IBM Trench and Outer Trench Swell
The oceanic trench and the associated outer trench swell mark where Pacific Plate begins its descent into the IBM Subduction Zone. The IBM trench is where the Pacific Plate lithosphere begins to sink. The IBM trench is devoid of any significant sediment fill; the ~400 m or so thickness of sediments is completely subducted with the downgoing plate. The IBM outer trench swell rises to about 300 m above the surrounding seafloor just before the trench. The lithosphere that is about to descend into a trench starts to bend just outboard of the trench; the seafloor is elevated into a broad swell that is a few hundred meters high and referred to as the "outer trench bulge" or “outer trench rise”. The about-to-be subducted plate is highly faulted, allowing seawater to penetrate into the plate interior, where hydration of mantle peridotite may generate serpentinite. Serpentinite thus generated may carry water deep into the mantle as a result of subduction.
Read more about this topic: Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc
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