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133-769: The Boso triple junction is named after the Bōsō Peninsula . It is formed from the junction of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc where the Izu–Bonin Trench meets with the Japan Trench and the Sagami Trench . Located some 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Boso triple junction, Tokyo is subject to quakes and tsunamis generated from slips along this junction. Furthermore, there is a large populated region along

266-505: A reflexive verb . The lower plate itself is the subject. It subducts, in the sense of retreat, or removes itself, and while doing so, is the "subducting plate". Moreover, the word slab is specifically attached to the "subducting plate", even though in English the upper plate is just as much of a slab. The upper plate is left hanging, so to speak. To express it geology must switch to a different verb, typically to override . The upper plate,

399-491: A 3 m thick, bright yellow hydrothermal deposit and about 60 m of alkali olivine basalt , 157.4±0.5 Ma old ( Pringle 1992 ). The deep structure of the IBM system has been imaged using a variety of geophysical techniques . This section provides an overview of these data, including a discussion of mantle structure at depths >200 km. Spatial patterns of seismicity are essential for locating and understanding

532-600: A broad area, from the Palau–Kyushu Ridge to the IBM trench (see first-right figure). In general, the oldest components are farthest west, but a complete record of evolution is preserved in the forearc. The IBM subduction zone began as part of a hemispheric-scale foundering of old, dense lithosphere in the Western Pacific ( Stern & Bloomer 1992 ). The beginning of true subduction localized the magmatic arc close to its present position, about 200 km away from

665-627: A complex system of thrusts that continue offshore eastward to the Japan Trench . The intersection of the IBM, Japan, and Sagami trenches at the Boso Triple Junction one of only two trench-trench-trench triple junctions on Earth. The IBM arc system is bounded on the east by a very deep trench, which ranges from almost 11 km deep in the Challenger Deep to less than 3 km where the Ogasawara Plateau enters

798-406: A consequence of the rigidity of the plate. The point where the slab begins to plunge downwards is marked by an oceanic trench . Oceanic trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Beyond the trench is the forearc portion of the overriding plate. Depending on sedimentation rates, the forearc may include an accretionary wedge of sediments scraped off the subducting slab and accreted to

931-460: A larger portion of Earth's crust to deform in a more brittle fashion than it would in a normal geothermal gradient setting. Because earthquakes can occur only when a rock is deforming in a brittle fashion, subduction zones can cause large earthquakes. If such a quake causes rapid deformation of the sea floor, there is potential for tsunamis . The largest tsunami ever recorded happened due to a mega-thrust earthquake on December 26, 2004 . The earthquake

1064-873: A metastable olivine wedge in the slab. Recent work suggests that compositional variations in the subducting slab may also contribute to double seismic zone ( Abers 1996 ), or that DSZs represent the locus of serpentine dehydration in the slab ( Peacock 2001 ). Bathymetry of the Mariana arc region ( Baker et al. 2008 ), showing all 51 edifices presently named along the volcanic front between 12°30’N and 23°10’N. Hydrothermally or volcanically active submarine edifices are labeled red; active subaerial edifices are labeled green. Inactive submarine and subaerial edifices are labeled in smaller black and green font, respectively. For all edifices, caldera labels are in bold italics. Black circles (20 km diameter) identify those volcanic centers composed of multiple individual edifices. Solid red line

1197-457: A minimum estimate of how far the continent has subducted. The results show at least a minimum of 229 kilometers of subduction of the northern Australian continental plate. Another example may be the continued northward motion of India, which is subducting beneath Asia. The collision between the two continents initiated around 50 my ago, but is still active. Oceanic-Oceanic plate subduction zones comprise roughly 40% of all subduction zone margins on

1330-469: A point of no return. Sections of crustal or intraoceanic arc crust greater than 15 km (9.3 mi) in thickness or oceanic plateau greater than 30 km (19 mi) in thickness can disrupt subduction. However, island arcs subducted end-on may cause only local disruption, while an arc arriving parallel to the zone can shut it down. This has happened with the Ontong Java Plateau and

1463-531: A population of almost 700 volcanoes, of which at least 200 are submerged ( de Ronde et al. 2003 ). Baker et al. 2008 estimated that intraoceanic arcs combined may contribute hydrothermal emissions equal to ~10% of that from the global mid-ocean ridge system. Guam in the southern IBM arc system is where Magellan first landed after his epic crossing of the Pacific Ocean in 1521. The Bonin Islands were

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1596-563: A region of reduced shallow seismicity (≤70 km) and an absence of deep (≥ 300 km) events beneath the Volcano Islands adjacent to the junction of the Izu Bonin and Mariana trenches, where the trench trends nearly parallel to the convergence vector. More recently, Engdahl, van der Hilst & Buland 1998 provided an earthquake catalog containing improved locations (Figure 10). This data set shows that, beneath northern IBM,

1729-475: A series of minerals in these slabs such as serpentine can be stable at different pressures within the slab geotherms, and may transport significant amount of water into the Earth's interior. As plates sink and heat up, released fluids can trigger seismicity and induce melting within the subducted plate and in the overlying mantle wedge. This type of melting selectively concentrates volatiles and transports them into

1862-661: A significant stop for water and supplies for New England whaling during the early 19th century. At that time they were known as the Peel Islands. Terrible battles were fought on the islands of Saipan and Iwo Jima in 1944 and 1945; many young Japanese and American soldiers died in these battles. George H. W. Bush was shot down in 1945 near Chichijima in the Bonin Islands. Twelve Japanese seamen were stranded in June 1944 on volcanic Anatahan for seven years, along with

1995-411: A steeper angle is characterized by the formation of back-arc basins . According to the theory of plate tectonics , the Earth's lithosphere , its rigid outer shell, is broken into sixteen larger tectonic plates and several smaller plates. These plates are in slow motion, due mostly to the pull force of subducting lithosphere. Sinking lithosphere at subduction zones are a part of convection cells in

2128-431: A trench starts to bend just outboard of the trench; the seafloor is elevated into a broad swell that is a few hundred meters high and referred to as the "outer trench bulge" or "outer trench rise". The about-to-be subducted plate is highly faulted, allowing seawater to penetrate into the plate interior, where hydration of mantle peridotite may generate serpentinite . Serpentinite thus generated may carry water deep into

