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Diagram of the geological process of subduction

Subduction is a geological process that takes place at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced or sinks due to gravity into the mantle. Regions where this process occurs are known as subduction zones. Rates of subduction are typically in centimeters per year, with the average rate of convergence being approximately two to eight centimeters per year along most plate boundaries.[1]

Plates include both oceanic crust and continental crust. Stable subduction zones involve the oceanic lithosphere of one plate sliding beneath the continental or oceanic lithosphere of another plate due to the higher density of the oceanic lithosphere. That is, the subducted lithosphere is always oceanic while the overriding lithosphere may or may not be oceanic. Subduction zones are sites that usually have a high rate of volcanism and earthquakes.[2] Additionally, subduction zones develop belts of deformation[3][better source needed] in the overriding plate's crust in a processes called orogeny part of which leads to mountain building.

General description[edit]

Subduction zones are sites of convective downwelling of Earth's lithosphere (the crust plus the top non-convecting portion of the upper mantle). Subduction zones exist at convergent plate boundaries where one plate of oceanic lithosphere converges with another plate. The descending slab, the subducting plate, is over-ridden by the leading edge of the other plate. The slab sinks at an angle of approximately twenty-five to forty-five degrees to Earth's surface. This sinking is driven by the temperature difference between the subducting oceanic lithosphere and the surrounding mantle asthenosphere, as the colder oceanic lithosphere is, on average, denser. At a depth of approximately 80–120 kilometers, the basalt of the oceanic crust is converted to a metamorphic rock called eclogite. At that point, the density of the oceanic crust increases and provides additional negative buoyancy (downwards force). It is at subduction zones that Earth's lithosphere, oceanic crust, sedimentary layers and some trapped water are recycled into the deep mantle.



Subduction zones dive down into the mantle beneath 55,000 kilometers of convergent plate margins (Lallemand, 1999), almost equal to the cumulative 60,000 kilometers of mid-ocean ridges. Subduction zones burrow deeply but are imperfectly camouflaged, and geophysics and geochemistry can be used to study them. Not surprisingly, the shallowest portions of subduction zones are known best. Subduction zones are strongly asymmetric for the first several hundred kilometers of their descent. They start to go down at oceanic trenches. Their descents are marked by inclined zones of earthquakes that dip away from the trench beneath the volcanoes and extend down to the 660-kilometer discontinuity. Subduction zones are defined by the inclined array of earthquakes known as the Wadati–Benioff zone after the two scientists who first identified this distinctive aspect. Subduction zone earthquakes occur at greater depths (up to 600 km) than elsewhere on Earth (typically <20 km depth); such deep earthquakes may be driven by deep phase transformations, thermal runaway, or dehydration embrittlement.[4][5]

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 the subducting slab bends downward.[6] 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 pressure in (and thus the melting temperature of) the mantle rock to the point of actual melting, generating magma. The magmas, in turn, rise (and become labeled diapirs) because they are less dense than the rocks of the mantle. The mantle-derived magmas (which are basaltic in composition) can continue to rise, ultimately to Earth's surface, resulting in a volcanic eruption. The chemical composition of the erupting lava depends upon the degree to which the mantle-derived basalt interacts with (melts) Earth's crust and/or undergoes fractional crystallization.

Above subduction zones, volcanoes exist in long chains called volcanic arcs. Volcanoes that exist along arcs tend to produce dangerous eruptions because they are rich in water (from 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 known to be associated with precious metals such as gold, silver and copper believed to be carried by water and concentrated in and around their host volcanoes in rock called "ore".

Theory on origin[edit]


Although the process of subduction as it occurs today is fairly well understood, its origin remains a matter of discussion and continuing study. Subduction initiation can occur spontaneously if denser oceanic lithosphere is able to founder and sink beneath adjacent oceanic or continental lithosphere; alternatively, existing plate motions can induce new subduction zones by forcing oceanic lithosphere to rupture and sink into the asthenosphere.[7] Both models can eventually yield self-sustaining subduction zones, as oceanic crust is metamorphosed at great depth and becomes denser than the surrounding mantle rocks. Results from numerical models generally favor induced subduction initiation for most modern subduction zones,[8][9] which is supported by geologic studies,[10][11] but other analogue modeling shows the possibility of spontaneous subduction from inherent density differences between two plates at passive margins,[12][13] and observations from the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system are compatible with spontaneous subduction nucleation.[14][15] Furthermore, subduction is likely to have spontaneously initiated at some point in Earth's history, as induced subduction nucleation requires existing plate motions, though an unorthodox proposal by A. Yin suggests that meteorite impacts may have contributed to subduction initiation on early Earth.[16]


