Continental margins as global oil and gas accumulation belts: The West Pacific belt

Most present-day oil- and gas-bearing (petroliferous) basins are localized in one of the five global oil and gas accumulation belts confined to continent-ocean transition zones that existed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Two meridional belts are located in the western and eastern peripheral zones of the Pacific Ocean with intense tectonic activity during the major part of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The activity was reflected in extension of the continental crust, spreading of the oceanic crust, rapid subsidence of individual crustal blocks, volcanism, and formation of large batholiths and accretionary prisms. In this belt, the fore-arc, back-arc, inter-arc, and marginal riftogenic sedimentary basins are petroliferous.     

Evolution of oceanic crust on the Kolbeinsey Ridge, north of Iceland, over the past 22 Myr

The evolution of oceanic crust on the Kolbeinsey Ridge, north of Iceland, is discussed on the basis of a crustal transect obtained by seismic experiment from the Kolbeinsey Ridge to the Jan Mayen Basin. The crustal model indicates a relatively uniform structure; no significant lateral velocity variations are observed, especially in the lower crust. The uniform velocity structure suggests that the postulated extinct axis does not exist over the oceanic crust formed at the Kolbeinsey Ridge, but supports a model of continuous spreading along the ridge after oceanic spreading started west of the Jan Mayen Basin. The oceanic crust formed at Kolbeinsey Ridge is 1–2.5 km thicker than normal oceanic crust due to hotter-than-normal mantle from the Iceland Mantle Plume. The observed generally uniform thickness throughout the transect might also indicate that the temperatures of the astheno-spheric mantle ascending along the Kolbeinsey Ridge have not changed significantly since the age of magnetic anomaly 6B.     

Geodynamics of the Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex,Western Indian Ocean

The formation and evolution of the ～600 km long arcuate Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex (ARTC) is a significant geomorphic–structural feature in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The WIO contains evidence of at least two major magmatic episodes followed by continental rifting within the span of a little more than 20 million years. This involved the splitting of Madagascar from India at around 85 Ma and then separation between India and the Seychelles at 64–63 Ma as a possible consequence of two powerful volcanic eruptions from the Marion and Reunion hot spots, respectively. Formation and evolution of the ARTC represents this tumultuous period in the Indian Ocean, approximately between 85 and 60 Ma (Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary).

We integrated geophysical, palaeomagnetical, and petrological data to examine three existing models that attempt to explain the formation of ARTC. In contrast, our study hints at several stages of extension and compression responsible for its formation. Our integrated data also suggest that the Carlsberg Ridge may have played a prominent role in the evolution of the ARTC that seems to have formed through a ridge-jump process after the conjugate spreading centres – Mascarene and Palitana ridges formed earlier during the India–Madagascar separation – ceased spreading because of violent eruption of the Reunion hot spot at around 65 Ma. The eruption disturbed the plumbing system of magma ascent, resulting in cessation of spreading along the conjugate spreading centres, forcing a ridge jump.

A collage of seismic refraction and reflection, free-air gravity, magnetic anomaly data, and Ar dating of rocks indicates that as the Carlsberg Ridge swept the Seychelles towards south, the crust between Madagascar and the Seychelles was increasingly compressed, with the abandoned northern Mascarene spreading centre absorbing the maximum stress. With continued compression, the western limb of the abandoned spreading ridge was thrust below the eastern limb to a limited degree. This partial subduction agrees with the gravity and seismic results. Our new study also accounts for the anomalous presence of 14 km-thick oceanic crust beneath the ARTC and its characteristic difference in petrology with other established subduction zones in the world.     