2261-510: A zone of shortening and crustal thickening in which there may be extensive folding and thrust faulting . If the angle of subduction steepens or rolls back, the upper plate lithosphere will be put in tension instead, often producing a back-arc basin . The arc-trench complex is the surface expression of a much deeper structure. Though not directly accessible, the deeper portions can be studied using geophysics and geochemistry . Subduction zones are defined by an inclined zone of earthquakes ,

2394-418: Is "consumed", which happens the geological moment the lower plate slips under, even though it may persist for some time until its remelting and dissipation. In this conceptual model, plate is continually being used up. The identity of the subject, the consumer, or agent of consumption, is left unstated. Some sources accept this subject-object construct. Geology makes to subduct into an intransitive verb and

2527-460: Is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second plate, the heavier plate dives beneath the other and sinks into the mantle. A region where this process occurs is known as a subduction zone , and its surface expression

2660-555: Is a typical pelagic stratigraphy , accumulated mostly in the Cretaceous but also in the last 7 million years (late Neogene ) built on a basement of Early Cretaceous oceanic crust. The lowermost portion is carbonate and chert, the next layer is very chert-rich, the third layer is clay-rich. This is followed by a long depositional hiatus before sedimentation resumes ~6.5 Ma (Late Miocene ), with deposition of volcanic ash, clay, and windblown dust. The stratigraphy east of

2793-499: Is accreted to (scraped off) the continent, resulting in exotic terranes . The collision of this oceanic material causes crustal thickening and mountain-building. The accreted material is often referred to as an accretionary wedge or prism. These accretionary wedges can be associated with ophiolites (uplifted ocean crust consisting of sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dykes, gabbro, and peridotite). Subduction may also cause orogeny without bringing in oceanic material that accretes to

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2926-541: Is also punctuated by inter-arc rifts. The Bonin segment to the south of the Sofugan Tectonic Line contains mostly submarine volcanoes and also some that rise slightly above sealevel, such as Nishino-shima . The Bonin segment is characterized by a deep basin, the Ogasawara Trough, between the magmatic arc and the Bonin Islands forearc uplift. The highest elevations in the IBM arc (not including

3059-496: Is characterized by low geothermal gradients and the associated formation of high-pressure low-temperature rocks such as eclogite and blueschist . Likewise, rock assemblages called ophiolites , associated with modern-style subduction, also indicate such conditions. Eclogite xenoliths found in the North China Craton provide evidence that modern-style subduction occurred at least as early as 1.8  Ga ago in

3192-493: Is driven mostly by the negative buoyancy of the dense subducting lithosphere. The down-going slab sinks into the mantle largely under its own weight. Earthquakes are common along subduction zones, and fluids released by the subducting plate trigger volcanism in the overriding plate. If the subducting plate sinks at a shallow angle, the overriding plate develops a belt of deformation characterized by crustal thickening, mountain building , and metamorphism . Subduction at

3325-444: Is fairly well understood, the process by which subduction is initiated remains a matter of discussion and continuing study. Subduction can begin spontaneously if the denser oceanic lithosphere can founder and sink beneath the adjacent oceanic or continental lithosphere through vertical forcing only; alternatively, existing plate motions can induce new subduction zones by horizontally forcing the oceanic lithosphere to rupture and sink into

3458-614: Is found behind the Aleutian Trench subduction zone in Alaska. Volcanoes that occur above subduction zones, such as Mount St. Helens , Mount Etna , and Mount Fuji , lie approximately one hundred kilometers from the trench in arcuate chains called volcanic arcs . Plutons, like Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, generally form 10–50 km below the volcanoes within the volcanic arcs and are only visible on

3591-447: Is known as an arc-trench complex . The process of subduction has created most of the Earth's continental crust. Rates of subduction are typically measured in centimeters per year, with rates of convergence as high as 11 cm/year. Subduction is possible because the cold and rigid oceanic lithosphere is slightly denser than the underlying asthenosphere , the hot, ductile layer in the upper mantle . Once initiated, stable subduction

3724-465: Is markedly different from the region to the north. The forearc region is very narrow and the intersection of backarc basin spreading axis with the arc magmatic systems is complex. Everything on the Pacific plate that enters the IBM trench is subducted. The next section discusses some modifications of the lithosphere just prior to its descent and the age and composition of oceanic crust and sediments on

3857-601: Is minor relative motion between PH and CR; furthermore, CR does not feed the IBM Subduction Factory, so it is not discussed further. The North American Plate includes northern Japan, but relative motion between it and Eurasia is sufficiently small that relative motion between PH and EU explains the motion of interest. The Euler pole for PH-PA as inferred from the NUVEL-1A model for current plate motions ( DeMets et al. 1994 ) lies about 8°N 137.3°E, near

3990-477: Is more buoyant and as a result will rise into the lithosphere, where it forms large magma chambers called diapirs. Some of the magma will make it to the surface of the crust where it will form volcanoes and, if eruptive on earth's surface, will produce andesitic lava. Magma that remains in the lithosphere long enough will cool and form plutonic rocks such as diorite, granodiorite, and sometimes granite. The arc magmatism occurs one hundred to two hundred kilometers from

4123-523: Is no accretionary prism associated with the IBM forearc or trench. The magmatic axis of the arc is well defined from Honshū to Guam. This ‘magmatic arc’ is often submarine, with volcanoes built on a submarine platform that lies between 1 and 4 km water depth. Volcanic islands are common in the Izu segment, including O-shima , Hachijojima , and Miyakejima . The Izu segment farther south also contains several submarine felsic calderas. The Izu arc segment

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4256-435: Is not experiencing trench ‘roll-back’, that is, the migration of the oceanic trench towards the ocean. The trench is moving towards Eurasia, although a strongly extensional regime is maintained in the IBM arc system because of rapid PH-EU convergence. The nearly vertical orientation of the subducted plate beneath southern IBM exerts a strong "sea-anchor" force that strongly resists its lateral motion. Back-arc basin spreading

4389-411: Is old, goes down the subduction zone. As this happens, metamorphic reactions increase the density of the continental crustal rocks, which leads to less buoyancy. One study of the active Banda arc-continent collision claims that by unstacking the layers of rock that once covered the continental basement, but are now thrust over one another in the orogenic wedge, and measuring how long they are, can provide

4522-723: Is ongoing beneath part of the Andes , causing segmentation of the Andean Volcanic Belt into four zones. The flat-slab subduction in northern Peru and the Norte Chico region of Chile is believed to be the result of the subduction of two buoyant aseismic ridges, the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernández Ridge , respectively. Around Taitao Peninsula flat-slab subduction is attributed to the subduction of

