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1.
The Western Mediterranean extensional basins and the Alpine orogen   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
The western Mediterranean late Oligocene–Miocene basins (Alboran, Valencia and Provençal basins) are a coherent system of interrelated troughs. In all basins normal faults and thermal subsidence migrated toward the east progressively moving to the Miocene-to-Pleistocene Algerian and Tyrrhenian basins. All those troughs appear elements of the back-arc opening related to the eastward roll-back of the W-directed Apennines–Maghrebides subduction zone, similarly to western Pacific back-arc settings.
These late Oligocene–early Miocene basins nucleated both within the Betic cordillera (e.g. Alboran sea) and in its foreland (Valencia and Provençal troughs). The N40–70° direction of grabens is oblique to the coexisting N60–80°-trending orogen and shows its structural independence from the orogenic roots. Thus, as the extension cross-cuts the orogen and developed also well outside the thrust belt front, the westernmost basins of the Mediterranean had to develop independently from the Alps-Betics orogen. Therefore, the Alboran extension, considered a classic example of a basin generated by the collapse of an orogen, cannot be ascribed to the detachment or annihilation of the lithospheric root. In contrast with the eastward migrating extensional basins, the Betic-Balearic thrust front was migrating westward producing interference or inversion structures.  相似文献   

2.
A simple mechanism of arcuate fold belt and back-arc basin formation is presented based on the opening of mega-continental tension gashes along pre-existing, deep, parallel and steep faults that separate lithospheric units with different properties. If plate convergence is parallel to these faults, the fault-bounded units open at right angles to the convergence vector, adopting an arcuate shape with thrusting in front of the bowed-out units and extensional basin opening between the separated units. This model is applied to the Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the western Mediterranean. After the Iberian collision 35–30 Ma, several ellipsoidal basins (Valencia, Alboran, North Algerian and Liguro–Provençal) developed by 10 Ma along the eastern margin of the Iberian plate. The formation of these basins is attributed to an increase in NE–SW horizontal tectonic palaeostress during early–middle Miocene times resulting from the post-subduction collision of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.  相似文献   

3.
《Earth》1999,45(3-4):167-208
Subduction zones appear primarily controlled by the polarity of their direction, i.e., W-directed or E- to NNE-directed, probably due to the westward drift of the lithosphere relative to the asthenosphere. The decollement planes behave differently in the two end-members. In the W-directed subduction zone, the decollement of the plate to the east is warped and subducted, whereas in the E- to NNE-directed, it is ramping upward at the surface. There are W-directed subduction zones that work also in absence of active convergence like the Carpathians or the Apennines. W-directed subduction zones have shorter life (30–40 Ma) than E- or NE-directed subduction zones (even longer than 100 Ma). The different decollements in the two end-members of subduction should control different PTt paths and, therefore, generate variable metamorphic assemblages in the associated accretionary wedges and orogens. These asymmetries also determine different topographic and structural evolutions that are marked by low topography and a fast `eastward' migrating structural wave along W-directed subduction zones, whereas the topography and the structure are rapidly growing upward and expanding laterally along the opposite subduction zones. The magmatic pair calc-alkaline and alkaline–tholeiitic volcanic products of the island arc and the back-arc basin characterise the W-directed subduction zones. Magmatic rocks associated with E- or NE-directed subduction zones have higher abundances of incompatible elements, and mainly consist of calc-alkaline–shoshonitic suites, with large volumes of batholithic intrusions and porphyry copper ore deposits. The subduction zones surrounding the Adriatic plate in the central Mediterranean confirm the differences among subduction zones as primarily controlled by the geographic polarity of the main direction of the slab. The western margin of the Adriatic plate contemporaneously overridden and underthrust Europe toward the `west' to generate, respectively, the Alps and the Apennines, while the eastern margin subducted under the Dinarides–Hellenides. These belts confirm the characters of the end-members of subduction zones as a function of their geographic polarity similarly to the Pacific subduction zones.  相似文献   