从地壳上地幔构造看大陆岩石圈伸展与裂解

本篇讨论大陆岩石圈拆沉、伸展与裂解作用过程。由于大陆岩石圈厚度大而且很不均匀,产生裂谷的机制比较复杂。大陆碰撞远程效应的触发,岩石圈拆沉,以及板块运动的不规则性和地球应力场方向转折,都可能产生岩石圈断裂和大陆裂谷。岩石圈拆沉为在重力作用下"去陆根"的作用过程,演化过程可分为大陆根拆离、地壳伸展和岩石圈地幔整体破裂三个阶段。大陆碰撞带、俯冲的大陆和大洋板块、克拉通区域岩石圈,都可能产生岩石圈拆沉。大陆岩石圈调查表明,拉张区可见地壳伸展、岩石圈拆离、软流圈上拱和热沉降;它们是大陆岩石圈伸展与裂解早期的主要表现。从初始拉张的盆岭省到成熟的张裂省,拆离后地壳伸展成复式地堑,下地壳幔源玄武岩浆侵位,断裂带贯通并切穿整个岩石圈,表明地壳伸展进入成熟阶段。中国东北松辽盆地和西欧北海盆地曾处于成熟的张裂省。岩石圈破裂为岩浆侵位提供了阻力很小的通道网。岩浆侵位作用伴随岩石圈破裂和热流体上涌,成熟的张裂省可发展成大陆裂谷。多数的大陆裂谷带并没有发展成威尔逊裂谷带和洋中脊,普通的大陆裂谷要演化为威尔逊裂谷带,必须有来自软流圈的长期和持续的热流和玄武质岩浆的供应。威尔逊裂谷带岩石圈地幔和软流圈为地震低速带,其根源可能与来自地幔底部的地幔热羽流有关。     

Insights about the structure and development of Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea from integrated geophysical modelling

ABSTRACT

We construct a complete density transection based on the velocity structures across the Zhongsha Bank in the South China Sea. Gravity modelling of the lateral density contrasts between tectonic units helps us to determine the structural attributes and boundaries between continental blocks and deep basins. The configuration of the continent–ocean boundary (COB) around the Zhongsha Bank is mapped based on the gravity/magnetic anomaly and crustal structures. A low-density mantle is found beneath the Zhongsha Bank and the oceanic basins, and this mantle is associated with the high heat-flow background. The COB orientation is northeast-east in the north of the bank, with faulted linear structures. In further southeast, where there is a more intact crust, the COB orientation changed to north-northeast. The reconstructed density model and gravity/magnetic map indicate that the Zhongsha Bank is conjugated with the Liyue Bank by a rifted basin, where the crust had experienced localized deformation before the seafloor spreading. Because of the insufficient magmatism in the oceanic basin, the spreading ridge propagates into the weakened continental lithosphere between the two continental blocks, thus completely separating the Zhongsha Bank from the Liyue Bank. Seafloor spreading ridge jumps within the South China Sea may also be affected by the heterogeneous lithosphere beneath the continental blocks and oceanic basins.     

Paleocene on-spreading-axis hotspot volcanism along the Ninetyeast Ridge: An interaction between the Kerguelen hotspot and the Wharton spreading center

Investigations of three plausible tectonic settings of the Kerguelen hotspot relative to the Wharton spreading center evoke the on-spreading-axis hotspot volcanism of Paleocene (60-54 Ma) age along the Ninetyeast Ridge. The hypothesis is consistent with magnetic lineations and abandoned spreading centers of the eastern Indian Ocean and seismic structure and radiometric dates of the Ninetyeast Ridge. Furthermore, it is supported by the occurrence of oceanic andesites at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 214, isotopically heterogeneous basalts at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 757 of approximately the same age (59-58 Ma) at both sites. Intermix basalts generated by plume-mid-ocean ridge (MOR) interaction, exist between 11° and 17°S along the Ninetyeast Ridge. A comparison of age profile along the Ninetyeast Ridge between ODP Sites 758 (82 Ma) and 756 (43 Ma) with similarly aged oceanic crust in the Central Indian Basin and Wharton Basin reveals the existence of extra oceanic crust spanning 11° latitude beneath the Ninetyeast Ridge. The extra crust is attributed to the transfer of lithospheric blocks from the Antarctic plate to the Indian plate through a series of southward ridge jumps at about 65, 54 and 42 Ma. Emplacement of volcanic rocks on the extra crust resulted from rapid northward motion (absolute) of the Indian plate. The Ninetyeast Ridge was originated when the spreading centers of the Wharton Ridge were absolutely moving northward with respect to a relatively stationary Kerguelen hotspot with multiple southward ridge jumps. In the process, the spreading center coincided with the Kerguelen hotspot and took place on-spreading-axis volcanism along the Ninetyeast Ridge.     

