation (See also: Euler poles) in some oblique subduction zones. [39] In these regions, the trench parallel strike slip fault systems are less prominent. [12] This is because a portion of the trench parallel component is accommodated by the microblock rotation. [12]
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.
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 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).
This driving force is important when the slabs (or portions thereof) are not strongly attached to the rest of their respective tectonic plate. They cause both the subducting and overriding plate to move in the direction of the subduction zone. [1] This force occurs between two colliding plates where one is subducting beneath the other.