4.
RenzoSartori 《《幕》》2003,26(3):217-221
A deep, narrow, and distorted Benioff zone, plunging from the Ionian Sea towards the southern Tyrrhenian basin, is the remnant of a long and eastward migrating subduction of eastern Mediterranean lithosphere. From Oligocene to Recent, subduction generated the Western Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian back-arc basins, as well as an accretionary wedge constituting the SouthernAoenninic Arc.In the Tyrrhenian Sea, stretching started in late Miocene and eventually produced two small oceanic areas: the Vavilov Plain during Pliocene (in the centralsector) and the Marsili Plain during Quaternary (in the southeastern sector). They are separated by a thicker crustal sector, called the Issel Bridge. Back-arc exten-sion was rapid and discontinuous, and affected a land locked area where continental elements of various sizesoccurred. Discontinuities in extension were mirrored bychanges in nature of the lithosphere scraped off to form the Southern Apenninic Arc. Part of the tectonic units of the southern Apennines, accreted into the wedge from late Miocene to Pliocene, had originally been laid down on thinned conti-nental lithosphere, which should constitute the deep portion of the present slab. After Plio-cene, only Ionian oceanic lithosphere wassubducted, because the large buoyancy of thewide and not thinned continental lithosphere of Apulia and Africa (Sicily) preserved the seelements from roll back of subduction. After Pliocene, the passively retreating oceanic slabhad to adjust and distort according to the geometry of these continental elements.The late onset of arc volcanism in respect to the duration of extension in the Tyrrhenian-Ionian system may find an expla-nation considering an initial stage of subduc-tion of thinned continental lithosphere. The strong Pleistocene vertical movements that occurred in the whole southeastern system(subsidence in the back-arc basin and upliftin the orogenic arc) may instead be related to the distortion of the oceanic slab.  相似文献   

5.
Samples of volcanic rocks from Alborán Island, the Alboran Sea floor and from the Gourougou volcanic centre in northern Morocco have been analyzed for major and trace elements and Sr–Nd isotopes to test current theories on the tectonic geodynamic evolution of the Alboran Sea. The Alborán Island samples are low-K tholeiitic basaltic andesites whose depleted contents of HFS elements (0.5×N-MORB), especially Nb (0.2×N-MORB), show marked geochemical parallels with volcanics from immature intra-oceanic arcs and back-arc basins. Several of the submarine samples have similar compositions, one showing low-Ca boninite affinity. 143Nd/144Nd ratios fall in the same range as many island-arc and back-arc basin samples, whereas 87Sr/86Sr ratios (on leached samples) are somewhat more radiogenic. Our data point to active subduction taking place beneath the Alboran region in Miocene times, and imply the presence of an associated back-arc spreading centre. Our sea floor suite includes a few more evolved dacite and rhyolite samples with (87Sr/86Sr)0 up to 0.717 that probably represent varying degrees of crustal melting. The shoshonite and high-K basaltic andesite lavas from Gourougou have comparable normalized incompatible-element enrichment diagrams and Ce/Y ratios to shoshonitic volcanics from oceanic island arcs, though they have less pronounced Nb deficits. They are much less LIL- and LREE-enriched than continental arc analogues and post-collisional shoshonites from Tibet. The magmas probably originated by melting in subcontinental lithospheric mantle that had experienced negligible subduction input. Sr–Nd isotope compositions point to significant crustal contamination which appears to account for the small Nb anomalies.

The unmistakable supra-subduction zone (SSZ) signature shown by our Alboran basalts and basaltic andesite samples refutes geodynamic models that attribute all Neogene volcanism in the Alboran domain to decompression melting of upwelling asthenosphere arising from convective thinning of over-thickened lithosphere. Our data support recent models in which subsidence is caused by westward rollback of an eastward-dipping subduction zone beneath the westernmost Mediterranean. Moreover, severance of the lithosphere at the edges of the rolling-back slab provides opportunities for locally melting lithospheric mantle, providing a possible explanation for the shoshonitic volcanism seen in northern Morocco and more sporadically in SE Spain.  相似文献   


