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Physical Process

Subduction

Tectonics and Volcanism

The process by which one tectonic plate, usually denser oceanic crust, is forced beneath another plate and sinks into the mantle at a convergent boundary. Subduction generates the world's deepest ocean trenches, its most powerful earthquakes, and the volcanic arcs that form as subducted material melts and rises through the overriding plate.

Facts
Timescale
Timescale (category)
Millions of Years 1
Process Type
Tectonic 2
Subduction
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Causes

Source Island Arc Formation (Wikipedia)

Shaped

Aconcagua, Landforms
Source Aconcagua (Wikipedia)
Source Alaska Peninsula (Wikipedia)
Source Alboran Sea (Wikipedia)
Source Andaman Sea - Wikipedia
Source Banda Sea - Wikipedia
Cascadia, Regions
Source Pacific Northwest (Wikipedia)
Denali, Landforms
Source Denali (Wikipedia)
K2, Landforms
Source K2 (Wikipedia)
Luzon, Landforms
Source Luzon (Wikipedia)
Micronesia, Regions
Source Micronesia (Wikipedia)
Source Solomon Sea (Wikipedia)
Source Mariana Trench (Wikipedia)
Source Tyrrhenian Sea - Wikipedia
Sources
1. Subduction (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia infobox 'Lead section' = 'Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere...' on 'Subduction'View the Source
2. Subduction, Wikipedia
Opening paragraph, definition
Quote, Opening paragraph, definition
Subduction 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.
View the Source
Island Arc Formation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationCauses: Island Arc FormationView the Source
Andaman Sea - Wikipedia
Shaped: Andaman Sea, Lead and sections
Quote, Shaped: Andaman Sea, Lead and sections
It is caused by the ongoing subduction of the India plate beneath the Andaman island arc, which forces magma to rise in this location of the Burma plate.
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Alaska Peninsula (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Alaska Peninsula, Lead and sections
Quote, Shaped: Alaska Peninsula, Lead and sections
The southern side of the Alaska Peninsula is rugged and mountainous, created by the uplifting tectonic activity of the North Pacific Plate subsiding under a western section of the North American Plate; the northern side is generally flat and marshy, a result of millennia of erosion and general seismic stability.
View the Source
Tyrrhenian Sea - Wikipedia
Shaped: Tyrrhenian Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Tyrrhenian Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
The Tyrrhenian Sea is a back-arc basin that formed due to the rollback of the Calabrian slab towards South-East during the Neogene.
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Banda Sea - Wikipedia
Shaped: Banda Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Banda Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
The southern margin of the sea consists of island arcs above subduction zones.
View the Source
Alboran Sea (Wikipedia)
Shaped: Alboran Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Alboran Sea, Formation statement for target 287644
Recurring earthquakes at a depth of about 600 km (370 mi) indicate that this subduction is ongoing and that complex interactions between the lithosphere and mantle are forming the region.
View the Source
Micronesia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Micronesia, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Micronesia, Formation statement for target 287644
The island chain rose as a result of the western edge of the Pacific Plate moving westward and plunging downward below the Mariana plate, a region that is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth.
View the Source
Pacific Northwest (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Cascadia, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Cascadia, Formation statement for target 287644
The geological record reveals that "great earthquakes" (those with moment magnitude 8 or higher) occur in the Cascadia subduction zone about every 500 years on average, often accompanied by tsunamis.
View the Source
Mariana Trench (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: The Mariana Trench, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: The Mariana Trench, Formation statement for target 287644
The Mariana Trench is part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system that forms the boundary between two tectonic plates.
View the Source
Denali (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Denali, Formation statement for target 287644
Quote, Shaped: Denali, Formation statement for target 287644
The Denali Fault is caused by stresses created by the low-angle subduction of the Yakutat microplate underneath Alaska.
View the Source
Solomon Sea (Wikipedia)
Shaped: Solomon Sea, Deepest point
Quote, Shaped: Solomon Sea, Deepest point
includes the New Britain Trench, in the New Britain subduction zone, which reaches its maximum depth at 29,988 feet (9,140 m) below sea level in the Planet Deep
View the Source
Aconcagua (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: Aconcagua, Lead paragraph
Quote, Shaped: Aconcagua, Lead paragraph
Aconcagua was formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate and was once an active stratovolcano, before tectonic shifts during the Miocene halted volcanic activity.
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Luzon (Wikipedia)
Shaped: Luzon, Geology
Quote, Shaped: Luzon, Geology
The Philippine Sea Plate subducts under eastern Luzon along the East Luzon Trench and the Philippine Trench
View the Source
K2 (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: K2, Lead and geology text
Quote, Shaped: K2, Lead and geology text
of large bodies of magma by a northward-dipping subduction zone along what was the continental margin of Asia at that time
View the Source
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