Context:
Subduction zone discovered beneath Gibraltar Strait in the Atlantic Ocean.
Subduction Zones in Atlantic:
- Vulnerability – Mature Atlantic-type oceans are generally not vulnerable to the process of subduction.
- The oceanic lithosphere here is thick and strong, making it resistant to breaking and bending
- However, Atlantic has 2 fully developed Subduction Zones
- 2 subduction zones – Lesser Antilles and the Scotia arcs.
- Gibraltar Arc – Emerging 3rd subduction zone in the Atlantic
- Subduction Invasion – A phenomenon were Gibraltar Arc would eventually expand to the open Atlantic Ocean leading to the shrinking of the ocean
Subduction Zones:
- Subduction Zones – Locations of convergent plate boundaries where one tectonic plate is pushed below the other tectonic plate
- Also called as – Benioff Zones
- Impacts of Subduction – Produces deep trenches, earthquakes, and volcanoes that often form arcs of islands along the convergent boundary.
Gibraltar Strait:
- Gibraltar Strait – Narrow waterway separating Europe and Africa and connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean
- Bordered by – Spain and Morocco
- Formation – Formed due to the northward movement of the African Plate towards the European Plate
Related Article: Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Source: Times of India
Previous Year Question
In the South Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclones do not originate. What is the reason?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2015 Prelims]
(a) Sea surface temperatures are low
(b) Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone seldom occurs
(c) Coriolis force is too weak
(d) Absence of land in those regions
Answer: (b)