6.
五十年前板块构造理论的诞生是地球科学领域的一场革命,它为理解地球如何运作构建了基本框架。过去五十年对该理论的进一步研究告诉我们地质过程最终都是地球热损失的结果。例如,大洋岩石圈板块在洋中脊形成,其运动和增生以及最终通过俯冲带进入地幔导致地幔冷却降温,从而导致大规模的地幔对流。亦即,板块构造的直接驱动力是俯冲大洋岩石圈板块的下沉力。因此,没有俯冲带就没有板块构造,但是俯冲带如何开始仍然有争议。对俯冲起始的研究从未中断,有数值模拟也有地质推断。2014年在西太平洋用三个IODP航次(350、351和352)来检验“自发”和“诱发”俯冲开始的想法。所有这些努力都值得肯定,但这些是无法检验的想法。无法检验意味着没有结果。本文介绍至今唯一可用地质学方法检验的假说,亦即“岩石圈内横向物质组成差异导致的浮力差是俯冲带形成的起因”。这种浮力差位于海底高原的边部和被动大陆边缘,因此这些部位是未来俯冲带起始的必然轨迹。在远离这些部位的正常洋盆内因缺乏浮力差而俯冲带不可能起始。换句话说,“所有岛弧一定有大陆(或海底高原)基底”,这可以通过采集和研究岛弧基底岩石来验证。  相似文献   

7.
The geological data on the Mediterranean chains and basins are used to point out the constraints that they put on the location through time of oceanic versus continental lithosphere and on the successive relations between them. Emphasis is put on the rules and conventions which enable us to interpret the geological data in terms of plate tectonics and on the major disputed points for which a solution must be chosen.In the first part, the location of oceanic versus continental lithosphere is dealt with, using the data on the present-day basins, the ophiolites and the subduction processes. A Neogene age is retained for the Western Mediterranean and the surrounding continental blocks are considered to have been previously a part of Iberia. A Cretaceous age is retained for the Eastern Mediterranean; Apulia is considered as a part of the African plate except for this period. The Black Sea is considered as a back-arc basin formed mostly during the Upper Cretaceous. The ophiolites are used to locate the Mesozoic oceans; for the double ophiolitic belts of the Dinaro-Hellenides and the Taurides, the tectonic interpretations which minimise the number of oceanic basins have been retained. For the Kirsehir block of Turkey, the chosen solution locates a Jurassic ocean to the north and makes it disappear when a Cretaceous ocean opens to the south. Data on the subduction processes added to the information on these basins and led us to consider as oceanic the unknown basements of the Carpathian flysch and the Maghrebian flysch basins.The second part deals with the organisation of basins and platforms, emphasising the chronology of their formation and subsequent crushing. It furnished step by step constraints on the tectonic history of the system which is related to plate displacement.The general pattern derived from these data shows a wedge-shaped Tethyan ocean which disappeared mostly through repeated subduction below the eastern part of its northern margin. The Jurassic stage shows westward extension of the ocean between the Eurasian and African plates and ends with the Dinaro-Hellenic obduction; the Cretaceous stage shows a complete reorganisation including individual displacement of the Iberian, Apulian and Kirsehir sub-plates; the Tertiary stage shows the general collision between the renewed Eurasian and African plates and Neogene subduction of the basins which avoided collision.  相似文献   

8.
Carlo Doglioni 《Tectonophysics》2009,463(1-4):208-213
The Schellart's [Schellart, W.P., 2007, The potential influence of subduction zone polarity on overriding plate deformation, trench migration and slab dip angle. Tectonophysics, 445, 363–372.] paper uses slab dip and upper plate extension for testing the westward drift. His analysis and discussion are misleading for the study of the net rotation of the lithosphere since the first 125 km of subduction zones are sensitive also to other parameters such upper plate thickness, geometry and obliquity of the subduction zone with respect to the convergence direction. The deeper (> 125 km) part cannot easily be compared as well because E- or NE-directed subduction zones have seismic gaps between 270–630 km. Moreover the velocity of subduction hinge cannot be precisely estimated and it does not equal to backarc spreading due to accretionary prism growth and asthenospheric intrusion at the subduction hinge. It is shown here that hinge migration in the upper plate or lower plate reference frames supports a general global polarization of the lithosphere in agreement with the westward drift of the lithosphere. The W-directed subduction zones appear controlled by the slab–mantle interaction with slab retreat imposed by the eastward mantle flow. The opposite E-NE-directed subduction zones seem rather mainly controlled by the convergence rate, plus density, thickness and viscosity of the upper and lower plates. Finally, the geological and geophysical asymmetries recorded along subduction and rift zones as a function of their polarity with respect to the tectonic mainstream are not questioned in the Schellart's paper, but they rather represent the basic evidence for the westward drift of the lithosphere.  相似文献   

