Seismic images suggest that oceanic plates in the northwest Pacific broke apart as they descended into Earth's mantle. That might explain the high magma output of some volcanoes in the region, and why others are extinct.
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Davies, J. Breaking plates. Nature 418, 736–737 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/418736a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/418736a