News From the Field
Complex Structure Observed in Tonga Mantle Wedge Has Implications for the Evolution of Volcanic Arcs

April 12, 2007

The subduction zones, where oceanic plates sink beneath the continents, produce volcanic arcs such as those that make up the "rim of fire" around the Pacific Ocean. Although geologists have a pretty good picture of the processes that produce volcanic arcs, a new study finds that the structure of the mantle wedge above the subducting plate may be far more complex than anyone had imagined.  Full story

Source
University of California, Santa Cruz

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