PLZPLZ ANSWER WHAT IS A SUBDUCTION ZONE?
The Pacific plate is not being subducted under the continental plate along the San Andres fault. This is a slip fault and the Pacific Plate is essentially moving northward along the continental plate. It is subducting in the Oregon/Washington area creating the volcanes of the Pacific northwest. A subduction zone is where one plate goes under another plate. Most subduction zones are off shore along the plate boundries. The largest subduction zone on land is where the Indian subcontinent is diving under the Asian plate. The lighter rocks on the Indian plate are scraped off and pushed onto the Asian plate forming the Hymalayian Mountains and causing the Asian plate to rise up forming Tibet and the high plateau. A more typical subduction zones are the ones forming the deep sea trenches such as the Marianis Trench. This will usually result in volcanoes a short distance from the trench on the superior plate. The Pacific Ring of Fire is the result of subduction zones around the Pacific Ocean.