4655-503: Is possible for Andean-type convergent margins. Because IOCMs are far removed from continents they are not affected by the large volume of alluvial and glacial sediments. The consequent thin sedimentary cover makes it much easier to study arc infrastructure and determine the mass and composition of subducted sediments. Active hydrothermal systems found on the submarine parts of IOCMs give us a chance to study how many of Earth's important ore deposits formed. Crust and lithosphere produced by

4788-445: Is the backarc spreading center. Baker et al. 2008 identified 76 volcanic edifices along 1370 km of the Mariana arc, grouped into 60 volcanic centers , of which at least 26 (20 submarine) are hydrothermally or volcanically active. The overall volcanic center density is 4.4/100 km of arc, and that of active centers is 1.9/100 km. Active volcanoes lie 80 to 230 km above the subducting Pacific Plate, and ~25% lie behind

4921-481: Is thought to be due to the combined effects of the sea-anchor force and rapid PH-EU convergence ( Scholz & Campos 1995 ). The obliquity of convergence between PA and the IBM arc system change markedly along the IBM arc system. Plate convergence inferred from earthquake slip vectors is nearly strike-slip in the northernmost Marianas, adjacent to and south of the northern terminus of the Mariana Trough, where

5054-528: The Cascade Volcanic Arc , that form along the coast of continents. Island arcs (intraoceanic or primitive arcs) are produced by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath another oceanic lithosphere (ocean-ocean subduction) while continental arcs (Andean arcs) form during the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continental lithosphere (ocean-continent subduction). An example of a volcanic arc having both island and continental arc sections

5187-774: The Chile Rise , a spreading ridge . The Laramide Orogeny in the Rocky Mountains of the United States is attributed to flat-slab subduction. During this orogeny, a broad volcanic gap appeared at the southwestern margin of North America, and deformation occurred much farther inland; it was during this time that the basement -cored mountain ranges of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and New Mexico came into being. The most massive subduction zone earthquakes, so-called "megaquakes", have been found to occur in flat-slab subduction zones. Although stable subduction

5320-795: The Izu Islands , the Bonin Islands , and the Mariana Islands ; much more of the IBM arc system is submerged below sealevel. The IBM arc system lies along the eastern margin of the Philippine Sea Plate in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is the site of the deepest gash in Earth's solid surface, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench . The IBM arc system formed as a result of subduction of

5453-755: The Izu Peninsula , where IBM comes onshore in Japan) are found in the southern part of the Bonin segment, where the extinct volcanic islands of Minami Iwo Jima and Kita Iwo Jima rise to almost 1000 m above sealevel. The bathymetric high associated with magmatic arc of the Izu and Bonin segments is often referred to as the Shichito Ridge in Japanese publications, and the Bonins are often referred to as

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5586-905: The Marcus Island – Wake Island -Ogasawara Plateau, the Magellan Seamounts Chain, and the Caroline Islands Ridge. The first two chains formed by off-ridge volcanism during Cretaceous time, whereas the Caroline Islands chain formed over the past 20 million years. Two important basins lie between these chains: the Pigafetta Basin lies between the Marcus-Wake and Magellan chains, and the East Mariana Basin lies between

5719-630: The Paleoproterozoic Era . The eclogite itself was produced by oceanic subduction during the assembly of supercontinents at about 1.9–2.0 Ga. Blueschist is a rock typical for present-day subduction settings. The absence of blueschist older than Neoproterozoic reflects more magnesium-rich compositions of Earth's oceanic crust during that period. These more magnesium-rich rocks metamorphose into greenschist at conditions when modern oceanic crust rocks metamorphose into blueschist. The ancient magnesium-rich rocks mean that Earth's mantle

5852-491: The Vitiaz Trench . Subduction zones host a unique variety of rock types created by the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions a subducting slab encounters during its descent. The metamorphic conditions the slab passes through in this process create and destroy water bearing (hydrous) mineral phases, releasing water into the mantle. This water lowers the melting point of mantle rock, initiating melting. Understanding

5985-533: The Wadati–Benioff zone , that dips away from the trench and extends down below the volcanic arc to the 660-kilometer discontinuity . Subduction zone earthquakes occur at greater depths (up to 600 km (370 mi)) than elsewhere on Earth (typically less than 20 km (12 mi) depth); such deep earthquakes may be driven by deep phase transformations , thermal runaway , or dehydration embrittlement . Seismic tomography shows that some slabs can penetrate

6118-406: The core–mantle boundary . Here the slabs are heated up by the ambient heat and are not detected anymore ~300 Myr after subduction. Orogeny is the process of mountain building. Subducting plates can lead to orogeny by bringing oceanic islands, oceanic plateaus, sediments and passive continental margins to convergent margins. The material often does not subduct with the rest of the plate but instead

6251-411: The lower mantle and sink clear to the core–mantle boundary . Here the residue of the slabs may eventually heat enough to rise back to the surface as mantle plumes . Subduction typically occurs at a moderately steep angle by the time it is beneath the volcanic arc. However, anomalous shallower angles of subduction are known to exist as well as some that are extremely steep. Flat-slab subduction

6384-416: The zeolite , prehnite-pumpellyite, blueschist , and eclogite facies stability zones of subducted oceanic crust. Zeolite and prehnite-pumpellyite facies assemblages may or may not be present, thus the onset of metamorphism may only be marked by blueschist facies conditions. Subducting slabs are composed of basaltic crust topped with pelagic sediments ; however, the pelagic sediments may be accreted onto

6517-506: The Alaskan crust. The concept of subduction would play a role in the development of the plate tectonics theory. First geologic attestations of the "subduct" words date to 1970, In ordinary English to subduct , or to subduce (from Latin subducere , "to lead away") are transitive verbs requiring a subject to perform an action on an object not itself, here the lower plate, which has then been subducted ("removed"). The geological term

6650-588: The Alps. The chemistry of the inclusions supports the existence of a carbon-rich fluid in that environment, and additional chemical measurements of lower pressure and temperature facies in the same tectonic complex support a model for carbon dissolution (rather than decarbonation) as a means of carbon transport. Elastic strain caused by plate convergence in subduction zones produces at least three types of earthquakes. These are deep earthquakes, megathrust earthquakes, and outer rise earthquakes. Deep earthquakes happen within

