Evidence for relative motions between the Indian and Australian Plates during the last 20 m.y. from plate tectonic reconstructions: Implications for the deformation of the Indo-Australian Plate

1991 ◽  
Vol 96 (B7) ◽  
pp. 11779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Yves Royer ◽  
Ted Chang
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Australian Plate ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions ◽  
Relative Motions

scholarly journals Origin of marginal basins of the NW Pacific and their plate tectonic reconstructions

2014 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 154-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyuan Xu ◽  
Zvi Ben-Avraham ◽  
Tom Kelty ◽  
Ho-Shing Yu
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions

scholarly journals Improving global paleogeography since the late Paleozoic using paleobiology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Cao ◽  
Sabin Zahirovic ◽  
Nicolas Flament ◽  
Simon Williams ◽  
Jan Golonka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Mantle Convection ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Late Paleozoic ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Dynamic Topography ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions ◽  
Marine Boundaries ◽  
Continental Growth

Abstract. Paleogeographic reconstructions are important to understand Earth's tectonic evolution, past eustatic and regional sea level change, hydrocarbon genesis, and to constrain and interpret the dynamic topography predicted by time-dependent global mantle convection models. Several global paleogeographic maps have been compiled and published but they are generally presented as static maps with varying temporal resolution and fixed spatial resolution. Existing global paleogeographic maps are also tied to a particular plate motion model, making it difficult to link them to alternative digital plate tectonic reconstructions. To address this limitation, we developed a workflow to reverse-engineer global paleogeographic maps to their present-day coordinates and enable them to be linked to any tectonic reconstruction. Published paleogeographic compilations are also tied to fixed input datasets. We used fossil data from the Paleobiology Database to identify inconsistencies between fossils paleo-environments and published paleogeographic maps, and to improve the location of inferred terrestrial-marine boundaries by resolving these inconsistencies. As a result, the overall consistency ratio between the paleogeography and fossil collections was improved from 76.9 % to 96.1 %. We estimated the surface areas of global paleogeographic features (shallow marine environments, landmasses, mountains and ice sheets), and reconstructed the global continental flooding history since the late Paleozoic based on the amended paleogeographies. Finally, we discuss the relationships between emerged land area and total continental crust area through time, continental growth models, and strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) signatures in ocean water. Our study highlights the flexibility of digital paleogeographic models linked to state-of-the-art plate tectonic reconstructions in order to better understand the interplay of continental growth and eustasy, with wider implications for understanding Earth's paleotopography, ocean circulation, and the role of mantle convection in shaping long-wavelength topography.

Magma production along the Lord Howe Seamount Chain, northern Zealandia

2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (9) ◽  
pp. 1605-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Seton ◽  
Simon Williams ◽  
Nick Mortimer ◽  
Sebastien Meffre ◽  
Steven Micklethwaite ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
The South ◽  
Coral Sea ◽  
Australian Plate ◽  
Magma Flux ◽  
Seamount Chain ◽  
Geophysical Mapping

AbstractOne of the world’s most notable intraplate volcanic regions lies on the eastern Australian plate and includes two age-progressive trails offshore (Tasmantid and Lord Howe seamount chains) and the world’s longest continental hotspot trail (Cosgrove Track). While most studies agree that these chains formed by the rapid northward motion of the Australian plate over a slowly moving mantle source, the volcanic output along these trails, their plate–mantle interactions and the source of the magmatism remain unconstrained. A geophysical mapping and dredging campaign on the RV Southern Surveyor (ss2012_v06) confirmed the prolongation of the Lord Howe Seamount Chain to the South Rennell Trough, ∼200 km further north than previously sampled. Radiometric dating of these new samples at 27–28 Ma, together with previously published results from the southern part of the chain, indicate straightforward northward motion of the Australian plate over a quasi-stationary hotspot as predicted by Indo-Atlantic and Pacific hotspot models. A peak in Lord Howe Seamount Chain magmatism in late Oligocene time, also seen in the Tasmantid and Cosgrove trails, matches a 27–23 Ma slowdown of Australian plate motion. The average magma flux of the Lord Howe hotspot is estimated at 0.4 m3 s−1, similar to rates of crustal production at the South Rennell Trough prior to cessation of spreading in middle Oligocene time, supporting a potential genetic relationship to this spreading system. In addition, plate tectonic modelling suggests that the seamounts and plateaus in the Coral Sea may host the earliest evidence of plume activity in the area.

