Slab_(geology)
Slab (geology)
The portion of a tectonic plate that is being subducted
In geology, the slab is a significant constituent of subduction zones .[1]
Subduction slabs drive plate tectonics by pulling along the lithosphere to which they attach in a process known as slab pull and by inducing currents in the mantle via slab suction.[2] The slab affects the convection and evolution of the Earth's mantle due to the insertion of the hydrous oceanic lithosphere.[3] Dense oceanic lithosphere retreats into the Earth's mantle, while lightweight continental lithospheric material produces active continental margins and volcanic arcs, generating volcanism.[4] Recycling the subducted slab presents volcanism by flux melting from the mantle wedge.[5] The slab motion can cause dynamic uplift and subsidence of the Earth's surface, forming shallow seaways[2] and potentially rearranging drainage patterns.[6]
Geologic features of the subsurface can infer subducted slabs by seismic imaging.[7][8] Subduction slabs are dynamic; slab characteristics such as slab temperature evolution, flat-slab, deep-slab, and slab detachment can be expressed globally near subduction zones.[9] Temperature gradients of subducted slabs depend on the oceanic plate's time and thermal structures.[10] Slabs experiencing low angle (less than 30 degrees) subduction is considered flat-slab, primarily in southern China and the western United States.[11][12] Marianas Trench is an example of a deep slab, thereby creating the deepest trench in the world established by a steep slab angle.[13] Slab breakoff occurs during a collision between oceanic and continental lithosphere,[14] allowing for a slab tear; an example of slab breakoff occurs within the Himalayan subduction zone.[4]