9.
Subduction zones with deep seismicity are believed to be associated with the descending branches of convective flows in the mantle and are subordinated to them. Therefore, the position of subduction zones can be considered as relatively fixed with respect to the steady-state system of convective flows. The lithospheric plate overhanging a subduction zone (as a rule of continental type) may:
1. (1) either move away from the subduction zone; or
2. (2) move onto it. In the first case extensional conditions originate behind the subduction zone and the new oceanic crust of back-arc basins forms. In the second case active Andean-type continental margins with thickening of the crust and lithosphere are observed.
Behind the majority of volcanic island-arcs, along the boundary with marginal-sea basins, independent shallow seismicity belts can be traced. They are parallel to the main seismicity belts coinciding with the Benioff zones. The seismicity belts frame island-arc microplates. Island-arc microplates are assumed to be a frame of reference to calculate relative movements of the consuming and overhanging plates. Using slip vector azimuths for shallow seismicity belts in the frontal parts of the Kurile, Japan, Izu-Bonin, Mariana and Tonga—Kermadec arcs, the position of the pole of rotation of the Pacific plate with respect to the western Pacific island-arc microplates was computed. Its coordinates are 66.1°N, 119.2°W. From the global closure of plate movements it has been determined that for the past 10 m.y. the Eurasian and Indian plates have been moving away from the Western Pacific island-arc system, both rotating clockwise, around poles at 31.1°N, 164.2°W and 1.3°S, 157.5°W, respectively. This provides for the opening of the back-arc basins. At the same time South America is moving onto the subduction zone at the rate of 4 cm/yr. Some “hot spots”, such as Hawaiian, Tibesti, and those of the South Atlantic, are moving relative to the island-arc system at a very low rate, viz. 0.5–0.7 cm/yr. Presumably, the western Pacific subduction zone and “hot spots” form a single frame of reference which can generally be used for the analysis of absolute motions.  相似文献   

10.
The Blovice accretionary complex, Bohemian Massif, hosts well-preserved basaltic blocks derived from an oceanic plate subducted beneath the northern active margin of Gondwana during late Neoproterozoic to early Cambrian. The major and trace element and Hf–Nd isotope systematics revealed two different suites, tholeiitic and alkaline, whose composition reflects different sources of melts within a back-arc basin setting. The former suite has composition similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), yet with striking enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) and Pb paralleled by depletion in Nb, in agreement with its derivation from depleted mantle fluxed by subduction-related fluids. In contrast, the latter suite has composition similar to ocean island basalts (OIB) with variable contribution of ancient, recycled crustal material. We argue that both suites represent volcanic members of Ocean Plate Stratigraphy (OPS) and indicate that the oceanic realm consumed by the Cadomian subduction was a complex mosaic of intra-oceanic subduction zones, volcanic island arcs, and back-arc basins with mantle plume impinging the spreading centre. Hence, the basalt geochemistry implies that two distinct domains of oceanic lithosphere may have existed off the Gondwana’s continental edge: an outboard domain, made up of old and less buoyant oceanic lithosphere (remnants of the Mirovoi Ocean surrounding former Rodinia?) that was steeply subducted and generated the back-arcs, and young, hot, and more buoyant oceanic lithosphere generated in the back-arcs and later involved in accretionary complexes as dismembered OPS. Perhaps the best recent analogy of this setting is the Izu Bonin–Mariana arc–Philippine Sea in the western Pacific.  相似文献   

