Cenozoic Plate interaction of the Australia and Philippine Sea Plates: “hit-and-run” tectonics

Recent studies in northwest New Guinea have shown the presence of at least two marginal basins of different age, both of which formed in back-arc settings. The older basin opened between the Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, a remnant of which is now preserved as the New Guinea Ophiolite. Its obduction started at 40 Ma and it was finally emplaced on the Australian margin at 30 Ma. The younger basin was active during the Oligocene to Middle Miocene and was obducted in the Early Pliocene. Studies of the western edge of the Philippine Sea also reveal an important deformation of the Philippine arc in the Oligocene, which hitherto has remained unexplained. Using information from these systems, paleomagnetic results, kinematic reconstructions and geochemistry of the supra-subduction ophiolite, we present a plate model to explain the region's Eo–Oligocene development. We suggest that an extensive portion of oceanic crust extended the Australian Plate a considerable distance north of the Australian Craton. As Australia began its steady 7–8 cm/year northward drift in the Early Eocene, this lithosphere was subducted. Thus, the portion of the Philippine Sea Plate carrying the Taiwan–Philippine Arc to its present site may have actually been in contact with the ophiolite now in New Guinea and obduction led to deformation of the Philippine Sea Plate itself. Neogene Plate kinematics transported the deformed belt in contact with the Sunda block in the Late Miocene and Pliocene. This interpretation has implications for the origin for the Philippine Sea Plate and the potential incorporation of continental fragments against its boundaries.     

Formation of arcs and backarc basins inferred from the tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia since the Late Cretaceous

Results of the geological and geophysical surveys in the Daito ridges and basin in the northern West Philippine Basin suggest that the Daito Ridge was an arc facing toward the south from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Tertiary. The Late Cretaceous and Tertiary history of Southeast Asia is evaluated based on these data in the Daito ridges and basins and reconstructed based on overall plate kinematics that have operated in this area. During the Late Cretaceous, the Daito Ridge and the East Philippine Islands were positioned along the boundary between the Indian and Pacific Plates. The western half of the Philippines setting on the Indian Plate approached from the south and collided with the East Philippine–Daito Arc either during the latest Paleocene or the earliest Eocene. It is inferred that the bulk of the Philippine archipelago rotated clockwise and Borneo spun counterclockwise during the Tertiary.From the reconstruction, the formation of backarc basins and their spreading direction are assessed. As a result, some primary causes and significant characteristics are suggested for the opening of backarc basins in Southeast Asia. First, opening of some backarc basins commenced with or was triggered by collisions. Second, backarc basins opened approximately parallel to oceanic plate motion. Third, the formation of some backarc basins was triggered by the approach of a hot spreading center. Fourth, the spreading mode or direction of backarc basins was greatly affected by the configuration of the surrounding continent and was also rearranged to spread approximately parallel to oceanic plate motion.The formation of backarc basins and their spreading direction can be reasonably explained by plate kinematics. However, the generative force responsible for their formation is possibly within the subduction system, particularly to form horizontal tensional force in backarc side.     

