What did Hugo Benioff discover?

Victor Hugo Benioff (September 14, 1899 – February 29, 1968) was an American seismologist and a professor at the California Institute of Technology. He is best remembered for his work in charting the location of deep earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean.

Why is the Benioff zone important?

In terms of plate tectonics, the Benioff Zone is the site of plate consumption and is often referred to as a subduction zone. Although less frequent than shallow earthquakes, the deeper earthquakes in Benioff zones range in magnitude up to 8.

What happens in the Wadati-Benioff zone?

A Wadati–Benioff zone (also Benioff–Wadati zone or Benioff zone or Benioff seismic zone) is a planar zone of seismicity corresponding with the down-going slab in a subduction zone. Differential motion along the zone produces numerous earthquakes, the foci of which may be as deep as about 670 km (420 mi).

How are earthquakes caused at the Benioff zone?

These earthquakes can be produced by slip along the subduction thrust fault or by slip on faults within the downgoing plate as a result of bending and extension as the plate is pulled into the mantle. Also known as the Wadati-Benioff zone.

When did Hugo Benioff invent the elastic rebound method?

In 1949, Hugo Benioff introduced a method for determining elastic-rebound strain increments of earthquakes on a particular fault.

How did the Benioff zone get its name?

Differential motion along the zone produces numerous earthquakes, the foci of which may be as deep as about 670 km (420 mi). The term was named for the two seismologists, Hugo Benioff of the California Institute of Technology and Kiyoo Wadati of the Japan Meteorological Agency, who independently discovered the zones.

What did Kiyoo Wadati call the Benioff zone?

These planes of seismicity were later termed Benioff zones, or Wadati–Benioff zones for Kiyoo Wadati, who made similar observations independent of Benioff at the same time.