被动陆缘洋陆转换带和岩石圈伸展破裂过程分析及其对南海陆缘深水盆地研究的启示

作为伸展陆壳和正常洋壳之间重要的过渡和衔接,洋陆转换带(ocean-continent transition,简写为OCT)蕴含有丰富的地壳岩石圈伸展破裂过程的信息。文中通过系统的资料调研,在总结OCT研究历史、现状和发展趋势的基础上,阐明了OCT的现代概念、类型及其识别标志;详细介绍了以OCT为基础而建立的被动陆缘地壳岩石圈结构构造单元划分方案、表层沉积盆地构造地层格架及重要的构造变革界面特征;分析了大型拆离断层在地壳岩石圈薄化、地幔剥露过程中的控制作用;揭示了陆缘变形集中、迁移和叠合的规律,建立了被动陆缘岩石圈伸展、薄化、剥露和裂解模式。最后,论文对比了国际非岩浆型被动大陆边缘与我国南海OCT的研究,介绍了南海OCT和陆缘深水超深水盆地研究的新发现,提出深入研究南海OCT将为南海陆缘构造演化、洋盆扩张过程和深水超深水盆地的成因机制研究提供新的启示。     

Typification of the Earth’s crust of Central Arctic Uplifts in the Arctic Ocean

The modern views on the structure of the oceanic and continental crust are discussed. The presented geological-geophysical information on the deep structure of the Earth’s crust of the Lomonosov Ridge, Mendeleev Rise, and Alpha Ridge, which make up the province of the Central Arctic Uplifts in the Arctic Ocean, is based on CMP, seismic-reflection, and seismic-refraction data obtained by Russian and Western researchers along geotraverses across the Amerasia Basin. It is established that the crust thickness beneath the Central Arctic Uplifts ranges from 22 to 40 km. Comparison of the obtained velocity sections with standard crust sections of different morphostructures in the World Ocean that are underlain by the typical oceanic crust demonstrates their difference with respect to the crustal structure and to the thickness of the entire crust and its individual layers. Within the continental crust, the supercritical waves reflected from the upper mantle surface play the dominant role. Their amplitude exceeds that of head and refracted waves by one to two orders of magnitude. In contrast, the refracted and, probably, interferential head waves are dominant within the oceanic crust. The Moho discontinuity is the only first-order boundary. In the consolidated oceanic crust, such boundaries are not known. The similarity in the velocity characteristics of the crust of the Alpha Ridge and Mendeleev Rise, on the one hand, and the continental crust beneath the Lomonosov Ridge, on the other, gives grounds to state that the crust of the Mendeleev Rise and Alpha Ridge belongs to the continental type. The interference mosaic pattern of the anomalous magnetic field of the Central Arctic Uplifts is an additional argument in favor of this statement. Such patterns are typical of the continental crust with intense intraplate volcanism. Interpretation of seismic crustal sections of the Central Arctic Uplifts and their comparison with allowance for characteristic features of the continental and oceanic crust indicate that the Earth’s crust of the uplifts has the continental structure.     

