Evolution of the Taupo-Hikurangi subduction system

The present day Taupo-Hikurangi subduction system is a southward extension of the Tonga-Kermadec Arc system into a sediment-rich continental margin environment. It consists of a shallow structural trench (the Hikurangi Trough), a 150 km wide, imbricate thrust controlled accretionary borderland (the continental slope, shelf, and coastal hills of eastern North Island), a frontal ridge (the main “greywacke” ranges of North Island), and a volcanic arc and marginal basin (the Taupo Volcanic Zone).Structural elements become progressively more elevated and subduction more oblique towards the south. The whole NNE-trending system is truncated at a largely strike-slip, transform boundary that extends along the southwestern part of the Hikurangi Trough and the Hope fault of South Island to the main Alpine Fault.The volcanic arc is 200–270 km from the structural trench and comprises a NNE trending chain of andesite-dacite volcanoes extending along the eastern side of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Most of the andesites are olivine-bearing and have been erupted within the last 50,000 years.It is suggested the Taupo-Hikurangi margin has evolved by rotation of accretionary elements, from an original NW-trending subduction system north of New Zealand. The older elements of the prism were associated with subduction of a re-entrant of the Pacific Plate (and perhaps the South Fiji Basin) in Mid Tertiary times. They subsequently became separated from their NW-trending volcanic arc by dextral strike-slip movement along curved faults east of the main “greywacke” ranges. During the Plio-Pleistocene, oblique subduction and accretion intensified as the Taupo-Hikurangi margin rotated into line with the NNE-trending Kermadec system and a marginal basin was developed along a similar trend to form the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Within the last 50,000 years olivine-bearing andesite volcanism has commenced along the eastern side of the Taupo Volcanic Zone.     

冲绳海槽构造演化及其与岩浆、热液和沉积作用的关系：研究进展与展望

冲绳海槽是西太平洋沟-弧-盆体系中典型的弧后盆地。其独特的大地构造位置,岩浆、热液活动与沉积记录一直是学术界研究的热点。基于前人的研究成果,本文综述了冲绳海槽的构造活动对岩浆、热液与沉积的控制作用。菲律宾海板块的俯冲导致了冲绳海槽的形成,并发生了弧岩浆、弧后岩浆和斜切弧后岩浆作用,这三种岩浆作用导致了热液活动在平面分布上的三种不同分区。岩浆的发育和菲律宾海板块俯冲造成的断裂系统为冲绳海槽热液的发育分别提供了热源和通道。在~416 ka发生的浙闽隆起带沉降,导致了冲绳海槽北部的沉积物由粗变细。最后针对冲绳海槽的研究现状,文章对未来的进一步研究作了展望。     

Ocean trench blocked and obliterated by Banda forearc collision with Australian proximal continental slope

The bathymetry and abrupt changes in earthquake seismicity around the eastern end of the Java Trench suggest it is now blocked south–east of Sumba by the Australian, Jurassic-rifted, continental margin forming the largely submarine Roti–Savu Ridge. Plate reconstructions have demonstrated that from at least 45 Ma the Java Trench continued far to the east of Sumba. From about 12 Ma the eastern part of the Java Trench (called Banda Trench) continued as the active plate boundary, located between what was to become Timor Island, then part of the Australian proximal continental slope, and the Banda Volcanic Arc. This Banda Trench began to be obliterated by continental margin-arc collision between about 3.5 and 2 Ma.The present position of the defunct Banda Trench can be located by use of plate reconstructions, earthquake seismology, deep reflection seismology, DSDP 262 results and geological mapping as being buried under the para-autochthon below the foothills of southern Timor. Locating the former trench guides the location of the apparently missing large southern part of the Banda forearc that was carried over the Australian continental margin during the final stage of the period of subduction of that continental margin that lasted from about 12 Ma to about 3.5 Ma.Tectonic collision is defined and distinguished from subduction and rollback. Collision in the southern part of the Banda Arc was initiated when the overriding forearc basement of the upper plate reached the proximal part of the Australian continental slope of the lower plate, and subduction stopped. Collision is characterised by fold and thrust deformation associated with the development of structurally high decollements. This collision deformed the basement and cover of the forearc accretionary prism of the upper plate with part of the unsubducted Australian cover rock sequences from the lower plate. Together with parts of the forearc basement they now form the exposed Banda orogen. The conversion of the northern flank of the Timor Trough from being the distal part of the Banda forearc accretionary prism, carried over the Australian continental margin, into a foreland basin was initiated by the cessation of subduction and simultaneous onset of collisional tectonics.This reinterpretation of the locked eastern end of the Java Trench proposes that, from its termination south of Sumba to at least as far east as Timor, and probably far beyond, the Java-Banda Trench and forearc overrode the subducting Australian proximal continental slope, locally to within 60 km of the shelf break. Part of the proximal forearc's accretionary prism together with part of the proximal continental slope cover sequence were detached and thrust northwards over the Java-Banda Trench and forearc by up to 80 km along the southwards dipping Savu Thrust and Wetar Suture. These reinterpretations explain the present absence of any discernible subduction ocean trench in the southern Banda Arc and the narrowness of the forearc, reduced to 30 km at Atauro, north of East Timor.     

