For decades, scientists have suspected that large volcanic eruptions have their origins in two mysterious massive regions at the base of our planet’s mantle. Now, it’s been statistically proven.
subduction
Finding the Gap: Seismology Offers Slab Window Insights
Studying slow tremors has helped researchers home in on the youngest part of the Chile Triple Junction’s gap between subducting plates, which offers a window to the mantle.
The State of Stress in the Nankai Subduction Zone
The Nankai subduction zone, in southern Japan, has hosted several large magnitude 8+ earthquakes during the last three hundred years. But, how stressed is it right now?
Shedding Light on the Mysteries of Deep Earthquakes
By analyzing forty deep earthquakes around the world, researchers discover the key role of a dual mechanism that allows earthquakes to grow larger and release more stress.
Atomic-Scale Insights into Supercritical Silicate Fluids
Water-induced depolymerization enhances fluid mobility in deep Earth, offering new insights into magma transport and isotope signatures in arc lavas.
The Deep Frontier of Mantle Magma Supply
Compared with crustal magma systems, little is known about the deep sources of volcanic supply chains. Interdisciplinary efforts can help answer key questions about how magma migrates from the mantle.
Water Stored in the Mantle for Millions of Years May Be Linked to Continental Volcanism
New research shows that intraplate volcanism is more likely to occur over areas of the mantle that are more hydrated—particularly those that have been hydrated for a long, long time.
How (Slow) Earthquakes Get Going
Non-volcanic tremor ramp up precedes slow slip in Cascadia by about a day, indicating that brittle-creeping process interactions control nucleation.
Skewed Subduction Shear Zones
A global reanalysis of both short- and long-term deformation clarifies how obliquity affects strain partitioning in convergent plate boundaries.
Slow But Powerful Fault Slip Can Simply Arise from Fluid Flow
Cyclic changes of fluid pressure in fault zones can induce slow-slip events that advance in the direction of fluid flow, even when the faults are stable.