Because of interactions with Earth’s hot mantle, water-logged oceanic plates release water as they slide beneath less dense overriding plates in subduction zones. This water rises and hydrates the mantle above it, contributing to the formation of volcanoes at the surface and limiting the maximum depths of damaging earthquakes. Because of interactions with Earth’s hot mantle, water-logged oceanic plates release water as they slide beneath less dense overriding plates in subduction zones. This water rises and hydrates the mantle above it, contributing to the formation of volcanoes at the surface and limiting the maximum depths of damaging earthquakes. Earth Sciences Phys.org – latest science and technology news stories
How mantle hydration changes over the lifetime of a subduction zone
