What is subduction process?
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Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth’s mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the heavier plate dives beneath the second plate and sinks into the mantle.
What causes subduction?
Subduction occurs when two plates collide at a convergent boundary, and one plate is driven beneath the other, back into the Earth’s interior. Not all convergence leads to subduction. Continental rocks are too buoyant to be forced downward, so when continents collide, they crumple but stay at the surface.
Where is the longest convergent plate?
Geological setting The Kermadec-Tonga 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.
What is meant by a subduction zone?
The subduction zone is the place where two lithospheric plates come together, one riding over the other. Most volcanoes on land occur parallel to and inland from the boundary between the two plates.
Where on Earth is the fastest plate being subducted?
Pacific Plate
It is the deepest trench in the Southern hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth after the Mariana Trench. The fastest plate-tectonic velocity on Earth is occurring at this location, as the Pacific Plate is being subducted westward in the trench.
What happens when two continental plates collide?
Plates Collide When two plates carrying continents collide, the continental crust buckles and rocks pile up, creating towering mountain ranges. The Himalayas were born when the Indian subcontinent smashed into Asia 45 million years ago.
What happens when two oceanic plates collide?
Ocean-Ocean Collisions When two oceanic plates collide one oceanic plate is eventually subducted under the other. Where one plate slides under the other is referred to as the ‘subduction zone’. As the subducting plate descends into the mantle where it is being gradually heated a benioff zone is formed.
What is an example of a subduction?
Subduction is the process that destroys old lithosphere. An oceanic plate can descend beneath another oceanic plate – Japan, Indonesia, and the Aleutian Islands are examples of this type of subduction.
What are the effects of subduction?
These plates collide, slide past, and move apart from each other. Where they collide and one plate is thrust beneath another (a subduction zone), the most powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides occur.
Which best describes subduction?
What sentence best describes subduction? One plate sinks beneath the other. A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions. A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.
Where are subduction zones on Earth?
Subduction zones occur all around the edge of the Pacific Ocean, offshore of Washington, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Japan and Indonesia. Called the “Ring of Fire,” these subduction zones are responsible for the world’s biggest earthquakes, the most terrible tsunamis and some of the worst volcanic eruptions.