6783-732: The East Mariana Basin and Pigafetta Basin ( Abrams et al. 1993 ), and at least 650 m of tholeiitic flows and sills in the Nauru Basin, near ODP Site 462. Castillo, Pringle & Carlson 1994 suggest that this province may reflect the formation of a mid-Cretaceous spreading system in the Nauru and East Mariana basins. Farther north, deposits related to this episode consist of thick sequences of Aptian – Albian volcaniclastic turbidites shed from emerging volcanic islands, such as preserved at DSDP site 585 and ODP sites 800 and 801. A few hundred meters of volcaniclastic deposits probably characterizes

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6916-544: The IBM Subduction Zone . The IBM trench is where the Pacific Plate lithosphere begins to sink. The IBM trench is devoid of any significant sediment fill; the ~400 m or so thickness of sediments is completely subducted with the downgoing plate. The IBM outer trench swell rises to about 300 m above the surrounding seafloor just before the trench. The lithosphere that is about to descend into

7049-410: The IBM Subduction Factory – what is now 130 km deep in the subduction zone entered the trench 4 – 10 million years ago. However, the composition of the western Pacific seafloor- oceanic crust – sediments, crust, and mantle lithosphere – varies sufficiently systematically that, to a first approximation, we can understand what is now being processed by studying what lies on the seafloor east of

7182-570: The IBM arc are significantly different, because of the Cretaceous off-ridge volcanic succession in the south that is missing in the north. Lavas and volcaniclastics associated with an intense episode of intraplate volcanism correspond in time closely to the Cretaceous Superchron. Off-ridge volcanism became increasingly important approaching the Ontong-Java Plateau . There are 100–400 m thick tholeiitic sills in

7315-550: The IBM arc system (Figures 10, 11). Deep events in the IBM system are less frequent than for most other subduction zones with deep seismicity, such as Tonga/Fiji/Kermadec and South America. Beneath northern IBM, deep seismicity extends southward to ~27.5°N, and a small pocket of events between 275 km and 325 km depth exists at ~22°N. There is narrow band of deep earthquakes beneath southern IBM between ~21°N and ~17°N, but south of this there are extremely few deep events. Although early studies assumed that seismicity demarcated

7448-651: The IBM arc system during its ~50 Ma history are found today as far west as the Kyushu–Palau Ridge (just east of the West Philippine Sea Basin ), up to 1,000 km from the present IBM trench. The IBM arc system is the surficial expression of the operation of a subduction zone and this defines its vertical extent. The northern boundary of the IBM arc system follows the Nankai Trough northeastward and onto southern Honshū, joining up with

7581-588: The IBM trench. The Pacific Plate seafloor east of the IBM arc system can be subdivided into a northern portion that is bathymetrically ‘smooth’ and a southern portion that is bathymetrically rugged, separated by the Ogasawara Plateau. These large-scale variations mark distinct geologic histories to the north and south. The featureless north is dominated by the Nadezhda Basin. In the south, crude alignments of seamounts , atolls , and islands define three great, WNW-ESE trending chains ( Winterer et al. 1993 ):

7714-408: The Izu and Bonin segments, and by the northern end of the Mariana Trough back-arc basin (~23°N), that defines the boundary between the Bonin and Mariana segments. Forearc, active arc, and back arc are expressed differently on either side of these boundaries (see figure below). The forearc is that part of the arc system between the trench and the magmatic front of the arc and includes uplifted sectors of

7847-564: The Magellan and Caroline chains. The age of Western Pacific seafloor has been interpreted from seafloor magnetic anomalies correlated to the geomagnetic reversal timescale Nakanishi, Tamaki & Kobayashi 1992 and confirmed by Ocean Drilling Program scientific drilling . Three major sets of magnetic anomalies have been identified in the area of interest. Each of these lineation sets comprises M-series (mid-Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous) magnetic anomalies that are essentially "growth rings" of

7980-451: The Mariana segment differs from that being subducted beneath the Izu–Bonin segment in having a much greater abundance of Early Cretaceous intra-plate volcanics and flood basalts. About 470m of oceanic crust was penetrated at ODP site 801C during Legs 129 and 185. These are typical mid-ocean ridge basalt that were affected by low-temperature hydrothermal alteration . This crust is overlain by

8113-647: The Ogasawara Islands. Volcanoes erupting lavas of unusual composition – the shoshonitic province – are found in the transition between the Bonin and Mariana arc segments, including Iwo Jima . The magmatic arc in the Marianas is submarine to the north of Uracas , south of which the Mariana arc includes volcanic islands (from north to south): Asuncion , Maug , Agrigan , Pagan , Alamagan , Guguan , Sarigan , and Anatahan . Mariana volcanoes again becomes submarine south of Anatahan. The back-arc regions of

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8246-546: The Pacific Plate. These anomaly sets indicate that the small, roughly triangular Pacific plate grew by spreading along three ridges ( Bartolini & Larson 2001 ). The oldest identifiable lineations are M33 to M35 ( Nakanishi 1993 ) or perhaps even M38 ( Handschumacher et al. 1988 ). It is difficult to say how old these lineations and the older crust might be; the oldest magnetic lineations for which ages have been assigned are M29 (157 Ma; ( Channell et al. 1995 ). Magnetic lineations as old as M29 are not known from other oceans, and

8379-576: The Pacific during the Cretaceous evolved from a more E-W 'Tethyan' orientation to the modern N-S trend. This occurred during mid-Cretaceous time, a ~35–40 Ma interval characterized by a lack of magnetic reversals known as the Cretaceous Superchron or Quiet Zone. Subsequently, the location of N-S trending spreading ridges relative to the Pacific Basin migrated progressively to the east throughout Cretaceous and Tertiary time, resulting in

8512-407: The Pacific plate adjacent to the trench. In addition to subducted sediments and crust of the Pacific plate, there is also a very substantial volume of material from the overriding IBM forearc that is lost to the subduction zone by tectonic erosion ( Von Huene, Ranero & Vannucchi 2004 ). The oceanic trench and the associated outer trench swell mark where Pacific Plate begins its descent into

8645-659: The Philippine Sea Plate by a spreading ridge in the Mariana Trough – it is still useful to discuss approximate rates and directions of the Philippine Sea Plate with its lithospheric neighbors, because these define, to a first order, how rapidly and along what streamlines material is fed into the Subduction Factory. The Philippine Sea Plate (PH) has four neighboring plates: Pacific (PA), Eurasian (EU), North American (NA), and Caroline (CR). There

