Central Java ash makes Central Java highly fertile agriculture land. Paddy fields are extensive, except in the southeastern Gunung Kidul region partly due to the high concentration of limestone and its location in a rain shadow from the prevailing weather. The largest rivers are the Serayu in the west, which empties into the Indian Ocean, and the Solo which flows into East Java. On the eve of the World War II in 1942, Central Java was subdivided into 7 residencies (Dutch "residentie" or plural "residenties", Javanese "karésiḍènan" or "karésidhènan") which corresponded more or less with the main regions of this area. These
Ryukyu Trench km/s, 3.5 km/s, and 4.5–5 km/s. In the area of this transect, the wedge reaches a thickness of 9 km at 50 km from the trench. Beneath the wedge are several seismic layers within the oceanic crust. Separate ocean bottom seismography and multi-channel seismic studies provide insight into the structure of the northern end of the Ryukyu trench region. Features of note include a thick (7–12 km) low velocity (4–5 km/s) zone on the landward side of the trench, the existence of subducting paleo-arc crust near the top of the trench in contrast to simple oceanic crust located at the