Back to Structure, Tectonics, and Sediment Flow into the Lesser Antilles Subduction Zone

A schematic cross section of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, where the oceanic crust of the North American Plate subducts beneath the Caribbean island arc crust. Sediments accumulated on the subducting North American crust (brown) are either accreted to the accretionary wedge at the toe (light brown) or are carried deeper (dark brown) beneath the accretionary wedge, or beneath the Caribbean island arc crust, or down the subduction zone to be melted deep in the mantle. Magmas generated by sediment melting erupt at the volcanic arc. Earthquakes are freqently generated along the seismogenic zone between 10 - 40 km depth. The target area of the seismic imaging and structural anlaysis in this study is shown by the dashed-in box.