8778-475: The arc has been ‘bowed-out’ by back-arc basin opening, resulting in a trench which strikes approximately parallel to the convergence vectors. Convergence is strongly oblique for most of the Mariana Arc system but is more nearly orthogonal for the southernmost Marianas and most of the Izu–Bonin segments. McCaffrey 1996 noted that the arc-parallel slip rate in the forearc reaches a maximum of 30 mm/yr in

8911-405: The arc is the first stage in forming any back-arc basin, the present Mariana arc volcanoes cannot be older than 3–4 Ma but the Izu–Bonin volcanoes could be as old as ~25 Ma. The Izu interarc rifts began to form about 2 Ma. The three segments of IBM (figure to right) do not correspond to variations on the incoming plate. Boundaries are defined by the Sofugan Tectonic Line (~29°30’N) separating

9044-421: The arc magmatic front. There is no evidence for a regular spacing of volcanoes along the Mariana arc. The frequency distribution of volcano spacing along the arc magmatic front peaks between 20 and 30 km and shows the asymmetric, long-tail shape typical for many other arcs. The first global compilation of arc volcanoes using recent bathymetric data estimated that arcs that are at least partially submarine have

9177-468: The arc's history, with northern IBM being more depleted and southern IBM being relatively enriched. About 15 Ma, the northernmost IBM began to collide with Honshū, probably as a result of new subduction along the Nankai Trough. A new episode of rifting to form the Mariana Trough back-arc basin began sometime after 10 Ma, with seafloor spreading beginning about 3–4 Ma. Because disruption of

9310-590: The area in the Western Pacific that lies inside the M29 lineation – that is, crust older than M29 – is on the order of 3x106 km , about a third of the size of the United States. ODP site 801 lies on seafloor that isconsiderably older than M29 and the MORB basement there yields Ar-Ar ages of 167±5 Ma ( Pringle 1992 ). The oldest sediments at site 801C are middle Jurassic, Callovian or latest Bathonian (~162 Ma; Gradstein, Ogg & Smith 2005 ). Seafloor spreading in

9443-472: The asthenosphere. Both models can eventually yield self-sustaining subduction zones, as the oceanic crust is metamorphosed at great depth and becomes denser than the surrounding mantle rocks. The compilation of subduction zone initiation events back to 100 Ma suggests horizontally-forced subduction zone initiation for most modern subduction zones, which is supported by results from numerical models and geologic studies. Some analogue modeling shows, however,

9576-533: The coast of the main island that would also be subject to damage. This junction probably has the highest associated insurance risk in the world, due to its proximity to extensive urban development. The Boso triple junction is only ~400 kilometers from the Mount Fuji triple junction. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami were generated along the Japan trench well to the north of the junction and did not involve

9709-523: The colder oceanic lithosphere is, on average, more dense. Sediments and some trapped water are carried downwards by the slab and recycled into the deep mantle. Earth is so far the only planet where subduction is known to occur, and subduction zones are its most important tectonic feature. Subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics , and without it, plate tectonics could not occur. Oceanic subduction zones are located along 55,000 km (34,000 mi) convergent plate margins, almost equal to

9842-435: The continent, away from the trench, and has been described in western North America (i.e. Laramide orogeny, and currently in Alaska, South America, and East Asia. The processes described above allow subduction to continue while mountain building happens concurrently, which is in contrast to continent-continent collision orogeny, which often leads to the termination of subduction. Continents are pulled into subduction zones by

9975-467: The crust to the west of it. The IBM arc system is an excellent example of an intra-oceanic convergent margin (IOCM). IOCMs are built on oceanic crust and contrast fundamentally with island arcs built on continental crust, such as Japan or the Andes . Because IOCM crust is thinner, denser, and more refractory than that beneath Andean-type margins, study of IOCM melts and fluids allows more confident assessment of mantle-to-crust fluxes and processes than

10108-524: The crust would be melted and recycled into the Earth's mantle . In 1964, George Plafker researched the Good Friday earthquake in Alaska . He concluded that the cause of the earthquake was a megathrust reaction in the Aleutian Trench , a result of the Alaskan continental crust overlapping the Pacific oceanic crust. This meant that the Pacific crust was being forced downward, or subducted , beneath

10241-597: The crust, megathrust earthquakes on the subduction interface near the trench, and outer rise earthquakes on the subducting lower plate as it bends near the trench. Anomalously deep events are a characteristic of subduction zones, which produce the deepest quakes on the planet. Earthquakes are generally restricted to the shallow, brittle parts of the crust, generally at depths of less than twenty kilometers. However, in subduction zones quakes occur at depths as great as 700 km (430 mi). These quakes define inclined zones of seismicity known as Wadati–Benioff zones which trace

10374-609: The crust, through hotspot magmatism or extensional rifting, would the crust be able to break from its continent and begin subduction. Subduction can continue as long as the oceanic lithosphere moves into the subduction zone. However, the arrival of buoyant continental lithosphere at a subduction zone can result in increased coupling at the trench and cause plate boundary reorganization. The arrival of continental crust results in continental collision or terrane accretion that may disrupt subduction. Continental crust can subduct to depths of 250 km (160 mi) where it can reach

10507-408: The cumulative plate formation rate 60,000 km (37,000 mi) of mid-ocean ridges. Sea water seeps into oceanic lithosphere through fractures and pores, and reacts with minerals in the crust and mantle to form hydrous minerals (such as serpentine) that store water in their crystal structures. Water is transported into the deep mantle via hydrous minerals in subducting slabs. During subduction,

10640-448: The degree of lower plate curvature of the subducting plate in great historical earthquakes such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, it was determined that the magnitude of earthquakes in subduction zones is inversely proportional to the angle of subduction near the trench, meaning that "the flatter the contact between the two plates, the more likely it is that mega-earthquakes will occur". Outer rise earthquakes on

10773-440: The descending slab. Nine of the ten largest earthquakes of the last 100 years were subduction zone megathrust earthquakes. These included the 1960 Great Chilean earthquake which at M 9.5 was the largest earthquake ever recorded, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami , and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The subduction of cold oceanic lithosphere into the mantle depresses the local geothermal gradient and causes

10906-455: The different regimes present in this setting. The models are as follows: In their 2019 study, Macdonald et al. proposed that arc-continent collision zones and the subsequent obduction of oceanic lithosphere was at least partially responsible for controlling global climate. Their model relies on arc-continent collision in tropical zones, where exposed ophiolites composed mainly of mafic material increase "global weatherability" and result in