11.
C. Doglioni 《地学学报》1991,3(4):423-434
In W-dipping subduction zones there is a general eastward progression of the back-arc basin-accretionary wedge-foredeep complex. With the forward progression, early stages of the complex are revealed by slices of upper crust and sedimentary cover abandoned to the west left floating above a new section of mantle. A major shear zone should form at the new Moho separating upper crust slices of earlier accretionary stages and the eastward flowing mantle. The mantle wedging at the top of the subduction plane could be responsible for the uplift of the central parts of the belt. The retreating of the subduction hinge is interpreted as due to the push generated by the ‘eastward mantle flow detected in the hot spot reference frame. The foredeep depth is mainly a function of the radius of curvature of the subduction hinge. The frontal wedge is constructed from the stacking of the upper layers of the subducting plate and the syntectonic clastics that fill the foredeep which are progressively involved in thrusting and later by extension. In order to preserve volume balance, the lithosphere of the eastern plate before subduction has to be the same size as that which has been subducted: due to the longer length of the arc with respect to the original length of the linear margin between the two converging plates, laterally stretched subducted lithosphere is predicted at depth. W-dipping subductions usually have a short life probably due to their inherent capability to produce new lateral heterogeneities of the lithosphere (the thin back-arc) which are a key factor in controlling and generating new subductions (both E- and W-dipping). This model is applied to the Apennines-Tyrrhenian Sea system.  相似文献   

12.
In the Central Mediterranean two back-arc basins, the Liguro-Provençal (LPb) and the Tyrrhenian basin (Tb), opened progressively and consecutively from the late Eocene–Oligocene to the present. Evolution in space and time of rifting and drifting processes, along three different transects across these basins, shows differences in the style of extension: LPb opened with the formation of a narrow, single rift, while in the Tb deformation and magmatism is spread over a wide area. Moreover at the Northern end of the Tb the locus of extension progressively migrated towards the east whereas in the Southern Tb the locus of extension and magmatism migrated inside the basin, inducing continental break-up and drifting of the previously formed older conjugate basins. We propose that these different styles of back-arc extension depend upon internal conditions, such as prerift rheology linked with its geological heritage, and external conditions, e.g. the style of subduction.  相似文献   

13.
对弧后扩张作用的探讨   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  
刘池洋 《地质论评》1993,39(3):187-195
俯冲之后的大洋板块继续向陆运动,导致大陆地壳和上地幔内部各圈层在深部发生多层次的水平剪切,引起弧后宽达几千公里地区的裂陷扩张,并形成盆地。其形成的盆地平行于俯冲带。弧后扩张作用的强度和存在与否,取决于仰、俯冲板块双方运动速度矢量的组合类型。离散型产生扩张,聚敛型则以挤压为主。  相似文献   

14.
Tectonic migration is a common geological process of basin formation and evolution. However, little is known about tectonic migration in the western Pacific margins. This paper focuses on the representative Cenozoic basins of East China and its surrounding seas in the western Pacific domain to discuss the phenomenon of tectonic jumping in Cenozoic basins, based on structural data from the Bohai Bay Basin, the South Yellow Sea Basin, the East China Sea Shelf Basin, and the South China Sea Continental Shelf Basin. The western Pacific active continental margin is the eastern margin of a global convergent system involving the Eurasian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and the Indian Plate. Under the combined effects of the India-Eurasia collision and retrogressive or roll-back subduction of the Pacific Plate, the western Pacific active continental margin had a wide basin-arc-trench system which migrated or ‘jumped’ eastward and further oceanward. This migration and jumping is characterized by progressive eastward younging of faulting, sedimentation, and subsidence within the basins. Owing to the tectonic migration, the geological conditions associated with hydrocarbon and gashydrate accumulation in the Cenozoic basins of East China and its adjacent seas also become progressively younger from west to east, showing eastward younging in the generation time of reservoirs, seals, traps, accumulations and preservation of hydrocarbon and gashydrate. Such a spatio-temporal distribution of Cenozoic hydrocarbon and gashydrate is significant for the oil, gas and gashydrate exploration in the East Asian Continental Margin. Finally, this study discusses the mechanism of Cenozoic intrabasinal and interbasinal tectonic migration in terms of interplate, intraplate and underplating processes. The migration or jumping regimes of three separate or interrelated events: (1) tectonism-magmatism, (2) basin formation, and (3) hydrocarbon-gashydrate accumulation are the combined effects of the Late Mesozoic extrusion tectonics, the Cenozoic NW-directed crustal extension, and the regional far-field eastward flow of the western asthenosphere due to the India-Eurasia plate collision, accompanied by eastward jumping and roll-back of subduction zones of the Pacific Plate.  相似文献   