西南三江构造体系及演化、成因

西南三江构造体系突出表现为以昌都-兰坪-思茅地块为中轴的不对称走滑对冲构造,次为与走滑断裂相伴的伸展滑脱、走滑拉分盆地构造体系,再次为块体内部的近北东、北西向走滑断裂系.西南三江造山带构造体系演化分为挤压收缩变形、走滑深熔热隆、走滑剪切伸展、走滑剥蚀隆升等4个阶段.自晚白垩世开始,印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞,西南三江造山带...     

中国东部大陆边缘晚新生代构造演化及板块相互作用过程重建

晚新生代中国东部大陆边缘的构造活动主要集中于东海东缘。中新世以来菲律宾海板块俯冲、冲绳海槽弧后张裂、台湾弧-陆碰撞等一系列重大构造过程,塑造了现今琉球沟-弧-盆体系、台湾碰撞造山带和南海东北部的构造-地貌格局。本文基于对重磁和多道地震资料的解译,并结合前人研究成果,恢复了冲绳海槽构造演化史,阐明了冲绳海槽弧后张裂和台湾弧-陆碰撞之间的关系。在此基础上,重建了中新世以来欧亚板块、菲律宾海板块、南海板块之间的相互作用过程模型。本研究有助于进一步理解板块汇聚背景下东亚大陆边缘深部动力-热力过程对浅部构造格局变迁的制约和影响。     

Geology and geodynamic evolution of the high-P/low-T Maksyutov Complex, southern Urals, Russia

The high-pressure/low-temperature Maksyutov Complex is situated in the southern Urals between the Silurian/Devonian Magnitogorsk island arc and the East European Platform. The elongated N-S-trending complex is made up of two contrasting tectono-metamorphic units. Unit 1 consists of a thick pile of Proterozoic clastic sediments suggested to represent the passive margin of the East European Platform. The overlying unit 2, composed of Paleozoic sediments, volcanic rocks, and a serpentinite mélange with rodingites, is interpreted as a remnant of the Uralian Paleo-ocean. Devonian eastward subduction of oceanic crust beneath the Magnitogorsk island arc resulted in an incipient blueschist-facies metamorphism of unit 2 indicated by lawsonite pseudomorphs in the rodingites. While unit 2 was accreted to the upper plate, subduction of the continental passive margin caused the high-pressure metamorphism of unit 1. Buoyancy-driven exhumation of unit 1 into the forearc region led to its juxtaposition with unit 2 along a retrograde top-to-the-ENE shear zone. Further exhumation of the Maksyutov Complex into its present tectonic position was accomplished by later shear zones that were active as normal faults and are exposed along the margins of the complex. At the western margin a top-to-the-west shear zone juxtaposed a low-grade remnant of a Paleozoic accretionary prism (Suvanyak Complex) above the Maksyutov Complex. Along the eastern margin a top-to-the-east shear zone and the brittle Main Uralian Normal Fault emplaced the Maksyutov Complex against the Magnitogorsk island arc in the hanging wall.     

