image: The sketch depicts the collision of two tectonic plates below central Greece. The blue-green-brown color scheme shows the surface topography (centered on the Gulf of Corinth), while the red-yellow-white color scheme represents the temperature structure at depth. From the left side of the sketch, the oceanic plate dives into the hot mantle. Upon heating, water entrapped in the minerals of the diving plate is released into the system. That water is forced back up toward the surface, but it is forced to stay below the sealed interface between the two plates. On its way up, the water contributes to weaken the rock, and triggers earthquakes (red & green dots) along where it migrates. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the April 3rd, 2019, issue of Science Advances, published by AAAS. The paper, by F. Halpaap at University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, and colleagues was titled, "Earthquakes track subduction fluids from slab source to mantle wedge sink." view more
Credit: [Credit: F. Halpaap]