再论台湾造山带构造格架与演化过程SCIEI北大核心CSCD

台湾造山带是中新世晚期以来相邻菲律宾海板块往北西方向移动,导致北吕宋岛弧系统及弧前增生楔与欧亚大陆边缘斜碰撞形成的。目前该造山带仍在活动,虽然规模很小,但形成了多数大型碰撞造山带中的所有构造单元,是研究年轻造山系统的理想野外实验室,为理解西太平洋弧-陆碰撞过程和边缘海演化提供了一个独特的窗口。本文总结了二十一世纪以来对台湾造山带的诸多研究进展,讨论了其构造单元划分及演化过程。我们将台湾造山带重新划分为6个构造单元,由西至东分依次为:(1)西部前陆盆地;(2)中央山脉褶皱逆冲带;(3)太鲁阁带;(4)玉里-利吉蛇绿混杂岩带;(5)纵谷磨拉石盆地;(6)海岸山脉岛弧系统。其中,西部前陆盆地为6.5Ma以来伴随台湾造山带的隆升剥蚀形成沉积盆地。中央山脉褶皱逆冲带为新生代(57~5.3Ma)欧亚大陆东缘伸展盆地沉积物由于弧-陆碰撞受褶皱、逆冲及变质作用改造形成的。太鲁阁带是造山带中的古老陆块,主要记录中生代古太平洋俯冲在欧亚大陆活动边缘形成的岩浆、沉积和变质岩作用。玉里-利吉蛇绿混杂岩带和海岸山脉岛弧系统分别为中新世中期(~18Ma)以来南中国海板块向菲律宾海板块之下俯冲形成的岛弧和弧前增生楔,其中玉里混杂岩中有典型低温高压变质作用记录,变质年龄为11~9Ma;岛弧火山作用的主要时限为9.2~4.2Ma。纵谷磨拉石盆地记录1.1Ma以来的山间盆地沉积。台湾造山带的构造演化可划分为4个阶段:(a)古太平洋板块俯冲与欧亚大陆边缘增生阶段(200~60Ma);(b)欧亚大陆东缘伸展和南中国海扩张阶段(60~18Ma);(c)南中国海俯冲阶段(18~4Ma);(d)弧-陆碰撞阶段(<6Ma)。台湾弧-陆碰撞造山带是一个特殊案例,其弧-陆碰撞并不伴随着弧-陆之间的洋盆消亡,而是由于北吕宋岛弧及弧前增生楔伴随菲律宾海板块运动向西北方走滑,仰冲到欧亚大陆边缘,形成现今的台湾造山带。     

The tectonic-setting of ophiolites in the western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

The study of geology, geochemistry, rare earth elements, trace elements, Pb and Sr isotopes of representative ophiolite bodies from four ophiolitic belts in the western Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, shows that the mantle peridotites of these ophiolites are mainly harzburgite in composition, with minor dunite. They are characterized by high magnesium (MgO) and low aluminum, calcium and alkali oxide contents. Enrichment of light rare earth elements in mantle peridotites may be due to two geological processes: relatively strong partial melting; and later metasomatism by the liquids released during the subduction of oceanic crust. Mantle peridotites are characterized by low contents of the trace elements Sr, Ti and Y and relatively high contents of Rb, Nb, Zr, Hf and Th, similar to metasomatic pyrolite. The isotopic compositions of Sr and Pb show evidence of contamination by a crustal component. All the evidence indicates that the four ophiolite belts in the western Qinghai-Tibetean Plateau have undergone metasomatism by liquids released during the subduction of oceanic crust, suggesting that they were formed in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) tectonic setting. The mantle peridotites in ophiolite belts located in eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, e.g. Sanjiang and West Kunlun, may be compared with the Troodos, which is regarded as a typical SSZ complex, having the same geochemical characteristics, i.e. high MgO and LREE-rich. The geochemistry, combined with the occurrence of boninite and adakite rocks, which are associated with subduction magmatism, suggest that ophiolites formed at different times in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, including Sanjiang and West Kunlun, are all SSZ-type ophiolites formed in a supra-subduction zone tectonic setting.     

Geological constraints on the alpine evolution of the Mediterranean Tethys

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.     

Petrogenesis and tectonic significance of Jurassic IAT magma types in the Hellenide ophiolites as deduced from the Rhodiani ophiolites (Pelagonian zone, Greece)

The Rhodiani ophiolites are represented by two tectonically superimposed ophiolitic units: the “lower” Ultramafic unit and the “upper” Volcanic unit, both bearing calcareous sedimentary covers. The Ultramafic unit consists of mantle harzburgites with dunite pods and chromitite ores, and represents the typical mantle section of supra-subduction zone (SSZ) settings. The Volcanic unit is represented by a sheeted dyke complex overlain by a pillow and massive lava sequence, both including basalts, basaltic andesites, andesites, and dacites. Chemically, the Volcanic unit displays low-Ti affinity typical of island arc tholeiite (IAT) ophiolitic series from SSZ settings, having, as most distinctive chemical features, low Ti/V ratios (< 20) and depletion in high field strength elements and light rare earth elements.The rare earth element and incompatible element composition of the more primitive basaltic andesites from the Rhodiani ophiolites can be successfully reproduced with about 15% non-modal fractional melting of depleted lherzolites, which are very common in the Hellenide ophiolites. The calculated residua correspond to the depleted harzburgites found in the Rhodiani and Othrys ophiolites. Both field and chemical evidence suggest that the whole sequence of the Rhodiani Volcanic unit (from basalt to dacite) originated by low-pressure fractional crystallization under partially open-system conditions. The modelling of mantle source, melt generation, and mantle residua carried out in this paper provides new constraints for the tectono-magmatic evolution of the Mirdita–Pindos oceanic basin.     