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.      

The westward lithospheric drift,its role on the subduction and transform zones surrounding Americas:Andean to cordilleran orogenic types cyclicity

We investigate the effect of the westerly rotation of the lithosphere on the active margins that surround the Americas and find good correlations between the inferred easterly-directed mantle counterflow and the main structural grain and kinematics of the Andes and Sandwich arc slabs.In the Andes,the subduction zone is shallow and with low dip,because the mantle flow sustains the slab;the subduction hinge converges relative to the upper plate and generates an uplifting doubly verging orogen.The Sandwich Arc is generated by a westerly-directed SAM(South American) plate subduction where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.In this context,the slab hinge is retreating relative to the upper plate,generating the backarc basin and a low bathymetry single-verging accretionary prism.In Central America,the Caribbean plate presents a more complex scenario:(a) To the East,the Antilles Arc is generated by westerly directed subduction of the SAM plate,where the eastward mantle flow is steepening and retreating the subduction zone.(b) To the West,the Middle America Trench and Arc are generated by the easterly-directed subduction of the Cocos plate,where the shallow subduction caused by eastward mantle flow in its northern segment gradually steepens to the southern segment as it is infered by the preexisting westerly-directed subduction of the Caribbean Plateau.In the frame of the westerly lithospheric flow,the subduction of a divergent active ridge plays the role of introducing a change in the oceanic/continental plate's convergence angle,such as in NAM(North American)plate with the collision with the Pacific/Farallon active ridge in the Neogene(Cordilleran orogenic type scenario).The easterly mantle drift sustains strong plate coupling along NAM,showing at Juan de Fuca easterly subducting microplate that the subduction hinge advances relative to the upper plate.This lower/upper plate convergence coupling also applies along strike to the neighbor continental strike slip fault systems where subduction was terminated(San Andreas and Queen Charlotte).The lower/upper plate convergence coupling enables the capture of the continental plate ribbons of Baja California and Yakutat terrane by the Pacific oceanic plate,transporting them along the strike slip fault systems as para-autochthonous terranes.This Cordilleran orogenic type scenario,is also recorded in SAM following the collision with the Aluk/Farallon active ridge in the Paleogene,segmenting SAM margin into the eastwardly subducting Tupac Amaru microplate intercalated between the proto-LiquineOfqui and Atacama strike slip fault systems,where subduction was terminated and para-autochthonous terranes transported.In the Neogene,the convergence of Nazca plate with respect to SAM reinstalls subduction and the present Andean orogenic type scenario.     

Tectonic erosion at the front of the Japan Trench convergent margin

The imaging of a multichannel seismic record was improved by reprocessing using pre-stack techniques. The reprocessed record shows structures that indicate tectonic erosion and gravity collapse at the front of the Japan Trench margin. Much of the lower slope appears to be underlain by a detached, coherent block of continental crust. The lower slope has failed by mass wasting and the resulting apron of slump debris at the base of the slope has become involved in thrust faulting at the front of the subduction zone. Slumping continues as long as debris is removed from the front of the margin by subduction, and the apron cannot build up sufficiently to stabilize the failing lower slope. Truncated beds at the base of the upper plate indicate subcrustal erosion as well, this probably being the main cause of massive subsidence of the margin. Subsidence was the cause of oversteepening, destabilization and subsequent gravity collapse of the leading edge of the upper plate.     

The lithospheric geodynamics of plate boundary transpression in New Zealand: Initiating and emplacing subduction along the Hikurangi margin, and the tectonic evolution of the Alpine Fault system

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.     

