TWENTY YEARS OF SUBDUCTION ZONE SCIENCE: SUBDUCTION TOP TO BOTTOM 2 (ST2B-2)

No other plate-tectonic setting has attracted as 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 to investigate subduction processes and convey knowledge regarding subduction to other scientists, students, postdocs, and the broader public. These efforts have included synthesizing and simplifying subduction-zone science for classroom presentations and helping prepare the public for subduction-related disasters.

Tremendous advances over the past 20 or so years have been made in subduction zone science, with increasingly multidisciplinary efforts producing some of the greatest insights. In 2016, we 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 (with about 35 papers) published in 1996 as an American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph (v96). The ST2B-2 Geosphere Themed Issue has been attracting manuscript submissions (we have received approximately 70 manuscripts, and about 45 of these already are published). It is open to ALL wishing to contribute and we will be accepting manuscripts through all of 2019 and well into 2020.

For this Geosphere Themed Issue, we identified 17 subduction-zone science categories, arrayed as a function of increasing depth in a subduction zone, beginning with “What Goes In” and “Forces Driving Subduction.” Each of these science categories has one to three assistant guest editors (AGEs) assigned to be the contact individuals for those wanting to submit manuscripts. The Geosphere ST2B-2 table of contents can be viewed at https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geosphere/pages/st2b2 and those interested in submitting a manuscript should contact one of the authors of this abstract or one of the AGEs in their respective science category (listed in the online call for papers).