11039-501: The dip of the WBZ steepens smoothly from ~40° to ~80° southwards, and seismicity diminishes between depths of ~150 km and ~300 km (Figures 11a c). The subducted slab beneath central IBM (near 25°N; Fig. 11c) is delineated by reduced seismic activity that nevertheless defines a more vertical orientation that persists southward (Figures 11d f). Deep earthquakes, here defined as seismic events ≥300 km deep, are common beneath parts of

11172-439: The faulting mechanism for deep earthquakes is a hotly debated topic (e.g., Green & Houston 1995 ), and has yet to be resolved. Double seismic zones (DSZs) have been detected in several parts of the IBM subduction zone, but their locations within the slab as well as interpretations for their existence vary dramatically. Beneath southern IBM, Samowitz & Forsyth 1981 found a DSZ lying 80 km and 120 km deep, with

11305-450: The forearc situated near the magmatic front, sometimes called the ‘frontal arc’. The IBM forearc from Guam to Japan is about 200 km wide. Uplifted portions of the forearc, composed of Eocene igneous basement surmounted by reef terraces of Eocene and younger age, produce the island chain from Guam north to Ferdinand de Medinilla in the Marianas. Similarly, the Bonin or Ogasawara Islands are mostly composed of Eocene igneous rocks. There

11438-420: The forearc-hanging wall and not subducted. Most metamorphic phase transitions that occur within the subducting slab are prompted by the dehydration of hydrous mineral phases. The breakdown of hydrous mineral phases typically occurs at depths greater than 10 km. Each of these metamorphic facies is marked by the presence of a specific stable mineral assemblage, recording the metamorphic conditions undergone but

11571-430: The idea of subduction initiation at passive margins is popular, there is no modern day example for this type of subduction nucleation. This is likely due to the strength of the oceanic or transitional crust at the continental passive margins, suggesting that if the crust did not break in its first 20 million years of life, it is unlikely to break in the future under normal sedimentation loads. Only with additional weaking of

11704-574: The lower plate occur when normal faults oceanward of the subduction zone are activated by flexure of the plate as it bends into the subduction zone. The 2009 Samoa earthquake is an example of this type of event. Displacement of the sea floor caused by this event generated a six-meter tsunami in nearby Samoa. Seismic tomography has helped detect subducted lithospheric slabs deep in the mantle where no earthquakes occur. About one hundred slabs have been described in terms of depth and their timing and location of subduction. The great seismic discontinuities in

11837-415: The mantle and is recycled. They are found at convergent plate boundaries, where the heavier oceanic lithosphere of one plate is overridden by the leading edge of another, less-dense plate. The overridden plate (the slab ) sinks at an angle most commonly between 25 and 75 degrees to Earth's surface. This sinking is driven by the temperature difference between the slab and the surrounding asthenosphere, as

11970-452: The mantle as a result of subduction. The Pacific Plate subducts in the IBM trench, so understanding what is subducted beneath IBM requires understanding the history of the western Pacific. The IBM arc system subducts mid- Jurassic to Early Cretaceous lithosphere , with younger lithosphere in the north and older lithosphere in the south. It is not possible to directly know the composition of subducted materials presently being processed by

12103-484: The mantle, at 410 km (250 mi) depth and 670 km (420 mi), are disrupted by the descent of cold slabs in deep subduction zones. Some subducted slabs seem to have difficulty penetrating the major discontinuity that marks the boundary between the upper mantle and lower mantle at a depth of about 670 kilometers. Other subducted oceanic plates have sunk to the core–mantle boundary at 2890 km depth. Generally, slabs decelerate during their descent into

12236-463: The mantle, from typically several cm/yr (up to ~10 cm/yr in some cases) at the subduction zone and in the uppermost mantle, to ~1 cm/yr in the lower mantle. This leads to either folding or stacking of slabs at those depths, visible as thickened slabs in seismic tomography. Below ~1700 km, there might be a limited acceleration of slabs due to lower viscosity as a result of inferred mineral phase changes until they approach and finally stall at

12369-564: The morphology and rheology of subducting lithospheric slabs , and this is particularly true for the IBM Wadati–Benioff zone (WBZ). Katsumata & Sykes 1969 first outlined the most important features of the IBM WBZ. Their study detected a zone of deep earthquakes beneath the southern Marianas and provided some of the first constraints on the deep, vertical nature of subducting Pacific lithosphere beneath southern IBM. They also found

12502-471: The northern Marianas. According to McCaffrey, this is fast enough to have produced geologically significant effects, such as unroofing of high-grade metamorphic rocks, and provides one explanation for why the forearc in southern IBM is tectonically more active than that in northern IBM. The evolution of the IBM arc system is among the best known of any convergent margin. Because IBM has always been an arc system under strong extension, its components encompass

12635-492: The ocean floor, studied the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and proposed that hot molten rock was added to the crust at the ridge and expanded the seafloor outward. This theory was to become known as seafloor spreading . Since the Earth's circumference has not changed over geologic time, Hess concluded that older seafloor has to be consumed somewhere else, and suggested that this process takes place at oceanic trenches , where

12768-429: The oldest oceanic lithosphere. Continental lithosphere is up to 200 km (120 mi) thick. The lithosphere is relatively cold and rigid compared with the underlying asthenosphere , and so tectonic plates move as solid bodies atop the asthenosphere. Individual plates often include both regions of the oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere. Subduction zones are where cold oceanic lithosphere sinks back into

12901-495: The other two trenches, although quakes that may have been aftershocks have been observed there. This tectonics article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Izu%E2%80%93Bonin%E2%80%93Mariana Arc The Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc system is a tectonic plate convergent boundary in Micronesia . The IBM arc system extends over 2800 km south from Tokyo, Japan, to beyond Guam , and includes

13034-412: The overlying plate. If an eruption occurs, the cycle then returns the volatiles into the oceans and atmosphere. The surface expressions of subduction zones are arc-trench complexes. On the ocean side of the complex, where the subducting plate first approaches the subduction zone, there is often an outer trench high or outer trench swell . Here the plate shallows slightly before plunging downwards, as

13167-399: The overriding continent. When the lower plate subducts at a shallow angle underneath a continent (something called "flat-slab subduction"), the subducting plate may have enough traction on the bottom of the continental plate to cause the upper plate to contract by folding, faulting, crustal thickening, and mountain building. Flat-slab subduction causes mountain building and volcanism moving into

