This study, published in Earth and Planetary Physics, explores the subduction thermal state, slab metamorphism, and seismic ...

Huang says finding active areas of subduction zones where earthquakes tend to occur, and examining why earthquakes occur in these areas, can help researchers devise better earthquake warning systems.

The research focused on the Marcy and Morin anorthosites, classic examples from North ... isotopic signatures corresponding to other subduction zone rocks such as abyssal serpentinite.

One example of these areas is in the western Pacific, where the presence of a submerged plate should be impossible, as there’s been no subduction zone nearby in recent geologic history.