Change In Plate Motion Research Articles

Motion between the Indian, Antarctic and African plates in the early Cenozoic

We used a three-plate best-fit algorithm to calculate four sets of Euler rotations for motion between the India (Capricorn), Africa (Somali) and Antarctic plates for 14 time intervals in the early Cenozoic. Each set of rotations had a different combination of data constraints. The first set of rotations used a basic set of magnetic anomaly picks on the Central Indian Ridge (CIR), Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR) and Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) and fracture zone constraints on the CIR and SEIR, but did not incorporate data from the Carlsberg Ridge and did not use fracture zones on the SWIR. The second set added fracture zone constraints from the region of the Bain fracture zone on the SWIR which were dated with synthetic flowlines based on the first data set. The third set of rotations used the basic constraints from the first rotation set and added data from the Carlsberg Ridge. The fourth set of rotations combined both the SWIR fracture zone constraints and the Carlsberg Ridge constraints. Data on the Indian Plate side of the Carlsberg Ridge (Arabian Basin) were rotated to the Capricorn Plate before being included in the constraints. Plate trajectories and spreading rate histories for the CIR and SWIR based on the new rotations document the major early Cenozoic changes in plate motion. On the CIR and SEIR there was a large but gradual slowdown starting around Chron 23o (51.9 Ma) and continuing until Chron 21y (45.3 Ma) followed 2 or 3 Myr later by an abrupt change in spreading azimuth which started around Chron 20o (42.8) Ma and which was completed by Chron 20y (41.5 Ma). No change in spreading rate accompanied the abrupt change in spreading direction. On the SWIR there was a continuous increase in spreading rates between Chrons 23o and 20o and large changes in azimuth around Chrons 24 and 23 and again at Chron 21. Unexpectedly, we found that the two sets of rotations constrained by the Carlsberg Ridge data diverged from the other two sets of rotations prior to anomaly 22o. When compared to rotations for the CIR that are simultaneously constrained by data from all three branches of the Indian Ocean Triple Junction, there is a progressively larger separation of anomalies on the Carlsberg Ridge, with a roughly 25 km misfit for anomaly 23o and increasing to over 100 km for anomaly 26y. These data require that there was previously unrecognized convergence somewhere in the plate circuit linking the Indian, Capricorn and Somali plates prior to Chron 22o. We quantify this motion by summing our new Capricorn–Somalia rotations with previously published rotations for Neogene India–Capricorn motion and for early Cenozoic Somali–India motion based solely on Carlsberg Ridge data. The most likely possibility is that there was motion within the Somalia Plate due to a distinct Seychelles microplate as young as Chron 22o. The sense of the misfit on the Carlsberg Ridge is consistent with roughly 100–150 km of convergence across a boundary passing through the Amirante Trench and extending north to the Carlsberg Ridge axis between anomalies 26y and 22o. Alternatively, there may have been convergence within the Indian Plate, either along the western margin of Indian or east of the CIR in the region of the current Capricorn–Indian diffuse plate boundary. Our work sharpens the dating of the two major Eocene changes in plate motion recognized in the Indian Ocean.

Postspreading rifting in the Adare Basin, Antarctica: Regional tectonic consequences

Extension during the middle Cenozoic (43–26 Ma) in the north end of the West Antarctic rift system (WARS) is well constrained by seafloor magnetic anomalies formed at the extinct Adare spreading axis. Kinematic solutions for this time interval suggest a southward decrease in relative motion between East and West Antarctica. Here we present multichannel seismic reflection and seafloor mapping data acquired within and near the Adare Basin on a recent geophysical cruise. We have traced the ANTOSTRAT seismic stratigraphic framework from the northwest Ross Sea into the Adare Basin, verified and tied to DSDP drill sites 273 and 274. Our results reveal three distinct periods of tectonic activity. An early localized deformational event took place close to the cessation of seafloor spreading in the Adare Basin (∼24 Ma). It reactivated a few normal faults and initiated the formation of the Adare Trough. A prominent pulse of rifting in the early Miocene (∼17 Ma) resulted in normal faulting that initiated tilted blocks. The overall trend of structures was NE–SW, linking the event with the activity outside the basin. It resulted in major uplift of the Adare Trough and marks the last extensional phase of the Adare Basin. Recent volcanic vents (Pliocene to present day) tend to align with the early Miocene structures and the on‐land Hallett volcanic province. This latest phase of tectonic activity also involves near‐vertical normal faulting (still active in places) with negligible horizontal consequences. The early Miocene extensional event found within the Adare Basin does not require a change in the relative motion between East and West Antarctica. However, the lack of subsequent rifting within the Adare Basin coupled with the formation of the Terror Rift and an on‐land and subice extension within the WARS require a pronounced change in the kinematics of the rift. These observations indicate that extension increased southward, therefore suggesting that a major change in relative plate motion took place in the middle Miocene. The late Miocene pole of rotation might have been located north of the Adare Basin, with opposite opening sign compared to the Eocene‐Oligocene pole.

