subduction zone

British  

noun

1. geology a long narrow, often arcuate, zone along which subduction takes place

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subduction zone Scientific  

1. A convergent plate boundary where one plate subducts beneath the other, usually because it is denser. The western coast of South America is roughly coincident with a subduction zone in which a plate consisting of ocean floor is subducting beneath the continental mass of South America.

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Example Sentences

This area marks the meeting point of the San Andreas fault and the Cascadia subduction zone, a place capable of producing powerful and destructive earthquakes.

From Science Daily

At the southern end of the Cascadia subduction zone, the team discovered that a portion of the North American plate has broken away and is being dragged downward along with the Gorda plate as it sinks beneath North America.

From Science Daily

The July 29 earthquake struck in the Kuril-Kamchatka subduction zone with a magnitude of 8.8, making it the sixth largest earthquake recorded worldwide since 1900.

From Science Daily

The Kuril-Kamchatka subduction zone has produced some of the largest tsunamis on record, including a devastating event in 1952 triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

From Science Daily

To better understand these deep events, the team examined seismic data from the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest, where the Juan de Fuca plate is sliding beneath the North American plate.

From Science Daily