Characterization of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate:Evidence from the emplaced oceanic lithospheric fragments along eastern Philippines

The proto-Philippine Sea Plate(pPSP)has been proposed by several authors to account for the origin of the Mesozoic supra-subduction ophiolites along the Philippine archipelago.In this paper,a comprehensive review of the ophiolites in the eastern portion of the Philippines is undertaken.Available data on the geology,ages and geochemical signatures of the oceanic lithospheric fragments in Luzon(Isabela,Lagonoy in Camarines Norte,and Rapu-Rapu island),Central Philippines(Samar,Tacloban,Malitbog and Southeast Bohol),and eastern Mindanao(Dinagat and Pujada)are presented.Characteristics of the Halmahera Ophiolite to the south of the Philippines are also reviewed for comparison.Nearly all of the crust-mantle sequences preserved along the eastern Philippines share Early to Late Cretaceous ages.The geochemical signatures of mantle and crustal sections reflect both mid-oceanic ridge and suprasubduction signatures.Although paleomagnetic information is currently limited to the Samar Ophiolite,results indicate a near-equatorial Mesozoic supra-subduction zone origin.In general,correlation of the crust-mantle sequences along the eastern edge of the Philippines reveal that they likely are fragments of the Mesozoic pPSP.     

Identification and evolution of tectonic units in the Philippine Sea Plate

The Philippine Sea Plate is located at the convergence zone of the Eurasian Plate,the Pacific Plate,and the Indo-Australian Plate.This paper divides the Philippine Sea Plate into two second-order tectonic units and eight third-order tectonic units by summarizing the marine geological,geophysical,and submarine geomorphological data of the Philippine Sea Plate collected for years and referring to the seafloor spreading theory and the trench-arc-basin system.The two second-order tectonic units are the West Philippine Sea block and the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc-basin system.The former includes the West Philippine Basin,the Huatung Basin,the Daito Basin,and the Palau Basin,while the latter consists of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge,the Shikoku-Parece Vela Basin,the Izu-Bonin Arc,and the Mariana Arc.Furthermore,this study concludes that the Philippine Sea Plate has undergone three stages of tectonic evolution,namely the early stage of the evolution of marginal basins with Cretaceous basement(Early Cretaceous),the middle stage of the spreading of the West Philippine Basin(Eocene),and the late stage of the subduction of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc-basin system(Oligocene-present).The Kyushu-Palau Ridge is a window to discover the tectonic evolution of the Philippine Sea Plate due to its unique geographical location.     

南海后扩张期大陆边缘闭合过程及成因机制

南海是西太平洋海域最大的边缘海,然而南海扩张终结后动力学过程研究仍较为薄弱.通过构造变革界面识别、褶皱冲断带沉积记录等方面的系统研究,揭示南海南部和东部陆缘在南海后扩张期的演化历程.研究表明南海南部和东部边缘经历了多个微板块从俯冲到碰撞的演变历程,形成了陆-陆碰撞、弧-陆碰撞、洋-弧俯冲等多个特征迥异的板块边界.南海南部陆缘属于古南海俯冲拖曳构造区,婆罗洲西北沙捞越-曾母地块率先碰撞,随后经历了婆罗洲东北沙巴-南沙地块碰撞、西南巴拉望-卡加延岛弧碰撞.南部多个微板块碰撞导致古南海呈剪刀式从西向东逐渐关闭和消亡,总体形成了以微地块碰撞、深海槽发育和造山带前缘巨厚沉积充填为特色的碰撞陆缘.东部陆缘属于菲律宾海俯冲-碰撞构造区,南海东部洋壳自中新世开始向菲律宾海板块俯冲,弧-陆碰撞仅局限于东部陆缘南北两端.澳洲-印度板块、菲律宾海板块与欧亚板块相互作用控制了南海边缘海闭合过程,南海正在进行的关闭过程主要集中在东缘和南缘,东缘呈现了以南海洋壳消亡为特征的闭合过程,而南缘则呈现以微陆块碰撞为特征的古南海闭合过程.显然,南部后扩张期陆缘演变可为边缘海闭合过程研究提供极佳的范例,同时对我国海洋权益保护和南海大陆边缘动力学研究具有重要意义.      