Opening of the Fram Strait gateway: A review of plate tectonic constraints

We have revised the regional crustal structure, oceanic age distribution, and conjugate margin segmentation in and around the Lena Trough, the oceanic part of the Fram Strait between the Norwegian–Greenland Sea and the Eurasia Basin (Arctic Ocean). The Lena Trough started to open after Eurasia–Greenland relative plate motions changed from right-lateral shear to oblique divergence at Chron 13 times (33.3 Ma; earliest Oligocene). A new Bouguer gravity map, supported by existing seismic data and aeromagnetic profiles, has been applied to interpret the continent–ocean transition and the influence of Eocene shear structures on the timing of breakup and initial seafloor spreading. Assuming that the onset of deep-water exchange depended on the formation of a narrow, oceanic corridor, the gateway formed during early Miocene times (20–15 Ma). However, if the initial Lena Trough was blocked by terrigenous sediments or was insufficiently subsided to allow for deep-water circulation, the gateway probably formed with the first well developed magnetic seafloor spreading anomaly around Chron 5 times (9.8 Ma; Late Miocene). Paleoceanographic changes at ODP Site 909 (northern Hovgård Ridge) are consistent with both hypotheses of gateway formation. We cannot rule out that a minor gateway formed across stretched continental crust prior to the onset of seafloor spreading in the Lena Trough. The gravity, seismic and magnetic observations question the prevailing hypotheses on the Yermak Plateau and the Morris Jesup Rise as Eocene oceanic plateaus and the Hovgård Ridge as a microcontinent.     

陆缘扩张型地洼盆地系及其形成机制探讨

本文提出“陆缘扩张型地洼盆地系”这一概念,以突出表述分布于东亚陆缘壳体之上,形成于地洼余动期的张性地洼盆地系列的壳体演化—动力环境。指出陆缘海中的裂陷盆地的成因难于与大洋板块俯冲导致弧后扩张的理论模式相联系,也不同于大西洋型盆地,而是大陆地壳演化到地洼余动期,并经历过华夏期地洼型造山运动之后拉伸裂陷的结果。论证了“岩石圈底层剥落、华夏期地洼造山带拉伸裂陷”是东亚陆缘扩张发生的一种重要机制,进而建立了由华夏期地洼型挤压造山带到盆岭型构造带和陆缘海盆地系的构造发展模式。     

Lithospheric structure of the Southwest South China Sea: implications for rifting and extension

ABSTRACT

The South China Sea (SCS) is an excellent site for studying the process of conjugate margin rifting, and the origin and evolution of oceanic basins. Compared with the well-defined northern margin of the SCS, the western and southern segments of the SCS margin have not been researched in significant detail. To investigate the regional structure of the southwestern SCS, a gravity model is constructed, along with the lithospheric thermal structure along a wide-angle seismic profile. The profile extends across the conjugate margins of the Southwest Sub-Basin (SWSB) of the SCS and is based on the latest multiple geophysical measurements (including heat flow and thermo-physical parameters). The results show that the average thicknesses of the crust and thermal lithosphere along the profile are about 15 km and 57 km, respectively. The overall amount of extension of continental crust and lithosphere is more than 200 km. Thermal structure of the lithosphere shows that the continental margins are in a warm thermal state. The southwest SCS is characterized by ultra-wide, thinned continental crust and lithosphere, high Moho heat flow, early syn-rift faulted basins, undeformed late syn-rifting, and high seismic velocities in the lower crust. These various pieces of evidence suggest that the break-up of the mantle lithosphere occurred before that of the continental crust favouring a depth-dependent extension of the southwestern SCS margin.     

Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The Aegean region is a concentrate of the main geodynamic processes that shaped the Mediterranean region: oceanic and continental subduction, mountain building, high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism, backarc extension, post-orogenic collapse, metamorphic core complexes, gneiss domes are the ingredients of a complex evolution that started at the end of the Cretaceous with the closure of the Tethyan ocean along the Vardar suture zone. Using available plate kinematic, geophysical, petrological and structural data, we present a synthetic tectonic map of the whole region encompassing the Balkans, Western Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Arc, the Mediterranean Ridge and continental Greece and we build a lithospheric-scale N-S cross-section from Crete to the Rhodope massif. We then describe the tectonic evolution of this cross-section with a series of reconstructions from ~70 Ma to the Present. We follow on the hypothesis that a single subduction has been active throughout most of the Mesozoic and the entire Cenozoic, and we show that the geological record is compatible with this hypothesis. The reconstructions show that continental subduction (Apulian and Pelagonian continental blocks) did not induce slab break-off in this case. Using this evolution, we discuss the mechanisms leading to the exhumation of metamorphic rocks and the subsequent formation of extensional metamorphic domes in the backarc region during slab retreat. The tectonic histories of the two regions showing large-scale extension, the Rhodope and the Cyclades are then compared. The respective contributions to slab retreat, post-orogenic extension and lower crust partial melting of changes in kinematic boundary conditions and in nature of subducting material, from continental to oceanic, are discussed.     

