Geodynamics

Subduction

Alaska: a gold rush of along strike variations

Iris van Zelst November 22, 2017

Image Credit: modified by Anne Glerum after NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens.

Every 8 weeks we turn our attention to a Remarkable Region that deserves a spot in the scientific limelight. After exploring the Mediterranean and the ancient Tethys realm, we now move further north and across the Pacific to the Aleutian-Alaska subduction zone. This post was contributed by Kirstie Haynie who is a PhD candidate at the department of geology at the University at Buffalo, State Univer ...[Read More]

Going with the toroidal mantle flow

Editorial Team 4 October 25, 2017

Topography and bathymetry in the region of the northwestern Pacific. This area characterized by multiple subduction zones as indicated by a deep trench (darkest blue), such as that along Japan. Credit: NOAA

Subduction zones host one of the most complex and fascinating tectonic systems on the planet. Numerical models by Király and colleagues recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reveal that the strength of the toroidal flow depends on the mantle viscosity and the magnitude of the slab pull force while the characteristic size of the toroidal cells mainly depends on the size of the c ...[Read More]