蛇绿混杂岩就位机制及其大地构造意义新解:基于残余洋盆型蛇绿混杂岩构造解析的启示

蛇绿岩代表了古洋壳的残余,通常被作为识别古汇聚板块边界的重要标志之一.但是,通过对西准噶尔造山带和松潘-甘孜造山带内出露的蛇绿混杂岩的大比例尺填图和构造解析,揭示出并非所有的蛇绿混杂岩带都具有缝合带的大地构造意义.综合前人研究结果,将蛇绿混杂岩划分为缝合带型和非缝合带型2种类型.非缝合带型蛇绿混杂岩带的分布与残余洋盆在闭合过程中的构造过程密切相关.在残余洋盆被巨厚层的碎屑岩填充之后,作为残余盆地基底的大洋岩石圈物质在区域挤压应力作用下,可通过多种形式构造就位于上覆碎屑沉积地层之中,形成具有弥散性分布特点的残余洋盆型蛇绿混杂岩系统.而缝合带型蛇绿混杂岩的就位过程可划分为3种方式,分别是俯冲就位、仰冲就位和碰撞就位.这些不同类型的蛇绿混杂岩带在板块汇聚后的再造山过程中,早期的构造变形会被叠加改造甚至导致蛇绿混杂岩的重新就位,使其分布形式复杂化.因此,正确识别和厘定不同构造过程形成的蛇绿混杂岩带及其对应的大地构造背景,对研究洋陆转换过程和造山带的演化至关重要.     

Collision of the IZU arc with Honshu and the effects of oblique subduction in the Miura-Boso peninsulas

Collision of the Izu arc in Central Japan is discussed with a focus on its tectonic effects to the east of the arc, in the Miura-Boso Peninsulas of Honshu. The tectonics are the combination of the following events: Philippine Sea plate spreading in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene; opening of the Sea of Japan in the middle Miocene; obduction of ophiolitic rocks in the northeasternmost corner of the Philippine Sea plate, and forearc sedimentation between the Honshu and Izu arcs. Oblique subduction has shifted the plate boundary from northeast to southwest, from the present Mineoka Tectonic Belt through the Miura Fold Belt to the Sagami trough since the Miocene. Remarkable right-lateral transpressional deformation occurred throughout this period of the oblique collision and subduction.     

Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethys in Central Iran:Evidence from petrology and age of the Nain-Ashin ophiolitic basalts

The Nain and Ashin ophiolites consist of Mesozoic melange units that were emplaced in the Late Cretaceous onto the continental basement of the Central-East Iran microcontinent(CEIM).They largely consist of serpentinized peridotites slices;nonetheless,minor tectonic slices of sheeted dykes and pillow lavas-locally stratigraphically associated with radiolarian cherts-can be found in these ophiolitic melanges.Based on their whole rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry,these rocks can be divided into two geochemical groups.The sheeted dykes and most of the pillow lavas show island arc tholeiitic(IAT)affinity,whereas a few pillow lavas from the Nain ophiolites show calc-alkaline(CA)affinity.Petrogenetic modeling based on trace elements composition indicates that both IAT and CA rocks derived from partial melting of depleted mantle sources that underwent enrichment in subduction-derived components prior to melting.Petrogenetic modeling shows that these components were represented by pure aqueous fluids,or sediment melts,or a combination of both,suggesting that the studied rocks were formed in an arc-forearc tectonic setting.Our new biostratigraphic data indicate this arc-forearc setting was active in the Early Cretaceous.Previous tectonic interpretations suggested that the Nain ophiolites formed,in a Late Cretaceous backarc basin located in the south of the CEIM(the so-called Nain-Baft basin).However,recent studies showed that the CEIM underwent a counter-clockwise rotation in the Cenozoic,which displaced the Nain and Ashin ophiolites in their present day position from an original northeastward location.This evidence combined with our new data and a comparison of the chemical features of volcanic rocks from different ophiolites around the CEIM allow us to suggest that the Nain-Ashin volcanic rocks and dykes were formed in a volcanic arc that developed on the northern margin of the CEIM during the Early Cretaceous in association with the subduction,below the CEIM,of a Neo-Tethys oceanic branch that was existing between the CEIM and the southern margin of Eurasia.As a major conclusion of this paper,a new geodynamic model for the Cretaceous evolution of the CEIM and surrounding Neo-Tethyan oceanic basins is proposed.     

