Complex morphology of subducted lithosphere in the mantle beneath the Tonga trench

@article{Hilst1995ComplexMO,
  title={Complex morphology of subducted lithosphere in the mantle beneath the Tonga trench},
  author={Robert D. van der Hilst},
  journal={Nature},
  year={1995},
  volume={374},
  pages={154-157}
}

• Robert D. van der Hilst
• Published 1995
• DOI:10.1038/374154a0

AT the Tonga trench, old Pacific sea floor subducts at a rapid rate below the Indo-Australia plate, generating most of the world's deep earthquakes (focal depth >300 km)1,2 and producing a deep slab of former oceanic lithosphere. The seismogenic part of the slab has been mapped in detail3,4, but its fate has remained enigmatic. Here I present evidence from seismic tomography that the Pacific plate descends deep into the Earth's mantle along a trajectory that is more complex than previously… CONTINUE READING

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