Pacific‐North America plate boundary reorganization in response to a change in relative plate motion: Offshore Canada

The transition from subduction in Cascadia to the transform Queen Charlotte fault along western Canada is often drawn as a subduction zone, yet recent studies of GPS and earthquake data from northern Vancouver Island are not consistent with that model. In this paper we synthesize seismic reflection and gravity interpretations with microseismicity data in order to test models of (1) microplate subduction and (2) reorganization of the preexisting strike‐slip plate boundary. We focus on the critical region of outer Queen Charlotte Sound and the adjacent offshore. On much of the continental shelf, several million years of subsidence above thin crust are a counterindicator for subduction. An undated episode of compression uplifted the southernmost shelf, but subsidence patterns offshore show that recent subduction is unlikely to be responsible. Previously unremarked near‐vertical faults and a mix of extensional and compressional faults offshore indicate that strike‐slip faulting has been a significant mode of deformation. Seismicity in the last 18 years is dominantly strike‐slip and shows large amounts of moment release on the Revere‐Dellwood fault and its overlap with the Queen Charlotte fault. The relative plate motion between the Pacific and North American plates rotated clockwise ∼6 Ma and appears to have triggered formation of an evolving array of structures. We suggest that the paleo‐Queen Charlotte fault which had defined this continental margin retreated northward as offshore distributed shear and the newly formed Revere Dellwood fault propagated to the northwest.

Mesozoic history of the Fairway‐Aotea Basin: Implications for the early stages of Gondwana fragmentation

The Fairway Ridge is a buried continental structure that separates the Fairway Basin from the New Caledonia Basin. The proposed Cretaceous age of the Fairway Basin has remained highly hypothetical to date. Deep offshore petroleum exploration wells revealed well‐dated Mesozoic carbonaceous sedimentary rocks in the Taranaki Basin at the southern end of the Aotea Basin. In this paper we use geophysical data to confirm the continuity of the 2000 km long Fairway‐Aotea Basin connecting New Caledonia to New Zealand and prove its early Late Cretaceous age. Analysis of seismic reflection profiles together with newly compiled gravity and magnetic maps reveals Late Cretaceous NE–SW trending lineaments projecting northeastward from major Tasman Sea fracture zones and the Bellona Trough, which demonstrate that the opening of the Fairway‐Aotea Basin predates the opening of the Tasman Sea. This result combined with observations of the Mesozoic regional geology suggests that the Lord Howe, Fairway, and Norfolk ridges are part of a remnant late Early Cretaceous continental arc, which was fragmented into three pieces by the late Early to early Late Cretaceous. This event might be contemporaneous with a plate motion change between the Gondwana and Pacific plates and/or the arrival of the Hikurangi plateau in the subduction zone around 105 Ma, which caused the cessation of subduction along this plate boundary. We interpret either of those two events as being possible trigger events for the post–Early Cretaceous fragmentation of the eastern Gondwana margin in a slab retreat process.

Origin of volcanism on the flanks of the Pacific‐Antarctic ridge between 41°30′S and 52°S

