Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Seismicity located using the Adak seismograph network shows the Benioff zone below a depth of 100 km consists of two thin zones of earthquakes about 25 km apart that merge at a depth of 175 km. Focal mechanisms in the upper zone are consistently down‐dip compression, while those of the lower zone are down‐dip tension. An elastic‐plastic model of the lithosphere predicts that these two zones reflect the stresses in the elastic core of the lithosphere due to unbending.
Engdahl et al. (Sat,) studied this question.