Accretion of oceanic crust under conditions of oblique spreading

The accretion of oceanic crust under conditions of oblique spreading is considered. It is shown that deviation of the normal to the strike of mid-ocean ridge from the extension direction results in the formation of echeloned basins and ranges in the rift valley, which are separated by normal and strike-slip faults oriented at an angle to the axis of the mid-ocean ridge. The orientation of spreading ranges is determined by initial breakup and divergence of plates, whereas the within-rift structural elements are local and shallow-seated; they are formed only in the tectonically mobile rift zone. As a rule, the mid-ocean ridges with oblique spreading are not displaced along transform fracture zones, and stresses are relaxed in accommodation zones without rupture of continuity of within-rift structural elements. The structural elements related to oblique spreading can be formed in both rift and megafault zones. At the initial breakup and divergence of continental or oceanic plates with increased crust thickness, the appearance of an extension component along with shear in megafault zones gives rise to the formation of embryonic accretionary structural elements. As opening and extension increase, oblique spreading zones are formed. Various destructive and accretionary structural elements (nearly parallel extension troughs; basin and range systems oriented obliquely relative to the strike of the fault zone and the extension axis; rhomb-shaped extension basins, etc.) can coexist in different segments of the fault zone and replace one another over time. The Andrew Bain Megafault Zone in the South Atlantic started to develop as a strike-slip fault zone that separated the African and Antarctic plates. Under extension in the oceanic domain, this zone was transformed into a system of strike-slip faults divided by accretionary structures. It is suggested that the De Geer Megafault Zone in the North Atlantic, which separated Greenland and Eurasia at the initial stage of extension that followed strike-slip offset, evolved in the same way.     

Early Stage in the Evolution of the Paleoasian Ccean at the Western Margin of the Siberian Craton: Geochemical and Geochronological Evidence

The discovery of glaucophane relicts in the high-pressure tectonites of the Yenisei suture zone of the Yenisei Ridge suggests the manifestation of the “Chilean-type” convergent margin on the western Siberian Craton, which was controlled by subduction of oceanic crust beneath the continental margin. These rocks are restricted to the tectonic suture between the craton and the Isakovka ocean-island terrane and experienced two metamorphic stages. Petrogeochemical characteristics of the mafic tectonites indicate that their protoliths are N-MORB and E-MORB basalts. More primitive N-MORB basalts were formed at the initial spreading stages through melting of the upper depleted mantle. Higher Ti basalts were formed by melting of enriched mantle protolith at the later spreading stages. U–Pb zircon age of 701.6 ± 8.4 Ma of the metamorphosed analogues of normal basalts marks the initiation of oceanic crust in the region. Revealed sequence of spreading, subduction (640–620 Ma), and shear deformations (~600 Ma) records the early stages in the evolution of the Paleoasian ocean in its junction zone with the western margin of the Siberian craton: from formation of fragments of oceanic crust to the completion of accretionary–subduction events.     