Modern-style subduction[edit]

Modern-style subduction is characterized by low geothermal gradients and the associated formation of high-pressure low temperature rocks such as eclogite and blueschist.[18][19] Likewise rock assemblages called ophiolites, associated to modern-style subduction, do also indicate such conditions.[18]

Eclogite xenoliths found in the North China Craton evidence that modern-style subduction ocurred as early as 1.8 Ga ago in the Paleoproterozoic Era.[18] Absence of pre-Neoproterozoic blueschist is now thought not to reflect a different type of subduction but more magnesium-rich compositions of Earth's oceanic crust during that period. This more magnesium-rich rocks metamorphose into greenschist at conditions when modern oceanic crust rocks metamorphose into blueschist. The ancient magnesium-rich rocks means that Earth's mantle was once hotter but not that subduction conditions were hotter.[20] Both lines of evidence refutes previous conceptions of modern-style subduction having been initiated in the Neoproterozoic Era 1.0 Ga ago.[18][20]



Volcanic activity[edit]

Oceanic plates are subducted creating oceanic trenches.

Volcanoes that occur above subduction zones, such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Etna and Mount Fuji, lie at approximately one hundred kilometers from the trench in arcuate chains, hence the term volcanic arc. Two kinds of arcs are generally observed on Earth: island arcs that form on oceanic lithosphere (for example, the Mariana and the Tonga island arcs), and continental arcs such as the Cascade Volcanic Arc, that form along the coast of continents. Island arcs are produced by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath another oceanic lithosphere (ocean-ocean subduction) while continental arcs formed during subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continental lithosphere (ocean-continent subduction). An example of a volcanic arc having both island and continental arc sections is found behind the Aleutian Trench subduction zone in Alaska.



Earthquakes and tsunamis[edit]

The strains caused by plate convergence in subduction zones cause at least three different types of earthquakes. Earthquakes mainly propagate in the cold subducting slab and define the Wadati–Benioff zone. Seismicity shows that the slab can be tracked down to the upper mantle/lower mantle boundary (approximately six hundred kilometer depth).


A study published in 2016 suggested a new parameter to determine a subduction zone's ability to generate mega-earthquakes.[22] By examining subduction zone geometry and comparing the degree of curvature of the subducting plates in great historical earthquakes such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Bletery et al. determined that the magnitude of earthquakes in subduction zones is inversely proportional to the degree of the fault's curvature, meaning that "the flatter the contact between the two plates, the more likely it is that mega-earthquakes will occur."[23]

Outer rise earthquakes occur when normal faults oceanward of the subduction zone are activated by flexture of the plate as it bends[24] 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.

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 seven hundred kilometers. These quakes define inclined zones of seismicity known as Wadati–Benioff zones, after the scientists who discovered them, which trace the descending lithosphere. Seismic tomography has helped detect subducted lithosphere, slabs, deep in the mantle where there are no earthquakes. About 100 slabs have been described in terms of depth and their timing and location of subduction.[25] Some subducted slabs seem to have difficulty to penetrate the major discontinuity in the mantle, marking the boundary between the upper mantle and lower mantle, that lies at a depth of about 670 kilometers. Other subducted oceanic plates can penetrate all the way to the core-mantle boundary. The great seismic discontinuities in the mantle, at 410 and 670 kilometer depth, are disrupted by the descent of cold slabs in deep subduction zones.


Orogeny is the process of mountain building. Subducting plates can lead to orogeny by bringing oceanic islands, oceanic plateaus, and sediments to convergent margins. The material often does not subduct with the rest of the plate but instead is accreted (scraped off) to 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 identified by ophiolites (uplifted ocean crust consisting of sediments, pillow basalts, sheeted dykes, gabbro, and peridotite).[26] This accretion process is thought by many geologists to be the reason for the crustal growth of western North America and of the uplift that produced the Rocky Mountains.

Subduction may also cause orogeny without bringing in oceanic material that collides with the overriding continent. When the subducting 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 leading to folding, faulting, crustal thickening and mountain building. This flat-slab subduction process is thought to be one of the main causes of mountain building and deformation in South America.


