CompuServe Messages

Doug >> It is not surprising if the sediments in the trenches are continually being pulled under with the subducting plate. The interesting question is how fast do the sediments accumulate vs. how fast are they subducted. << There is a lot of variation in the sediments if the basin charts I am looking at are true. Near the trenches around Japan there looks like a pile of sediment on the basin side of the trench but the trench is not filled…I guess it could be very light sediment that drifted a long way before settling. The subduction pulling the sediment down with it is a stretch. The process must have a very tight seam or magma would flow out so it seams as though the sediment would be mostly scraped off and fill the trench and result in a pile of sediment where the trenches are located. Kamron