Geodynamic evolution of the northern Molucca Sea area (Eastern Indonesia) constrained by 3-D gravity field inversion

In order to better understand the tectonic framework of the Northern Molucca Sea area, we inverted satellite and sea-surface gravity data into an iterative scheme including a priori seismological and geological data. The resulting 3-D density model images the various tectonic units from the surface down to 40 km. We proceed to various tests to assess the stability and robustness of our inversion. In particular, we performed an offset and average smoothing method to properly refine our results. The resulting model shows a striking vertical regularity of the structures through the different layers, whereas the density contrasts appear strongly uneven in the horizontal direction.The density model emphasizes the complexity of the upper lithospheric structure in the northern Molucca Sea, which is clearly dominated by the interaction between ophiolitic ridges, sedimentary wedges and rigid blocks of the Philippine Sea Plate. It also provides new, hard information that can be used in discussion of the evolution of the region.Large density variations are concentrated in the central part of northern Molucca Sea and dominate the upper lithospheric. North–south trending density structures along the Central Ridge and west dipping thrust faults on the western side of the region are clearly imaged. In the eastern part of the region, we distinguish several blocks, especially the Snellius Plateau which seems to be split into two parts. We interpret this as an oceanic plateau associated with thicker crust that previously belonged to the Philippine Sea Plate. This crust is now trapped between the Molucca Sea complex collision zone and the Philippine Trench, due to the development of a new subduction zone in its eastern side.     

A classification of mineral systems,overviews of plate tectonic margins and examples of ore deposits associated with convergent margins

In this contribution I presents definitions of mineral systems, followed by a proposed classification of mineral deposits. The concept of mineral systems has been tackled by various authors within the framework of genetic models with the aim of improving the targeting of new deposits in green field areas. A mineral system has to be considered taking into account, by and large, space-time patterns or trends of mineralisation at the regional scale, their tectonic controls and related metallogenic belts. This leads to a suggested classification of mineral systems, together with a summary of previous ideas on what is, without doubt, a kind of “mine field”, because if a classification is based on genetic processes, these can be extremely complex due to the fact that ore genesis usually involves a number of interactive processes. The classification presented is based on magmatic, magmatic-hydrothermal, sedimentary-hydrothermal, non-magmatic, and mechanical-residual processes.An overview of plate tectonics (convergent and divergent margins) is discussed next. Convergent plate margins are characterised by a tectonic plate subducting beneath a lower density plate. Convergent plate margins have landward of a deep trench, a subduction–accretion complex, a magmatic arc and a foreland thrust belt. An important feature is the subduction angle: a steep angle of descent, is exemplified by the Mariana, or Tonga–Kermadec subduction systems, conducive to porphyry-high-sulphidation epithermal systems, whereas in an intra-arc rift systems with spreading centres is conducive to the generation of massive sulphide deposits of kuroko affinity. A shallower subduction zone is the domain of large porphyry Cu–Mo and epithermal deposits. The implications of this difference in terms of metallogenesis are extremely important. Continent–continent, arc–continent, arc–arc, amalgamation of drifting microcontinents, and oceanic collision events are considered to be a major factor in uplift, the inception of fold-and-thrust belts and high P metamorphism. Examples are the Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt formed by the closure of the Tethys oceanic basins and the great Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), a giant accretionary collage of island arcs and continental fragments. The closing of oceanic basins, and the accretion of allochthonous terranes, result in the emplacement of ophiolites by the obduction process. Divergent plates include mid-ocean ridges, passive margins and various forms of continental rifting. At mid-ocean spreading centres, magma chambers are just below the spreading centre. Once the oceanic crust moves away from the ridge it is either consumed in a subduction zone, or it may be accreted to continental margins, or island arcs. Spreading centres also form in back arc marginal basins. Transform settings include transtensional with a component of tension due to oblique divergence, transform or strike–slip sensu stricto and transpressive with a component of compression due to oblique convergence. Strike–slip faults that form during extensional processes lead to the formation of pull-apart basins.Mineral systems that form at convergent margins, the topic of this special issue, are succinctly introduced in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5, Table 6, Table 7, as follows: principal geological features of selected mineral systems at convergent plate margins and back-arcs (Table 1); their recognition criteria (Table 2); principal geological features of selected ore deposits of back-arc basins and post-subduction rifting (Table 3) and of subduction-related magmatic arcs (Table 4), their respective recognition criteria (Table 5); accretionary and collisional tectonics and associated mineral systems (Table 6); principal geological features and associated mineral systems of transform faults (Table 7).     