Subduction angle[edit]

Subduction typically occurs at a moderately steep angle right at the point of the convergent plate boundary. However, anomalous shallower angles of subduction are known to exist as well some that are extremely steep.



Subduction zones are important for several reasons[citation needed]:

  1. Subduction Zone Physics: Sinking of the oceanic lithosphere (sediments, crust, mantle), by 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.
  4. Subduction zones pose significant threats to lives, property, economic vitality, cultural and natural resources, as well as quality of life. The tremendous magnitudes of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions can also have knock-on effects with global impact.[30]

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 is currently banned by international agreement.[31][32][33][34] Furthermore, plate subduction zones are associated with very large megathrust earthquakes, making the effects on using any specific site for disposal unpredictable and possibly adverse to the safety of longterm disposal.[32]

See also[edit]


  2. ^ Martínez-López, M.R., Mendoza, C., (2016). "Acoplamiento sismogénico en la zona de subducción de Michoacán-Colima-Jalisco,México" (PDF). Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana (in Spanish). 68 (2): 199–214. 
  3. ^ "Orogenese". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). February 14, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2014. 
  5. ^ Hacker, B.; et al. (2003). "Subduction factory 2. Are intermediate-depth earthquakes in subducting slabs linked to metamorphic dehydration reactions?" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 108. Bibcode:2003JGRB..108.2030H. doi:10.1029/2001JB001129. 
  6. ^ Fujie, Gou; et al. (2013). "Systematic changes in the incoming plate structure at the Kuril trench". Geophysical Research Letters. 40: 88–93. Bibcode:2013GeoRL..40...88F. doi:10.1029/2012GL054340. 
  7. ^ Stern, R.J. (2004). "Subduction initiation: spontaneous and induced". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 226: 275–292. Bibcode:2004E&PSL.226..275S. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.08.007. 
  8. ^ Hall, C.E.; et al. (2003). "Catastrophic initiation of subduction following forced convergence across fracture zones". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 212: 15–30. Bibcode:2003E&PSL.212...15H. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00242-5. 
  9. ^ Gurnis, M.; et al. (2004). "Evolving force balance during incipient subduction". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 5. Bibcode:2004GGG.....5.7001G. doi:10.1029/2003GC000681. 
  10. ^ Keenan, Timothy E.; Encarnación, John; Buchwaldt, Robert; Fernandez, Dan; Mattinson, James; Rasoazanamparany, Christine; Luetkemeyer, P. Benjamin. "Rapid conversion of an oceanic spreading center to a subduction zone inferred from high-precision geochronology". PNAS. 113: E7359–E7366. Bibcode:2016PNAS..113E7359K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1609999113. PMC 5127376Freely accessible. PMID 27821756. 
  14. ^ Stern, R.J.; Bloomer, S.H. (1992). "Subduction zone infancy: examples from the Eocene Izu-Bonin-Mariana and Jurassic California arcs". Geological Society of America Bulletin. doi:10.1130/0016-7606. 
  15. ^ Arculus, R.J.; et al. (2015). "A record of spontaneous subduction initiation in the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc". Nature Geoscience. 8: 728–733. Bibcode:2015NatGe...8..728A. doi:10.1038/ngeo2515. 
  16. ^ Yin, A. (2012). "An episodic slab-rollback model for the origin of the Tharsis rise on Mars: Implications for initiation of local plate subduction and final unification of a kinematically linked global plate-tectonic network on Earth". Lithosphere. 4: 553–593. Bibcode:2012Lsphe...4..553Y. doi:10.1130/L195.1. 
  19. ^ Stern, Robert J. "Evidence from ophiolites, blueschists, and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terranes that the modern episode of subduction tectonics began in Neoproterozoic time". Geology. 33 (7): 557–560. doi:10.1130/G21365.1. 
  26. ^ Encyclopedia of Environmental Change. Ed. John A. Matthews. Vol. 1. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, 2014
  28. ^ "Fault curvature may control where big quakes occur, Eurekalert 24-NOV-2016". 2016-11-24. Bibcode:2016Sci...354.1027B. doi:10.1126/science.aag0482. Retrieved 2018-06-05. 


External links[edit]

  • Animation of a subduction zone.
  • From the Seafloor to the Volcano's Top Video about the work of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 574 Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones in Chile by GEOMAR I Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
  • [1] Realistic animation of plate forming processes beneath divergent plate margins and destruction of lithosphere beneath convergent plate margins (~ 9 minutes long).