Slab rollback

Slab rollback is the seaward retreat of a subducting slab’s hinge, which can pull the overriding plate toward the trench and create extension behind the arc.

Subduction zone: A convergent plate boundary where one tectonic plate descends beneath another. Rollback is the retreat of the hinge within this broader plate-boundary system.
Aegean Sea: A marginal sea in the eastern Mediterranean surrounded by Greece and western Turkey. Hellenic subduction rollback is associated with extension and basin development across the Aegean region.
Subduction: The descent of one lithospheric plate beneath another into the mantle. Rollback occurs within subduction but describes horizontal hinge motion, not descent itself.
Trench advance: The movement of a subduction trench toward the overriding plate rather than away from it. It is the opposite direction of trench motion from rollback.
Trench retreat: The landward displacement of a subduction trench relative to the overriding plate or mantle. It is the surface expression of hinge retreat during rollback.
Hellenic Trench: The arcuate trench south of Greece where the African plate subducts beneath the Aegean region. Its retreat is a prominent present-day example used to study rollback.
Lithosphere: Earth’s rigid outer layer, comprising the crust and the uppermost mantle. The overriding and subducting plates are parts of this outer shell.
Slab advance: The motion of a slab hinge toward the overriding plate or overriding-plate interior. It contrasts with the seaward hinge retreat that defines rollback.
Back-arc basin: An extensional basin that forms behind a volcanic arc, commonly above a retreating subduction zone. Extension behind the arc can open a basin as rollback pulls the overriding plate apart.
Tyrrhenian Sea: A Mediterranean basin west of Italy, formed in a region of complex subduction and extension. Its opening is linked to retreat of the Apennine subduction system.

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