Structure and composition of the oceanic lithosphere created at different spreading rates

The specific features of the oceanic lithosphere (the petrography, the mineral composition, and the petrochemistry of igneous rocks and restites) that indicate its formation at different spreading rates, from the extremely slow to fast, are considered. This evidence may be used for solution of the inverse problem of estimating, at least qualitatively, the rate of paleospreading from the structure and composition of rocks pertaining to the ophiolitic association. The use of petrochemical data as the criteria of paleospreading rate is limited. The anomalous composition and structure of the oceanic crust may be due to factors unrelated to the spreading rate. The well-studied cases of ophiolites interpreted as fragments of the ancient oceanic lithosphere formed under conditions of fast, slow, and extremely slow spreading rates are discussed. It is concluded tentatively that the fast spreading is typical of the ophiolites obducted on passive margins (the Periarabian, Uralian, and Appalachian-Caledonian belts) as fragments of ensimatic suprasubduction basins formed at the final stages of the evolution of paleooceans (Tethys and Iapetus). Ophiolites as products of slow spreading are commonly localized in accretionary (subduction-related) orogens at the present-day and older active continental margins.     

Structure and development of the Sagami trough and the Boso triple junction

The Sagami trough is located at the particular plate margin where the Izu forearc is subducted underneath the Honshu forearc. At its southeastern end, the world's only known TTT-type triple junction (Boso triple junction) has developed. Several different kinds of basins occur in different segments along the Sagami trough and at the triple junction. The bathymetric, geologic, and geophysical data obtained during the Kaiko Project and from additional studies are summarized together with our onland studies. We suggest that the right-lateral oblique plate motion formed an eduction margin in the Sagami basin, while a normal subduction margin and an oblique subduction margin have been formed in the Middle Sagami trough basin. These tectonic phenomena resulted from the long-lasting compressional covergence between the Philippine Sea plate and Eurasian plate since the early or middle Miocene. The North basin on the northeasternmost margin of the Philippine Sea plate near the Boso triple junction has developed as a stretched basin due to the westward motion of the Philippine Sea plate with respect to the Eurasian plate.     

Repeating earthquake activities associated with the Philippine Sea plate subduction in the Kanto district, central Japan: A new plate configuration revealed by interplate aseismic slips

We detect repeating earthquakes associated with the Philippine Sea plate subduction to reveal the plate configuration. In the Kanto district, we find 140 repeating earthquake groups with 428 events by waveform similarity analysis. Most repeating earthquakes in the eastern part of the Kanto district occur with a regular time interval. They have thrust-type focal mechanisms and are distributed near the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate. These observations indicate that the repeating earthquakes there occur as a repetition of ruptures on the isolated patches distributed on the plate boundary owing to the concentration of stress caused by aseismic slips in the surrounding areas. This shows that the distributions of repeating earthquakes suggest the aseismic slips in the surrounding areas of small patches. We determine spatial distributions of repeating earthquakes in the eastern part of the Kanto district and find that they correspond to the upper boundary of the Philippine Sea plate, that is, the upper boundary of the oceanic crust layer of the Philippine Sea plate. The plate geometry around Choshi is newly constrained by repeating earthquake data and a rather flat geometry in the eastern part of the Kanto district is revealed. The obtained geometry suggests uplift of the Philippine Sea plate due to the collision with the Pacific plate beneath Choshi.Repeating earthquakes in the western part of the Kanto district have extremely shorter recurrence times, and their focal mechanisms are not of the thrust types. These repeating earthquakes are classified as “burst type” activity and likely to occur on the preexistent fault planes which are distributed around the “collision zone” between the Philippine Sea plate and the inland plate. The variation among the repeating earthquake activities in the Kanto district indicates that regular repetition of repeating earthquakes is possible only on the plate boundary with a smooth and simple geometry.     

