subduction

[suhb-duhk-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of subducting; subtraction or withdrawal.

2. Geology.,  the process by which collision of the earth's crustal plates results in one plate's being drawn down or overridden by another, localized along the juncture subduction zone of two plates.

subduction

/ səbˈdʌkʃən /

noun

1. the act of subducting, esp of turning the eye downwards

2. geology the process of one tectonic plate sliding under another, resulting in tensions and faulting in the earth's crust, with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

subduction

1. A geologic process in which one edge of one lithospheric plate is forced below the edge of another. The denser of the two plates sinks beneath the other. As it descends, the plate often generates seismic and volcanic activity (from melting and upward migration of magma) in the overriding plate.

2. Compare obduction

Word History and Origins

Origin of subduction¹

1570–80; < Latin subductiōn-, stem of subductiō pulling up, computation; subduct, -ion

Example Sentences

They are two of the West Coast’s most destructive generators of huge earthquakes: the San Andreas fault in California and the Cascadia subduction zone offshore of California’s North Coast, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

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Longer seismic ruptures have been found only on subduction megathrusts deep underneath the ocean.

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One involves a near-shore tsunami, such as a magnitude 9 earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone, just off the coast of California’s North Coast, Oregon and Washington.

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A 559-mile long fault line located off Japan’s Pacific coast characterized by its subduction, in which one tectonic plate is forced under another, the Nankai Trough has produced devastating earthquakes every 90 to 200 years.

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Those are the findings of a new study that examined the repercussions of a massive earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone, which stretches from Northern California up to Canada’s Vancouver Island.

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