WHOI 2002 Annual Report subnav



subduction zone

When an ocean plate collides with another oceanic plate or with a plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under the other. As the subducting plate plunges deep into the mantle, the top gets hot enough to melt. Molten rock and hot fluids rise through the rock, creating additional melt. The melt forms new crust and volcanos at the surface of the overiding plate.
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