Consolidation of the American Cordilleras

The continental margin orogenic systems of the western Americas are enormous features that formed along the Pacific margins of the North and South American plates during late Mesozoic through Cenozoic time. There has been considerable debate concerning their origin, and they are often compared with intra-oceanic fringing arc-trench systems more typical of the Australasian margins of the Pacific Ocean, in that both involve the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, often with similar convergent relative motion vectors. The onset of orogenesis in the two Cordilleras, as shown in reversal of sedimentary polarity from sources generally on the continent to sources along the Pacific margin, seems to date from shortly after emplacement of the oldest oceanic crust in that part of the Atlantic Ocaen east of each continent — i.e., about 170 Ma, or Middle Jurassic, in the case of the Central Atlantic, and about 135 to 100 Ma, or Early to mid-Cretaceous, in the case of the South Atlantic. These ages also seem to mark the onset of westward motion of the two continents over the Pacific Ocean basin and subsequent crustal thickening and uplift, with development of thrust belts, foreland basins, and foredeeps. Prior to this prolonged westward drift, both margins had been convergent for at least several hundred million years, but no massive mountain building had taken place. Instead, the margins were tectonically “neutral”, with typically submarine fringing arc-trench systems or shallow marine to continental margin arcs which stood “outboard” of shallow marine platformal shelves or basins whose main sedimentary polarity was from the continent. Although accretion of “suspect” terranes, high rates of convergence, and age of subducting lithosphere all may have influenced particularly local tectonic response and/or phases of orogenic activity in the two chains, the absolute motion of the two continental margins over the Pacific Ocean basin is considered to have been the dominant factor in Cordilleran tectonic evolution.     

东秦岭-大别山及邻区挠曲类盆地演化与碰撞造山过程

东秦岭-大别造山带是3 个板块沿两条缝合带俯冲碰撞而形成的近东西向不对称的反向多层次构造叠置的复合型造山带。在泥盆纪至三叠纪板块构造阶段中不同陆块间由于俯冲碰撞作用形成了多种挠曲类盆地。盆地时空演化充分体现了商丹古洋盆俯冲消减过程、北秦岭弧后区弧陆碰撞过程以及勉略古洋(海)盆斜向的、由东向西的碰撞造山过程。     

Diffuse magnetic anomalies in marginal basins: Their possible tectonic and petrologic significance

Marginal basins, areas of oceanic lithosphere peripheral to large ocean basins, may be formed by several processes, but the young active marginal basins have the geophysical and geochemical characteristics of young normal oceanic lithosphere. We recognize two distinct tectonic settings in which new oceanic lithosphere may be formed in areas which would be termed marginal basins:

1. (1) Upwelling of fractional melts of mantle material from the region above subducted lithospheric slabs leads to the generation of new oceanic lithosphere behind island arcs. The general case for this tectonic setting involves random location of magma leaks and does not produce correlatable magnetic anomalies. In special cases, an orthogonal ridge—transform system may duplicate the magnetic patterns found on ocean-basin crust.

2. (2) The second tectonic setting develops on very long “leaky” transform faults separating spreading ridges. In areas where the transform has dislocated a block of continental crust, or an island arc, the map view of the resulting marginal basin may resemble the setting of a basin behind an active island arc. However, the “leaky” transform setting is unrelated to active plate convergence or to Benioff zones.

At “normal” ridge-crests, and possibly in some marginal basins, basalt is erupted on long linear magma leaks and rapid cooling forms thick lithosphere with correlatable linear magnetic anomalies. Some marginal basins have high thermal flux, spread slowly and may have thick sediment cover. Slow cooling, numerous point-source magma leaks and extensive hydrothermal alteration diminish magnetic intensities and cause diffuse magnetic patterns. The correlation problems caused by diffuse magnetic anomalies make interpretations of spreading rates and directions in young marginal basins a difficult, if not futile, task.It is likely that fragments of marginal-basin lithosphere form some of the ophiolite complexes; their recognition is critical to paleo-tectonic interpretations. The geochemical characteristics of marginal-basin basalts do not appear to be useful criteria for distinguishing them from ocean-ridge basalts. However, the abundance of short ridges and seamounts in many young marginal basins suggests that an abundance of seamount material, as well as differentiated volcanic and plutonic rocks, in ophiolites may be an indication of derivation from marginal-basin lithosphere.