13300-510: The overriding plate. However, not all arc-trench complexes have an accretionary wedge. Accretionary arcs have a well-developed forearc basin behind the accretionary wedge, while the forearc basin is poorly developed in non-accretionary arcs. Beyond the forearc basin, volcanoes are found in long chains called volcanic arcs . The subducting basalt and sediment are normally rich in hydrous minerals and clays. Additionally, large quantities of water are introduced into cracks and fractures created as

13433-510: The overseer of the abandoned plantation and an attractive young Japanese woman. The novel and 1953 film Anatahan is based on these events. The B-29 bomber Enola Gay flew from Tinian to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi hid out in the wilds of Guam for 28 years before coming out of hiding in 1972. The brown tree snake was accidentally introduced during World War II and has since devastated native birds on Guam. Subduction zone Subduction

13566-404: The planet. The ocean-ocean plate relationship can lead to subduction zones between oceanic and continental plates, therefore highlighting how important it is to understand this subduction setting. Although it is not fully understood what causes the initiation of subduction of an oceanic plate under another oceanic plate, there are three main models put forth by Baitsch-Ghirardello et al. that explain

13699-590: The possibility of spontaneous subduction from inherent density differences between two plates at specific locations like passive margins and along transform faults . There is evidence this has taken place in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system. Earlier in Earth's history, subduction is likely to have initiated without horizontal forcing due to the lack of relative plate motion, though a proposal by A. Yin suggests that meteorite impacts may have contributed to subduction initiation on early Earth. Though

13832-477: The present marked asymmetry of the Pacific, with very young seafloor in the Eastern Pacific and very old seafloor in the Western Pacific. Sediments being delivered to the IBM trench are not thick considering that this some of Earth's oldest seafloor. Away from seamounts, the pelagic sequence is dominated by chert and pelagic clay , with little carbonate. Carbonates are important near guyots, common in

13965-437: The present vicinity of Polynesia , where today off-ridge volcanism, shallow bathymetry, and thin lithosphere is known as the 'Superswell' ( Menard 1984 ; McNutt et al. 1990 ). The figure above shows the typical sediments drilled at Ocean Drilling Program site 1149, east of the Izu–Bonin segment. The sediments drilled at ODP site 1149 are about 400 m thick and are as old as 134 million years. The sedimentary section

14098-520: The pressures and temperatures necessary for this type of metamorphism are much higher than what is observed in most subduction zones. Frezzoti et al. (2011) propose a different mechanism for carbon transport into the overriding plate via dissolution (release of carbon from carbon-bearing minerals into an aqueous solution) instead of decarbonation. Their evidence comes from the close examination of mineral and fluid inclusions in low-temperature (<600 °C) diamonds and garnets found in an eclogite facies in

14231-411: The release of volatiles (steam from trapped water, and other gases) being released from the subducted plate, as it reached sufficient depth for the temperature to cause release of these materials. The associated trenches are formed as the oldest (most western) part of the Pacific plate crust increases in density with age, and because of this process finally reaches its lowest point just as it subducts under

14364-444: The rocks of the mantle. The mantle-derived magmas (which are initially basaltic in composition) can ultimately reach the Earth's surface, resulting in volcanic eruptions. The chemical composition of the erupting lava depends upon the degree to which the mantle-derived basalt interacts with (melts) Earth's crust or undergoes fractional crystallization . Arc volcanoes tend to produce dangerous eruptions because they are rich in water (from

14497-436: The sedimentary and volcanic cover is mostly scraped off to form an orogenic wedge. An orogenic wedge is larger than most accretionary wedges due to the volume of material there is to accrete. The continental basement rocks beneath the weak cover suites are strong and mostly cold, and can be underlain by a >200 km thick layer of dense mantle. After shedding the low density cover units, the continental plate, especially if it

14630-545: The sedimentary succession in and around the East Mariana and Pigafetta basins. Farther north, at DSDP sites 196 and 307 and ODP site 1149, there is little evidence of mid-Cretaceous volcanic activity. It appears that the Aptian-Albian volcanic episode was largely restricted to the region south of present 20°N latitude. Paleomagnetic and plate kinematic considerations place this broad region of off-ridge volcanism in

14763-450: The sinking oceanic plate they are attached to. Where continents are attached to oceanic plates with no subduction, there is a deep basin that accumulates thick suites of sedimentary and volcanic rocks known as a passive margin. Some passive margins have up to 10 km of sedimentary and volcanic rocks covering the continental crust. As a passive margin is pulled into a subduction zone by the attached and negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere,

14896-453: The slab and sediments) and tend to be extremely explosive. Krakatoa , Nevado del Ruiz , and Mount Vesuvius are all examples of arc volcanoes. Arcs are also associated with most ore deposits. Beyond the volcanic arc is a back-arc region whose character depends strongly on the angle of subduction of the subducting slab. Where this angle is shallow, the subducting slab drags the overlying continental crust partially with it, which produces

15029-485: The southern end of the Philippine Sea Plate. PA rotates around this pole CCW ~1°/Ma with respect to PH. This means that relative to the southernmost IBM, PA is moving NW and being subducted at about 20–30 mm/y, whereas relative to the northernmost IBM, PA is moving WNW and twice as fast. At the south end of IBM, there is almost no convergence between the Caroline Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. The IBM arc

15162-419: The southern part of the region. Cenozoic sediments are unimportant except for volcanic ash and Asian loess deposited adjacent to Japan and carbonate sediment]]s associated with the relatively shallow Caroline Ridge and Caroline Plate . Strong seafloor currents are probably responsible for this erosion or non-deposition. The compositions of sediments being subducted beneath the northern and southern parts of

15295-447: The storage of carbon through silicate weathering processes. This storage represents a carbon sink , removing carbon from the atmosphere and resulting in global cooling. Their study correlates several Phanerozoic ophiolite complexes, including active arc-continent subduction, with known global cooling and glaciation periods. This study does not discuss Milankovitch cycles as a driver of global climate cyclicity. Modern-style subduction

15428-481: The stratosphere during violent eruptions can cause rapid cooling of Earth's climate and affect air travel. Arc-magmatism plays a role in Earth's Carbon cycle by releasing subducted carbon through volcanic processes. Older theory states that the carbon from the subducting plate is made available in overlying magmatic systems via decarbonation, where CO 2 is released through silicate-carbonate metamorphism. However, evidence from thermodynamic modeling has shown that

