The local angle of a descending slab relative to a horizontal surface; it can change with depth and along the margin.
A regime in which an initially descending slab becomes nearly horizontal beneath the overriding plate for a substantial inland distance before descending again. It can narrow or eliminate a hot mantle wedge, shift deformation inland and coincide with a volcanic gap. Incoming buoyant crust, hydration, upper-plate motion and mantle forces can all contribute; association with an oceanic ridge does not isolate one cause.
Net gravitational effect of thermal and compositional density contrasts between a slab and its surroundings, including phase changes.
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