Non–hot spot, intraplate volcanism is a common feature near the East Pacific Rise or Pacific‐Antarctic ridge. Volcanic ridges and seamount chains, tens to hundreds of kilometers long, are asymmetrically distributed about the ridge axis, with most volcanic features occurring on the Pacific plate. Their origins remain controversial. We have analyzed off‐axis volcanic ridges near the Pacific‐Antarctic ridge from bathymetry, backscatter, gravity, and geochemistry data of the Pacantarctic 2 cruise. K/Ar dating of samples dredged on these structures reveals a contrast of up to 3 Ma between the volcanoes and the underlying crust. The volcanic activity, as suggested by the strong backscatter in sonar images, appears to be limited to areas of seafloor younger than about 3 Ma. All surveyed ridges north of the Menard transform fault (TF) show recent activity close to the ridge axis and are not affected by faults. The off‐axis volcanic ridges south of the Menard TF show recent volcanic flows in their center and are affected by N‐S extension. Two different types of volcanoes can be characterized: conical, flat‐topped ones and rough, elongated ones associated with narrow, E‐W trending volcanic ridges, some of them showing strong backscattering on the EM12 imagery. From the morphology of the seamount chains and the ages of the lava samples, we infer that the magma source for the volcanic ridges is related to the feeding of the ridge axis through three‐dimensional mantle convective circulation. We suggest that a change in the relative plate motion since about 5 Ma might have induced an offset of the mantle upwelling circulation under the ridge axis so that anomalously hot mantle rises under the Pacific ridge flank. The kinematic change is also likely responsible for the tectonic deformation in the young lithosphere south of Menard TF.

The Bent Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Track: Inheriting the Mantle Wind

Bends in volcanic hotspot lineaments, best represented by the large elbow in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain, were thought to directly record changes in plate motion. Several lines of geophysical inquiry now suggest that a change in the locus of upwelling in the mantle induced by mantle dynamics causes bends in hotspot tracks. Inverse modeling suggests that although deep flow near the core-mantle boundary may have played a role in the Hawaiian-Emperor bend, capture of a plume by a ridge, followed by changes in sub-Pacific mantle flow, can better explain the observations. Thus, hotspot tracks can reveal patterns of past mantle circulation.

The Cretaceous Peri-Atlantic Alkaline Pulse (PAAP): Deep mantle plume origin or shallow lithospheric break-up?

Although the Early Jurassic initial phases of Atlantic rifting were marked by the tholeiitic basalt flows and dikes of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), the Cretaceous Era was characterised by widespread alkaline igneous activity on widely separated peri-Atlantic continental margins. Nearly half the peri-Atlantic alkaline rocks dated between 250 to 50 Ma fall within the 125–80 Ma range. This period of intense alkaline activity during the mid-Cretaceous formed the Peri-Atlantic Alkaline Pulse (PAAP). The mechanisms for the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as for the CAMP and later PAAP magmatic events, have been attributed either to deep mantle plumes or to a combination of tensional forces, lithospheric rifting and structural controls. We describe the PAAP event for the first time and test the plume and structural models. The PAAP displays evidence of strong structural control and appears to be related to reactivation of pre-existing lithospheric structures throughout the peri-Atlantic zone. Early stages of continental separation and abrupt changes in plate motion were the most likely mechanisms for the reactivation of favourably oriented pre-existing structures. Mid-Cretaceous pulses in alkaline magmatic activity were closely associated with major Atlantic tectonic events. The opening of the South Atlantic, the change in intensity and direction of both seafloor spreading and plate motion, and the consequent fluctuation in intra-plate stresses were responsible for two spikes in peri-Atlantic alkaline magmatism at ~ 125 Ma and ~ 85–80 Ma. The general lack of evidence for a deep hotspot associated with the peri-Atlantic zone seems incompatible with a mantle plume origin. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of the PAAP along passive continental margins suggests an ideal setting for the development of edge-driven convection. We propose that the periodic reactivation of deep-seated pre-existing zones of weakness during the major stages of Atlantic tectonic evolution, combined with coeval asthenospheric upwelling due to edge-driven convection and continental insulation flow, enhanced the ascent of alkaline magmas. This mechanism of shallow, small-scale upwelling during periodic structural reactivation provides a more likely explanation for the PAAP than the commonly proposed deep mantle plume scenario.

Middle Miocene Chiapas fold and thrust belt of Mexico: a result of collision of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge with the Middle America Trench