Distinct continental margins and associated stratigraphic architecture patterns during the seafloor spreading of South China Sea

In this paper we compare four types of stratigraphic architectures around the continental margins in the South China Sea (SCS) based on a plentiful of seismic profiles. The results indicate that stratigraphic patterns are not only related closely to structure regimes of peripheral of the SCS, but also are restrained by crust structure from continental crust to oceanic crust. In the extensional setting, depositional centres during the syn‐spreading stage are located in the strong extensional area. A wedge‐decrease continental crust represented by the Pearl River Mouth type is characterized by high deposition and subsidence rate during the syn‐rifting and syn‐spreading stages in the distal zone. And in the Zhongjiannan type with a continental ribbon, high deposition and subsidence rate during the syn‐rifting and syn‐spreading stages are present in the proximal zone. However, in the southern and eastern margins with compressional setting, the Liyue and Zengmu microcontinent blocks are separated from the South China with the seafloor spreading of SCS, in which a confined or relative thin syn‐spreading deposits are presence. High deposition and subsidence rate is closely related to the collision or subduction condition during the post‐spreading stage in the Liyue bank type and the Zengmu type, a huge progradational clinoforms are present along the subduction and collision margin. Therefore, this study shows distinct stratigraphic architecture in different continental rifted margins, distinct depositional and subsidence characteristics formed during the process of lithospheric rupture can provide an effective method for the study on the continental marginal sea in the western Pacific.     

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.     

Thin and layered subcontinental crust of the great Basin western north America inherited from Paleozoic marginal ocean basins?

The seismic profile of the crust of the northern part of the Basin and Range province by its thinness and layering is intermediate between typical continental and oceanic crust and resembles that of marginal ocean basins, especially those with thick sedimentary fill. The geologic history of the Great Basin indicates that it was the site of a succession of marginal ocean basins opening and closing behind volcanic arcs during much of Paleozoic time. A long process of sedimentation and deformation followed throughout the Mesozoic modifying, but possibly not completely transforming the originally oceanic crust to continental crust. In the Cenozoic, after at least 40 m.y. of quiescence and stable conditions, substantial crustal and upper-mantle changes are recorded by elevation of the entire region in isostatic equilibrium, crustal extension resulting in Basin and Range faulting, extensive volcanism, high heat flow and a low-velocity mantle. These phenomena, apparently the result of plate tectonics, are superimposed on the inherited subcontinental crust that developed from an oceanic origin in Paleozoic time and possibly retained some of its thin and layered characteristics. The present anomalous crust in the Great Basin represents an accretion of oceanic geosynclinal material to a Precambrian continental nucleus apparently as an intermediate step in the process of conversion of oceanic crust into a stable continental landmass or craton.     

Tectonotype of nonvolcanic passive margins in the Iberia-Newfoundland region

The tectonotype of nonvolcanic passive margins is discussed on the basis of data on the conjugate margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland. Magmatic, structural, and historical aspects are considered. The Late Mesozoic structural elements related to rifting and transition to spreading are considered, as well as the Early Mesozoic sedimentary basins that begin the history of oceanic opening. The problem is set to determine the tectonic conditions of the early opening of the ocean in the framework of the chosen tectonoptype. These conditions are compared with the setting at the volcanic margins. The formation of the conjugate Iberia-Newfoundland margins is reconstructed as an asymmetric rift system developing in an almost amagmatic regime. All three segments of the margins on both sides of the ocean reveal similar features of transverse zoning with zones of the tectonized continental, transitional, and oceanic crust oriented nearly parallel to the margin. Special attention is called to the old age of the continental crust and subcontinental mantle and the absence of newly formed crystalline crust; the stadial tectonic and rheological evolution of the crust and lithospheric mantle; the specific features of the transitional zone; the serpentinization and exhumation of mantle peridotites and their role in the development of detachment at the crust-mantle interface, related listric faults and the Peridotite Ridge, attenuation of the medium, further localization of continental breakup, and the eventual development of asymmetric conjugate margins. Two papers characterizing the tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins ([2] and this paper) determine the line of further comparative analysis necessary for insights into the geodynamics of ocean opening.     

新疆北天山晚古生代洋盆演化与推覆构造

通过实地考察并综合区域及深部物探资料,研究了北天山逆冲推覆系统的构造样式、结构特征和组合方式;认为北天山晚古代洋盆为板内地壳扩张活动形成的裂陷构造产物,存在时限短暂、对生物群迁移基本没有阻隔作用,不应具有分隔岩石圈板块的大地构造意义。     

对弧后扩张作用的探讨

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。