A new subduction model could reveal important insights about megathrust earthquakes.
subduction
Hot Spot Lavas Around the World May Have Something in Common
A global study of lavas from volcanic hot spots suggests that contrary to accepted wisdom, Earth’s deep mantle may have the same composition throughout. Not everyone is convinced, however.
Seismotectonic Update of the Philippines-Taiwan Region
Using more than two decades of data, scientists find that the Philippine and Taiwan subduction region is controlled mainly by shallow seismicity and low magnitude earthquakes.
Cyclic Opening of Deep Fractures Regulates Plate Boundary Slip
Seismic anisotropy changes through time suggest that cyclical opening of fluid-filled fractures is synchronized with subduction zone slow slip events.
Crustal Melts at the Core-Mantle Boundary
Seismic waves get sent in all directions for deep mantle anomalies, and a new analysis shows where those scatters lie and what properties they have.
How Mantle Hydration Changes over the Lifetime of a Subduction Zone
Water released from subducting oceanic plates influences the formation of volcanoes and earthquakes on Earth’s surface. A new study simulates how slab dehydration and mantle hydration levels change over time.
Repeated Coseismic Uplift Above the Patton Bay Splay Fault, Alaska
Stratigraphic and diatom analyses suggest ruptures of the Patton Bay splay fault occurred together with half of the documented great Alaskan megathrust earthquakes during the past 4,200 years.
Earth’s Subduction May Have Been Triggered by the Same Event That Formed the Moon
The giant impact that formed the Moon may also have led to extrastrong mantle plumes that enabled the first subduction event, kick-starting Earth’s unique system of sliding plates.
Earthquakes Can Trigger Megathrust Slip in Cascadia
A 2022 earthquake in Northern California may have triggered slow slip in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, according to a new study.
Forecasting Earthquake Ruptures from Slow Slip Evolution
A new generation of physics-based models that integrate temporal slip evolution over decades to seconds opens new possibilities for understanding how large subduction zone earthquakes occur.