Abstract The Middle Miocene, thin-skinned, Chiapas fold-and-thrust belt (Gulf of Mexico–southeastern Mexico–Belize) consists of WNW-trending folds and thrusts, and East–West sinistral transcurrent faults resulting from N60°E shortening. Balanced cross-sections indicate that shortening varies from 48% (SW) to c . 8% (NE) with a total shortening of 106 km, and that thrusts merge into a basal décollement in the Callovian salt horizon. The Middle Miocene age of the deformation is synchronous with collision of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge with the Middle America Trench off Chiapas. The presently exposed Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge varies from a transform fault across which the age of the oceanic crust changes producing a step (down to the east) to a ridge resulting from compression following a change in plate motion and a series of seamounts. On the other hand, the earthquake data show that the part of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge subducted during the past 5 Ma is a step with no accompanying ridge. Whereas collision of a ridge segment with the trench is inferred to be responsible for the 13–11 Ma deformation in the upper plate, its termination at 11 Ma suggests an along-strike transition to a step. Collision of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge also appears to have terminated arc magmatism along the Pacific coast of Chiapas. The similarity between the petroleum-producing, Cantarell structure in the Sonda de Campeche and the buried foldbelt in the Sierra de Chiapas suggests there is considerable further hydrocarbon potential.

A Palaeozoic Northwest Passage: incursion of Caledonian, Baltican and Siberian terranes into eastern Panthalassa, and the early evolution of the North American Cordillera

Abstract Palaeozoic to early Mesozoic terranes of the North American Cordillera mostly originated from three distinct regions in Palaeozoic time: the western peri-Laurentian margin, western (Asian) Panthalassa, and the northern Caledonides–Siberia. A review of geological history, fossil and provenance data for the Caledonian–Siberian terranes suggests that they probably occupied an intermediate position between northern Baltica, northeastern Laurentia and Siberia, in proximity to the northern Caledonides, in early Palaeozoic time. Dispersion of these terranes and their westward incursion into eastern Panthalassa are interpreted to result from development of a Caribbean- or Scotia-style subduction system between northern Laurentia and Siberia in mid-Palaeozoic time, termed here the Northwest Passage. Westward propagation of a narrow subduction zone coupled with a global change in plate motion, related to the collision of Gondwana with Laurentia–Baltica, are proposed to have led to initiation of subduction along the western passive margin of Laurentia and development of the peri-Laurentian terranes as a set of rifted continental fragments, superimposed arcs and marginal ocean basin(s) in mid- to late Palaeozoic time. Diachronous orogenic activity from Late Silurian in Arctic Canada, to Early Devonian in north Yukon and adjacent Alaska, Middle Devonian in southeastern British Columbia, and Late Devonian–Early Mississippian in the western USA records progressive development of the Northwest Passage and southward propagation of subduction along western Laurentia.

Rapid change in drift of the Australian plate records collision with Ontong Java plateau

The subduction of oceanic plateaux, which contain extraordinarily thick basaltic crust and are the marine counterparts of continental flood-basalt provinces, is an important factor in many current models of plate motion and provides a potential mechanism for triggering plate reorganization. To evaluate such models, it is essential to decipher the history of the collision between the largest and thickest of the world's oceanic plateaux, the Ontong Java plateau, and the Australian plate, but this has been hindered by poor constraints for the arrival of the plateau at the Melanesian trench. Here we present (40)Ar-(39)Ar geochronological data on hotspot volcanoes in eastern Australian that reveal a strong link between collision of the Greenland-sized Ontong Java plateau with the Melanesian arc and motion of the Australian plate. The new ages define a short-lived period of reduced northward plate motion between 26 and 23 Myr ago, coincident with an eastward offset in the contemporaneous tracks of seamount chains in the Tasman Sea east of Australia. These features record a brief westward deflection of the Australian plate as the plateau entered and choked the Melanesian trench 26 Myr ago. From 23 Myr ago, Australia returned to a rapid northerly trajectory at roughly the same time that southwest-directed subduction began along the Trobriand trough. The timing and brevity of this collisional event correlate well with offsets in hotspot seamount tracks on the Pacific plate, including the archetypal Hawaiian chain, and thus provide strong evidence that immense oceanic plateaux, like the Ontong Java, can contribute to initiating rapid change in plate boundaries and motions on a global scale.