15561-526: The subducting slab bends downward. During the transition from basalt to eclogite, these hydrous materials break down, producing copious quantities of water, which at such great pressure and temperature exists as a supercritical fluid . The supercritical water, which is hot and more buoyant than the surrounding rock, rises into the overlying mantle, where it lowers the melting temperature of the mantle rock, generating magma via flux melting . The magmas, in turn, rise as diapirs because they are less dense than

15694-509: The subducting slab. Transitions between facies cause hydrous minerals to dehydrate at certain pressure-temperature conditions and can therefore be tracked to melting events in the mantle beneath a volcanic arc. Two kinds of arcs are generally observed on Earth: island arcs that form on the oceanic lithosphere (for example, the Mariana and the Tonga island arcs), and continental arcs such as

15827-451: The subject, performs the action of overriding the object, the lower plate, which is overridden. Subduction zones are important for several reasons: Subduction zones have also been considered as possible disposal sites for nuclear waste in which the action of subduction itself would carry the material into the planetary mantle , safely away from any possible influence on humanity or the surface environment. However, that method of disposal

15960-454: The surface once the volcanoes have weathered away. The volcanism and plutonism occur as a consequence of the subducting oceanic slab dehydrating as it reaches higher pressures and temperatures. Once the oceanic slab reaches about 100 km in depth, hydrous minerals become unstable and release fluids into the asthenosphere. The fluids act as a flux for the rock within the asthenosphere and cause it to partially melt. The partially melted material

16093-522: The three segments are quite different. The Izu segment is marked by several volcanic cross-chains which extend SW away from the magmatic front. The magmatically-starved Bonin arc segment has no back-arc basin, inter-arc rift, or rear-arc cross chains. The Mariana segment is characterized by an actively spreading back arc basin known as the Mariana Trough. The Mariana Trough shows marked variations along strike, with seafloor spreading south of 19°15’ and rifting farther north. The IBM arc system southwest of Guam

16226-439: The timing and conditions in which these dehydration reactions occur is key to interpreting mantle melting, volcanic arc magmatism, and the formation of continental crust. A metamorphic facies is characterized by a stable mineral assemblage specific to a pressure-temperature range and specific starting material. Subduction zone metamorphism is characterized by a low temperature, high-ultrahigh pressure metamorphic path through

16359-444: The trench and approximately one hundred kilometers above the subducting slab. Arcs produce about 10% of the total volume of magma produced each year on Earth (approximately 0.75 cubic kilometers), much less than the volume produced at mid-ocean ridges, but they have formed most continental crust . Arc volcanism has the greatest impact on humans because many arc volcanoes lie above sea level and erupt violently. Aerosols injected into

16492-652: The trench, and allowed the sub-forearc mantle to stabilize and cool. The arc stabilized until about 30 Ma, when it began to rift to form the Parece Vela Basin. Spreading also began in the northernmost part of the IBM arc about 25 Ma and propagated south to form the Shikoku Basin. Parece Vela and Shikoku basin spreading systems met about 20 Ma and the combined Parece Vela Basin-Shikioku Basin continued widening until about 15 Ma, ultimately producing Earth's largest back-arc basin . The arc

16625-597: The trench. The southern boundary is found where the IBM Trench meets the Kyushu–Palau Ridge near Belau . Thus defined, the IBM arc system spans over 25° of latitude, from 11°N to 35°20’N The IBM arc system is part of the Philippine Sea Plate , at least to the first approximation. Although the IBM arc deforms internally – and in fact in the south a small plate known as the Mariana Plate is separated from

16758-414: The two zones separated by 30 35 km. Earthquake focal mechanisms indicate that the upper zone, where most events occur, is in downdip compression, while the lower zone is in downdip extension. This DSZ is located at a depth where the curvature of slab is greatest; at greater depths it unbends into a more planar donfiguration. Samowitz & Forsyth 1981 suggested that unbending or thermal stresses in

16891-400: The underlying ductile mantle . This process of convection allows heat generated by radioactive decay to escape from the Earth's interior. The lithosphere consists of the outermost light crust plus the uppermost rigid portion of the mantle . Oceanic lithosphere ranges in thickness from just a few km for young lithosphere created at mid-ocean ridges to around 100 km (62 mi) for

17024-494: The upper 150 km of the slab may the primary cause of the seismicity. For northern IBM, Iidaka & Furukawa 1994 used a refined earthquake relocation scheme to detect a DSZ between depths of 300 km and 400 km, which also has a spacing of 30 35 km between the upper and lower zones. They interpreted data from S to P converted phases and thermal modeling to propose that the DSZ results from transformational faulting of

17157-456: The upper boundary of the slab, more recent evidence has shown that many of these earthquakes occur within the slab. For instance, a study by Nakamura et al. 1998 showed that a region of events beneath northernmost IBM region occur ~20 km beneath the top of the subducting plate. They propose that transformational faulting, which occurs when metastable olivine changes to a more compact spinel structure, produces this zone of seismicity. Indeed,

17290-459: The western Pacific Plate . The IBM arc system now subducts mid- Jurassic to Early Cretaceous lithosphere , with younger lithosphere in the north and older lithosphere in the south, including the oldest (~170 million years old, or Ma) oceanic crust . Subduction rates vary from ~2 cm (1 inch) per year in the south to 6 cm (~2.5 inches) in the north. The volcanic islands that comprise these island arcs are thought to have been formed from

17423-628: Was caused by subduction of the Indo-Australian plate under the Euro-Asian Plate, but the tsunami spread over most of the planet and devastated the areas around the Indian Ocean. Small tremors which cause small, nondamaging tsunamis, also occur frequently. A study published in 2016 suggested a new parameter to determine a subduction zone's ability to generate mega-earthquakes. By examining subduction zone geometry and comparing

17556-426: Was disrupted during rifting but began to build again as a distinct magmatic system once seafloor spreading began. Arc volcanism, especially explosive volcanism, waned during much of this episode, with a resurgence beginning about 20 Ma in the south and about 17 Ma in the north. Tephra from northern and southern IBM show that strong compositional differences observed for the modern arc have existed over most of

17689-582: Was once hotter, but not that subduction conditions were hotter. Previously, the lack of pre-Neoproterozoic blueschist was thought to indicate a different type of subduction. Both lines of evidence refute previous conceptions of modern-style subduction having been initiated in the Neoproterozoic Era 1.0 Ga ago. Harry Hammond Hess , who during World War II served in the United States Navy Reserve and became fascinated in

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