Ben·i·off zone
| \ ˈbe-nē-ˌȯf- \
Definition of Benioff zone
geology
: a seismically active underground area within a subduction zone
Researchers say today's type of quake …, or Benioff zone, earthquake, is the most frequent and potentially most benign of the types of earthquake in the region.— Carol Kaesuk Yoon, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2001 A seismic zone dipping beneath a continental margin or an island arc, and having a deep-sea trench as its surface expression, is called a Benioff zone, after Hugo Benioff, the American seismologist who first described the feature.— Sheldon Judson and Marvin E. Kauffman, Physical Geology, 8th Edition, 1990
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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The first known use of Benioff zone was in 1967
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