Processes
Subduction
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
The process that carries the edge of one tectonic plate down under another and into the mantle at a convergent boundary, reducing Earth's total crustal surface area and balancing the new crust seafloor spreading creates. It is also the mechanism behind most of the planet's deepest earthquakes and its most explosive volcanoes.
Facts
TimescaleOngoing, millions of years per cycle 1 Driving ForceOnce underway, subduction is driven mainly by the negative buoyancy of the dense, cold slab of oceanic lithosphere pulling itself downward. 2 Resulting FeatureSubduction builds long chains of volcanoes, known as volcanic arcs, above the descending slab. 2 SignificanceSubduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics; without it, plate tectonics could not occur. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The largest faults include the megathrust faults of subduction zones.
Causes
A megathrust rupture on the Sunda subduction zone, where the Indian Plate is subducting beneath the Burma microplate.
A megathrust rupture where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the plate carrying northern Honshu.
In Discipline
Sources
1. Plate Tectonics (Wikipedia)
2. Subduction (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSubduction and plate tectonics (driving force)Quote, Subduction and plate tectonics (driving force)
Once initiated, stable subduction is driven mostly by the negative buoyancy of the dense subducting lithosphere.
2. Subduction (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationStructure of subduction zonesQuote, Structure of subduction zones
Beyond the forearc basin, volcanoes are found in long chains called volcanic arcs.
2. Subduction (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSubduction and plate tectonics (significance)Quote, Subduction and plate tectonics (significance)
Subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics, and without it, plate tectonics could not occur.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.