New 'embryonic' subduction zone found

[n2doc]

17 June 2013

A new subduction zone forming off the coast of Portugal heralds the beginning of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean close as continental Europe moves closer to America.

Published in Geology, new research led by Monash University geologists has detected the first evidence that a passive margin in the Atlantic ocean is becoming active. Subduction zones, such as the one beginning near Iberia, are areas where one of the tectonic plates that cover the Earth’s surface dives beneath another plate into the mantle - the layer just below the crust.

Lead author Dr João Duarte, from the School of Geosciences said the team mapped the ocean floor and found it was beginning to fracture, indicating tectonic activity around the apparently passive South West Iberia plate margin.

"What we have detected is the very beginnings of an active margin - it's like an embryonic subduction zone," Dr Duarte said.

"Significant earthquake activity, including the 1755 quake which devastated Lisbon, indicated that there might be convergent tectonic movement in the area. For the first time, we have been able to provide not only evidences that this is indeed the case, but also a consistent driving mechanism."

more
http://monash.edu/news/show/new-embryonic-subduction-zone-found

[kestrel91316]

1. Subduction zone there + Las Palmas =

DO NOT BUY REAL ESTATE ON THE US EAST COAST.

[DetlefK]

2. Might become worthless in a million years.

Continental plates move 1-7 centimeters per year (depending on who you ask).

[kestrel91316]

5. Subduction zones >>>> biggest quakes and tsunamis on the planet >>>> Las Palmas wipes out the

east coast. And it could happen ANY TIME.

[hunter]

4. Keep an emergency escape aircraft in your closet...

... surface transportation will be pretty useless.

And if you live near any coast hope big meteors hit land, not ocean.

[getting old in mke]

3. Should cut down the airfare portion of a European vacation

in about 200 million years.