Progressive shortening axis rotation recorded by Variscan synkinematic granites : example of the South Armorican shear zone in the Vendée (France)

The Variscan continental collision is expressed by large shear zones in Western Europe. The synthesis of granite ages, related to different deformation fields in the Vendée area, suggests a geodynamic model for the tectonic evolution of this part of the Variscan belt between 370 Ma – 320 Ma. After the first step of the continental collision, leading to high temperature and anatexis at 375-360 Ma, the south-eastern part of the Armorican massif underwent large dextral shearing along N110-N125 trending shear zones, related to a bulk NNW-SSE shortening direction, up to early Visean time. Large-scale displacements progressively decreased at around 345-340Ma. During middle Visean time, the shortening axis direction rotated towards a NNE-SSW position implying changes in the regional deformation field. The occurrence of N70-N100 sinistral and N110-N130 dextral conjugate shear zones within leucogranites are related to that epoch. Finally, a new dextral shear zone system, trending N130-N150 along the Parthenay shear zone, occurs during late Visean time. This progressive middle Visean change of shortening direction probably corresponds to a major change in the Iberian plate motion and indentation during the Mississipian collision.

Comment on "Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time"

Whittaker et al. (Reports, 5 October 2007, p. 83) presented reconstructions for Australia and Antarctica showing a change in relative plate motion approximately 53 million years ago, coincident with an inferred major global plate reorganization. This comment addresses problematic areas in their assumptions and the geological consequences of their reconstructions.

Transform and rift structure of Paleogene crust near Resolution Ridge, Tasman Sea, southwest New Zealand

Multibeam bathymetry, seismic reflection, magnetic anomaly, and gravity anomaly data show that most of the Resolution Ridge System is Tasman Sea oceanic crust, deformed by Eocene rift faulting associated with the initiation of the modern Australia‐Pacific plate boundary. Resolution Ridge, the most eastern ridge of the system, is inferred to be continental crust that was plucked from the southwest corner of the Campbell Plateau during Eocene rift propagation. Rift propagation proceeded through sequential northward steps between weak points in the lithosphere: young fossil spreading centers, fracture zones, and the western margin of the continental Campbell Plateau. Fracture zones guided the large‐scale geometry of the rift, but there is not always a close surface correspondence between transform and rift faults. This may be because transform faults were subvertical, whereas rift faults evolved to be moderately dipping. The very good correspondence of fracture zones, rift faults, and magnetic anomalies from the Resolution Ridge System with their conjugates southwest of the Campbell Plateau allows precise prerift reconstruction of the Australia‐Pacific plate boundary at a time (circa 48 Ma) of significant global plate reorganization and profound change in Pacific plate motion. This precise plate reconstruction better constrains plate motion chains that connect the Pacific and Indo‐Atlantic hemispheres, thus contributing to debate of global scientific issues such as what caused the bend in the Emperor‐Hawaii seamount chain.

Pacific absolute plate motion since 145 Ma: An assessment of the fixed hot spot hypothesis

Using the geometry and ages from 12 Pacific seamount chains, we have determined two new absolute plate motion models that now extend our self‐consistent and high‐resolution models with covariance estimates back to 145 Ma. The WK08‐A model maps the full uncertainty in the age progressions into uncertainties in rotation opening angles, yielding a relatively smooth plate motion model. The WK08‐G model relaxes the mapping of age uncertainties in order to better isolate secondary geometry changes seen along many coregistered chains. Both models have been used to assess the viability of the fixed hot spot hypothesis in the Pacific. In determining the models, we found that only a small group of age samples had to be discarded on the grounds that they were discordant with the dominant trends. We were able to connect plate motions for pre‐ and post‐Emperor age intervals by including the Ratak‐Gilbert‐Ellice and Musicians trails in our analysis. However, as no active hot spot locations exist for the older chains, their inclusion adds additional model parameters. Both age and geometry misfits increase with age, reflecting the observed increase in age uncertainties and the general widening of trails. Secondary (and short‐lived) changes in absolute plate motion mapped in WK08‐G appear to correlate with the timing and sense of motion of known Pacific Rim tectonic events. Analysis of interchain distances between coeval samples from the Hawaii and Louisville chains suggests possible discrepancies during the older Emperor stage that are compatible with predictions of hot spot drift. We computed a new apparent polar wander path for the Pacific and found a high degree of correspondence with paleomagnetically derived paths, as long as solutions allowing for anomalous skewness were included in the latter. Our polar wander path suggests that there might have been some true polar wander during the Emperor stage, complemented by a smaller amount of hot spot drift than otherwise required. We show that chain geometries and ages, combined with future paleolatitude determinations from additional sites and chains could enable an observation‐based description of both hot spot and plate motions without relying on predictions of hot spot drift derived from mantle flow calculations.