Plate tectonic reconstructions with continuously closing plates

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gurnis ◽  
Mark Turner ◽  
Sabin Zahirovic ◽  
Lydia DiCaprio ◽  
Sonja Spasojevic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions

scholarly journals Uncertainties in break-up markers along the Iberia–Newfoundland margins illustrated by new seismic data

Solid Earth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabel Causer ◽  
Lucía Pérez-Díaz ◽  
Jürgen Adam ◽  
Graeme Eagles
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Magnetic Anomalies ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Plate Models ◽  
Plate Reconstructions ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions ◽  
Break Up

Abstract. Plate tectonic modellers often rely on the identification of “break-up” markers to reconstruct the early stages of continental separation. Along the Iberian-Newfoundland margin, so-called break-up markers include interpretations of old magnetic anomalies from the M series, as well as the “J anomaly”. These have been used as the basis for plate tectonic reconstructions are based on the concept that these anomalies pinpoint the location of first oceanic lithosphere. However, uncertainties in the location and interpretation of break-up markers, as well as the difficulty in dating them precisely, has led to plate models that differ in both the timing and relative palaeo-positions of Iberia and Newfoundland during separation. We use newly available seismic data from the Southern Newfoundland Basin (SNB) to assess the suitability of commonly used break-up markers along the Newfoundland margin for plate kinematic reconstructions. Our data show that basement associated with the younger M-series magnetic anomalies is comprised of exhumed mantle and magmatic additions and most likely represents transitional domains and not true oceanic lithosphere. Because rifting propagated northward, we argue that M-series anomaly identifications further north, although in a region not imaged by our seismic, are also unlikely to be diagnostic of true oceanic crust beneath the SNB. Similarly, our data also allow us to show that the high amplitude of the J Anomaly is associated with a zone of exhumed mantle punctuated by significant volcanic additions and at times characterized by interbedded volcanics and sediments. Magmatic activity in the SNB at a time coinciding with M4 (128 Ma) and the presence of SDR packages onlapping onto a basement fault suggest that, at this time, plate divergence was still being accommodated by tectonic faulting. We illustrate the differences in the relative positions of Iberia and Newfoundland across published plate reconstructions and discuss how these are a direct consequence of the uncertainties introduced into the modelling procedure by the use of extended continental margin data (dubious magnetic anomaly identifications, break-up unconformity interpretations). We conclude that a different approach is needed for constraining plate kinematics of the Iberian plate pre-M0 times.

3-D Plate Tectonic Reconstructions of New Guinea Since the Triassic

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabin Zahirovic* ◽  
Nicolas Flament ◽  
Dietmar Muller ◽  
Maria Seton ◽  
Kevin C. Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Guinea ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Tectonic Reconstructions

A Discussion on the evolution of the Precambrian crust - A plate tectonic model for the Archaean crust

1973 ◽  
Vol 273 (1235) ◽  
pp. 413-427 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Plate Tectonic ◽  
Granulite Facies Metamorphism ◽  
Sialic Crust ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Lithospheric Plates ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Relative Motions

The characteristics of Archaean greenstone belt terrains are briefly summarized together with some of the models which have been used to account for their genesis. Crystalline sialic crust is interpreted as having increased with time by separation from the mantle. Many of the problems posed by Archaean greenstone belt terrains may be eased if the first sialic crust is assumed to have consisted of small masses concentrated by plate tectonic processes similar to those still in operation. Even if Archaean plates were of similar size, and were formed and lost at rates similar to those since the Mesozoic, there would be differences in the manner in which the sialic crust was concentrated because so little had separated from the mantle during Archaean times. The original formation of the rocks now forming the earliest tonalite gneisses and migmatites is attributed to very early Archaean times when no large sialic concentrations are likely to have existed on subduced lithospheric plates and the only form of orogeny was of the Island Arc type. Even after sialic concentrations did become incorporated in subduced plates they may for a long time have been too small for significant areas to survive extensive remobilization and addition of magmas from below whenever they were associated with plate boundary zones. Sets of greenstone belts are interpreted as vestiges of former oceans. By the end of Archaean times the sialic crustal concentrations, despite possible fragmentation and periods of independent development, became sufficiently extensive for large areas to survive ocean closure without significant remobilization. This model implies that there is no need for orogeny to have been any more extensive in Archaean times than now; it could merely have been more extensive compared to the area of the sialic crust in existence at the time. Plate tectonic models of Archaean tectonics are distinguished from the alternatives by their implication that large relative motions occurred between the oldest parts of the granitoid masses now on either side of the greenstone belts. Palaeomagnetism may be able to distinguish the relative usefulness of the models if any such relative motions can be recognized through the effects of remobilization of most, if not all, the sialic crust in Archaean times. Other tests are possible but the most useful might be the necessity for any model of the formation of the greenstone belts being adaptable enough to account for the relationships emerging from studies of the Archaean crustal remnants characterized by granulite facies metamorphism and anorthosites.

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