15.
Tonga and Mariana fore-arc peridotites, inferred to representtheir respective sub-arc mantle lithospheres, are compositionallyhighly depleted (low Fe/Mg) and thus physically buoyant relativeto abyssal peridotites representing normal oceanic lithosphere(high Fe/Mg) formed at ocean ridges. The observation that thedepletion of these fore-arc lithospheres is unrelated to, andpre-dates, the inception of present-day western Pacific subductionzones demonstrates the pre-existence of compositional buoyancycontrast at the sites of these subduction zones. These observationsallow us to suggest that lateral compositional buoyancy contrastwithin the oceanic lithosphere creates the favoured and necessarycondition for subduction initiation. Edges of buoyant oceanicplateaux, for example, mark a compositional buoyancy contrastwithin the oceanic lithosphere. These edges under deviatoriccompression (e.g. ridge push) could develop reverse faults withcombined forces in excess of the oceanic lithosphere strength,allowing the dense normal oceanic lithosphere to sink into theasthenosphere beneath the buoyant overriding oceanic plateaux,i.e. the initiation of subduction zones. We term this conceptthe ‘oceanic plateau model’. This model explainsmany other observations and offers testable hypotheses on importantgeodynamic problems on a global scale. These include (1) theorigin of the 43 Ma bend along the Hawaii–Emperor SeamountChain in the Pacific, (2) mechanisms of ophiolite emplacement,(3) continental accretion, etc. Subduction initiation is notunique to oceanic plateaux, but the plateau model well illustratesthe importance of the compositional buoyancy contrast withinthe lithosphere for subduction initiation. Most portions ofpassive continental margins, such as in the Atlantic where largecompositional buoyancy contrast exists, are the loci of futuresubduction zones. KEY WORDS: subduction initiation; compositional buoyancy contrast; oceanic lithosphere; plate tectonics; mantle plumes; hotspots; oceanic plateaux; passive continental margins; continental accretion; mantle peridotites; ophiolites  相似文献   

16.
We present a new 2D finite difference code, Samovar, for high-resolution numerical modeling of complex geodynamic processes. Examples are collision of lithospheric plates (including mountain building and subduction) and lithosphere extension (including formation of sedimentary basins, regions of extended crust, and rift zones). The code models deformation of the lithosphere with viscoelastoplastic rheology, including erosion/sedimentation processes and formation of shear zones in areas of high stresses. It also models steady-state and transient conductive and advective thermal processes including partial melting and magma transport in the lithosphere. The thermal and mechanical parts of the code are tested for a series of physical problems with analytical solutions. We apply the code to geodynamic modeling by examining numerically the processes of lithosphere extension and basin formation. The results are directly applicable to the Basin and Range province, western USA, and demonstrate the roles of crust–mantle coupling, preexisting weakness zones, and erosion rate on the evolutionary trends of extending continental regions. Modeling of basin evolution indicates a critical role of syn-rift sedimentation on the basin depth and a governing role of Peierls deformation in cold lithospheric mantle. While the former may increase basin depth by 50%, the latter limits the depth of rift basins by preventing faulting in the subcrustal lithosphere.  相似文献   

17.
Subduction zone roll‐back was recently put forward as a convincing model to explain the geometry and evolution of the Gibraltar Arc. For other subduction‐related arc systems of the Mediterranean, such as the Calabrian Arc and the Hellenic Arc, palaeomagnetic rotation data from Neogene extensional basins provided important constraints on geodynamic evolution models. Here, we present the results of a palaeomagnetic study of 13 continuous sections that are located in E–W transects across the Neogene sedimentary basins of Morocco and Spain. They provide evidence that no significant rotation about vertical axes has occurred in the Gibraltar Arc since the late Tortonian. Comparison with other Mediterranean arc systems shows strong similarities as regards geodynamic evolution. The timing of rotation in the Gibraltar Arc is markedly older than in the Calabrian and Hellenic arcs, and suggests that it is related to the first Neogene extensional phase of the western Mediterranean in which the Algerian–Provençal Basin opened.  相似文献   

