Which mechanism causes strong regional uplift during flat-slab subduction?

💡 Explanation

When a subducting plate travels horizontally (flat-slab subduction), lithospheric compression increases because the overriding plate experiences greater horizontal stress, causing ductile thickening and regional uplift. Therefore lithospheric compression results, rather than alternate mechanisms related to surface buckling, melting, or asthenospheric drag, which are less directly driven by lithospheric stresses.

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