subduction zone

noun

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

subduction zone

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.

Example Sentences

The upgrade also would improve warnings for the Pacific Northwest and California’s North Coast, which are threatened by tsunamis from quakes along the Cascadia subduction zone.

From Los Angeles Times

"These splay faults are closer to the coast, so these tsunamis will be faster to hit the coastline than a tsunami generated only from a subduction zone earthquake."

From Science Daily

DePaolis, along with Tina Dura, assistant professor of natural hazards, and colleagues from the United States Geological Survey, found evidence that splay faults, the crustal faults connected to the subduction zones, may shift during subduction zone earthquakes and contribute to local coastal destruction and ecological change more regularly than previously realized.

From Science Daily

When tectonic plates shift at a subduction zone, it occurs miles under the ocean surface.

From Science Daily

Typically, the resultant lifting of land from the tectonic plate shifting beneath it, called uplift, from subduction zone earthquakes can be as much as 1 to 3 meters.

From Science Daily