From slow to ultraslow: A previously undetected event at the Southwest Indian Ridge at ca. 24 Ma

Changes in plate motion are thought to be recorded in the trend of fracture zones, even though fracture zones provide no information about the spreading rate. Using newly compiled published and unpublished magnetic data from the Southwest Indian Ridge, we calculated fi nite rotation poles for A13, A8, and A6, from which we determined a 50% decrease in spreading rate from slow to ultraslow at ca. 24 Ma not accompanied by a signifi cant change in spreading direction. This spreading rate decrease is concurrent with changes in plate motions at only two of the four adjoining plate boundaries. Finally, we discuss the possible relationships of this event with other absolute or relative plate motion events that occurred at ca. 24 Ma at the global scale.

Reconciling late Neogene Pacific absolute and relative plate motion changes

New models of Pacific absolute plate motion relative to hot spots and models of relative plate motion involving the Pacific plate all agree there was a significant change in the late Neogene (Chron 3A, ∼5.89 Ma), reflecting a more northerly absolute motion than previously determined. As Pacific absolute plate motion became slightly more northerly, left‐stepping transform segments came under compression. Some left‐stepping segments became microplates with clockwise rotation; others show clear evidence of compressional deformation. Conversely, right‐stepping transforms came under tension, and many developed intratransform spreading centers or show similar evidence for transform magmatism. Several large left‐stepping transform offsets represent portions of the Nazca plate protruding into the Pacific and as such act as obstacles to the more northerly Pacific absolute plate motion. We suggest these obstructions act to enhance the generally tensile equatorial Pacific stress regime caused by distant slab pull. As a consequence, the greater French Polynesia region has experienced diffuse volcanism that increased considerably following the Chron 3A plate motion change. We propose that since the Hawaii‐Emperor Bend time, the distant Pacific slab pull and the friction between the large, buoyant Ontong Java plateau and the northern margin of the Australia plate have produced episodes of increased tensile stresses in the equatorial Pacific. We believe these stress excursions are responsible for much of the intraplate volcanism observed in a wide triangular region from Samoa to the East Pacific and Pacific‐Antarctic Rises.

Temperature distribution of the upper surface of the subducted Philippine Sea Plate along the Nankai Trough, southwest Japan, from a three-dimensional subduction model: relation to large interplate and low-frequency earthquakes

The Nankai subduction fault in southwest Japan is a plate boundary along which large megathrust earthquakes have repeatedly occurred. A previous 2-D thermal model suggested that the updip and downdip limits of the seismogenic zone are closely related to the temperature of the plate interface. We estimated a new temperature distribution for the plate interface based on a 3-D thermal convection model that incorporates revised governing equations, temporal changes in relative plate motion, the shape of the subducted slab, temperature variations related to basin evolution and more heat flow data and model regions than have been used in previous models. The margin-parallel spatial variation in the temperature of the plate interface was caused by spatio-temporal changes associated with the cooling of the Shikoku Basin. The updip limit of the thermally delineated seismogenic zone (thermal seismogenic zone) was approximately parallel to the trough axis due to a spreading rate that increased with distance from a fossil ridge, although the margin-parallel age dependency of the subducting plate was taken into account. The downdip limit of the thermal seismogenic zone was determined by temperature, except in eastern Kyushu, where it was determined by a boundary between the continental Moho depth and the upper surface of the subducting plate. The maximum coseismic slip associated with the 1944 Tonankai (M 7.9) and the 1946 Nankai (M 8.0) earthquakes, and a strongly coupled region estimated from GPS data inversion obtained by previous studies, were both located in the thermal seismogenic zone on the plate interface. Low-frequency earthquakes located at the downdip of the thermal seismogenic zone took place at temperatures of about 400–500 °C. This may be related to the phase transformation of hydrous minerals in oceanic crust from lawsonite + blueschist + jadeite to amphibole + eclogite and the associated decreases in water content of approximately 2.4 wt%. The thermal seismogenic zone is narrowest off the Kii Peninsula, where the hypocentres of the Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes were located. The narrow seismogenic zone may have determined the rupture initiation points for these earthquakes, as was previously demonstrated by numerical simulations of the earthquake cycle.

