G.E. Bebout¹*, D.W. Scholl², R.J. Stern³, L.M. Wallace⁴, P. Agard⁵

1 Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA
2 Emeritus, United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA, and University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
3 Dept. of Geosciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, USA
4 University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Austin, Texas 78758, USA, and GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
5 Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France

Abstract

No other plate-tectonic setting has attracted such diverse, multidisciplinary research as convergent margins. Under­standing the dynamics of subduction is particularly important for realistic assessment of associated hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. A number of recent initiatives have been successful in building communities not only to investigate subduction processes, but also to convey knowledge about subduction zone processes to other scientists, students, postdocs, and the broader public. These efforts must include synthesizing and simplifying subduction-zone science for classroom presentations and to help prepare the public for subduction-related disasters.

Tremendous advances over the past 20 years or so have been made in subduction zone science, with increasingly multidisciplinary efforts producing some of the greatest insights. We have initiated a publication effort in the GSA journal Geosphere, with a Themed Issue “Subduction Top to Bottom 2” (or “ST2B-2”) aimed at showcasing the recent advances, following up on the conceptually similar Subduction Top to Bottom published in 1996 as an American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph. The ST2B-2 Geosphere Themed Issue is accumulating papers and is open to ALL wishing to contribute to this effort—we anticipate accepting manuscripts through all of 2018 and possibly beyond.

Manuscript received 18 July 2017. Revised manuscript received 30 Sept. 2017. Manuscript accepted 4 Oct. 2017. Posted online 15 Nov. 2017.

© The Geological Society of America, 2017. CC-BY-NC.

10.1130/GSATG354A.1