18.
In contrast to the normal ‘Wilson cycle’ sequence of subduction leading to continental collision and associated mountain building, the evolution of the New Zealand plate boundary in the Neogene reflects the converse—initially a period of continental convergence that is followed by the emplacement of subduction. Plate reconstructions allow us to place limits on the location and timing of the continental convergence and subduction zones and the migration of the transition between the two plate boundary regimes. Relative plate motions and reconstructions since the Early to Mid-Miocene require significant continental convergence in advance of the emplacement of the southward migrating Hikurangi subduction—a sequence of tectonism seen in the present plate boundary geography of Hikurangi subduction beneath North Island and convergence in the Southern Alps along the Alpine Fault. In contrast to a transition from subduction to continental convergence where the leading edge of the upper plate is relatively thin and deformable, the transition from a continental convergent regime, with its associated crustal and lithospheric thickening, to subduction of oceanic lithosphere requires substantial thinning (removal) of upper plate continental lithosphere to make room for the slab. The simple structure of the Wadati–Benioff zone seen in the present-day geometry of the subducting Pacific plate beneath North Island indicates that this lithospheric adjustment occurs quickly. Associated with this rapid lithospheric thinning is the development of a series of ephemeral basins, younging to the south, that straddle the migrating slab edge. Based on this association between localized vertical tectonics and slab emplacement, the tectonic history of these basins records the effects of lithospheric delamination driven by the southward migrating leading edge of the subducting Pacific slab. Although the New Zealand plate boundary is often described as simply two subduction zones linked by the transpressive Alpine Fault, in actuality the present is merely a snapshot view of an ongoing and complex evolution from convergence to subduction.  相似文献   

19.
During the Early Cretaceous Australia's eastward passage over sinking subducted slabs induced widespread dynamic subsidence and formation of a large epeiric sea in the eastern interior. Despite evidence for convergence between Australia and the paleo-Pacific, the subduction zone location has been poorly constrained. Using coupled plate tectonic–mantle convection models, we test two end-member scenarios, one with subduction directly east of Australia's reconstructed continental margin, and a second with subduction translated ~ 1000 km east, implying the existence of a back-arc basin. Our models incorporate a rheological model for the mantle and lithosphere, plate motions since 140 Ma and evolving plate boundaries. While mantle rheology affects the magnitude of surface vertical motions, timing of uplift and subsidence depends on plate boundary geometries and kinematics. Computations with a proximal subduction zone result in accelerated basin subsidence occurring 20 Myr too early compared with tectonic subsidence calculated from well data. This timing offset is reconciled when subduction is shifted eastward. Comparisons between seismic tomography and model temperature cross-sections, and an absence of subduction zone volcanism in eastern Australia in the Early Cretaceous provide support for the back-arc basin scenario.  相似文献   

20.
The Alboran Domain, situated at the western end of the Mediterranean subduction system, is characterized by the Ronda Peridotites, one of the world's largest exposures of sub‐continental mantle. Using U–Pb (LA‐ICP‐MS) and Ar–Ar dating, we precisely dated two tectonic events associated with the Tertiary exhumation of the Ronda Peridotites. First, shearing along the Crust–Mantle Extensional Shear Zone caused, at ca. 22.5 Ma, mantle exhumation, local partial melting in the deep crust and coeval cooling in the upper crust. Second, the Ronda Peridotites Thrust triggered the final emplacement of the peridotites onto the continental crust at c. 21 Ma, as testified by granitic intrusions in the thrust hangingwall. The tectonic evolution of the western Alboran Domain is therefore characterized by a fast switch from continental lithospheric extension in a backarc setting, with sub‐continental mantle exhumation, to a rift inversion by thrusting driven by shortening of the upper plate.  相似文献   

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