New age constraints for a short pulse in Ross orogen deformation triggered by East–West Gondwana suturing

Constraints on the timing of deformation within the Antarctic Ross orogenic belt are important for understanding early Paleozoic tectonic activity accompanying the assembly of Gondwana. One of the best areas for constraining the tectonic evolution of the Ross orogenic belt is the Holyoake Range in the central Transantarctic Mountains where previous work shows an abrupt change in the stratigraphic succession of the Cambrian Byrd Group possibly related to the inception of tectonism within the orogen at ∼ 515 Ma. To further constrain deformational timing, we conducted 40Ar– 39Ar analyses on magmatic phases of the Holyoake Gabbro, which cross-cuts folded Lower Cambrian Shackleton Limestone of the Byrd Group. Our analyses yield average ages of 506.7 ± 3.6 Ma (2 sigma; MSWD = 0.9) and 504.1 ± 2.4 Ma (2 sigma; MSWD = 1.3) for hornblende from the early and late magmatic phases, respectively. Deformation of the Shackleton Limestone therefore occurred prior to 506.7 ± 3.6 Ma, which is ∼ 12 m.y. after the siliciclastic drowning of the carbonate platform inferred to record the start of Ross tectonism in the central Transantarctic Mountains. On a regional scale, the data are consistent with a short pulse of deformation, which was probably related to global plate motion changes following final suturing of East and West Gondwana.

Nonlinear 40Ar/39Ar age systematics along the Gilbert Ridge and Tokelau Seamount Trail and the timing of the Hawaii‐Emperor Bend

Over the last three decades the first‐order correlation in morphology and orientation of seamount trails has been called upon to support the concept of a “fixed” Pacific hot spot frame of reference and to explain the Hawaii‐Emperor bend (HEB) by a dramatic change in Pacific plate motion. In this paper, however, we present 40Ar/39Ar ages for the Gilbert Ridge and Tokelau Seamounts (Pacific) that show similar changes or bends in their orientation, but at different geological times, up to 20 Myr earlier than the HEB. Changes in Pacific plate motion alone cannot explain these observations, because these asynchronous bends should have been reflected in the morphology of each of these seamount trails. Together with the lack of (linear) age progressions and inconsistent apparent local plate velocities of 131 and 87 mm/yr, we rule out a fixed hot spot origin for the Gilbert Ridge and Tokelau seamount trails. Instead we invoke secondary or alternate processes to explain the complex age systematics and morphologies in these seamount trails. We propose here that the HEB‐type bends in these seamount trails were likely formed by short‐term “jerk‐like” plate extensions in the studied southwestern region of the Pacific plate, reactivating a preconditioned lithosphere that can be characterized by a complex structure and precursory magmatic impingements. The remarkable differences observed in these colinear seamount trails fundamentally question the existence of HEB‐type bends in the formation of Pacific volcanic lineaments. They also show us that applying geometric and morphologic observations alone is insufficient in constraining past plate motions. Nevertheless, the need and search for alternate volcano‐tectonic mechanisms offer opportunities to better understand intraplate volcanism in general.

The 125–150 Ma high-resolution Apparent Polar Wander Path for Adria from magnetostratigraphic sections in Umbria–Marche (Northern Apennines, Italy): Timing and duration of the global Jurassic–Cretaceous hairpin turn

A new high-resolution Apparent Polar Wander Path (APWP) segment has been obtained from the magnetostratigraphy of four Kimmeridgian to Lower Aptian sections in the Northern Apennines (Italy). The use of paleomagnetic data for determination of the Adria APWP was hampered by the large local rotations linked to Apennine tectonics, characterized by folds and thrusts developed during the Neogene. To overcome this problem, we have computed relative rotations between time overlapping sections and realigned them in a common declination reference frame (namely the Bosso section). We synthesized a new high-resolution 150 to 125 Ma APWP for Adria, which has a similar shape to the time-equivalent segment of the synthetic APWP of Africa of Besse and Courtillot [J., Besse, V., Courtillot, Apparent and true polar wander and the geometry of the geomagnetic field over the last 200 Myr, J. Geophys. Res. 107(B11) (2002), doi:10.1029/200JB000050]. A 26° clockwise rotation of our combined Adria APWP places it in almost perfect overlap with African data of same age, confirming that the Adria promontory moved coherently with Africa during this time span, whereas the counterclockwise rotation of Adria with respect to Africa was introduced later, most probably during Apennines orogenesis. Finally, we discuss in relation with worldwide plate evolution the peculiar shape of our APWP, which displays a hairpin turn during Berriasian time, and dates the main Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous change in plate motion at around anomaly M16.