A synthesis of the geologic evolution of Taiwan

The island arc of Taiwan is composed of Cenozoic geosynclinal sediments more than 10,000 m thick, lying on a pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement. Pleistocene to Miocene andesitic islands surround the main island and are related mostly to arc magmatism. The Penghu Island Group in the Taiwan Strait is covered with Pleistocene flood basalt. Neogene shallow marine clastic sediments are exposed mainly in the western foothills with Pleistocene andesitic extrusives at the northern tip and the northeastern offshore islands. A thick sequence of Paleogene to Miocene argillitic to slaty metaclastic rocks underlies the western Central Range and forms the immediate sedimentary cover on the pre-Tertiary metamorphic complex to the east, which represents an older Mesozoic arc-trench system. The Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan is a Neogene andesitic magmatic arc, including also a large variety of volcaniclastic and turbiditic sediments. Cenozoic Taiwan is the site of arc-continent collision where the Luzon arc on the Philippine Sea plate overrides the Chinese continental margin on the Eurasian plate. East and northeast of Taiwan, the polarity of subduction changes whereby the oceanic Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the Ryukyu arc system on the Eurasian plate. Continent-arc collision in Taiwan island is anomalous and may occur in a broad belt of deformation rather than along a well-defined plate boundary or subduction zone.     

活动海岭俯冲对岛弧地质过程的影响

本文研究了海岭-岛弧体系的地质演化和海岭俯冲过程,通过有限元法对海岭俯冲的全过程进行了热模拟,分析了海岭俯冲过程中岛弧岩浆活动、变质作用及周围地区地表地形的变化。热模拟的计算结果表明:在海岭俯冲之前和俯冲完成之后,摩擦剪切生热使岛弧下100km深度形成温度反转,俯冲海洋板片内角闪岩相矿物在850-1000℃的相对高温下脱水,释放的水进入其上覆板块内热的地幔楔状体降低地幔岩石的熔点造成部分熔融,形成岛弧火山活动;而当热的活动海岭俯冲期间,近海岭处的年轻海洋地壳在较浅深度达到较高温度而提前脱水,原来的地幔楔状体内部分熔融区因缺水而使熔融停止,岛弧火山活动中断。但此时,活动海岭俯冲产生的热将会使前弧一定区域出现低温变质作用。在整个俯冲过程中,随海岭逼近海沟,温度升高,岛弧将因此逐渐抬升,因热作用而致的抬升高度可达440m左右.      

西太平洋边缘构造特征及其演化

西太平洋边缘构造带是地球上规模最大最复杂的板块边界,以台湾和马鲁古海为界,自北往南大致可以分为3段。北段是典型的沟-弧-盆体系,千岛海盆、日本海盆及冲绳海槽均为典型的弧后扩张盆地。中段菲律宾岛弧构造带为双向俯冲带,构造复杂,新生代经历大的位移和重组,使得欧亚大陆边缘的南海、苏禄海和苏拉威西海成因存在很大的争议。南段新几内亚—所罗门构造带是太平洋板块、印度—澳大利亚及欧亚板块共同作用的结果,既有不同阶段的俯冲、碰撞,也有大规模的走滑与弧后的扩张,其间既有新扩张的海盆,又有正在俯冲消亡的海盆。台湾岛处于枢纽部位,欧亚板块在此被撕裂,南部欧亚大陆边缘南海洋壳沿马尼拉海沟俯冲于菲律宾岛弧之下,而北部菲律宾海洋壳沿琉球海沟俯冲欧亚大陆之下。马鲁古海是西太平洋板块边界又一转折点,马鲁古海板块往东下插于哈马黑拉之下,往西下插于桑义赫弧,形成反U形双向俯冲汇聚带,其洋壳板块已基本全部消失,致使哈马黑拉弧与桑义赫弧形成弧-弧碰撞。     

A model of the Cenozoic evolution of northern New Zealand and adjacent areas of the southwest Pacific

New information from the southwest Pacific indicates that earlier attempts at formulating the evolution of the area assuming a single Upper Cenozoic magmatic arc are untenable. It now appears that there were two arcs during the Miocene and Pliocene, a western Northland/Three Kings Rise arc, and an eastern Tonga-Lau/Kermadec-Colville arc. Both appear to have developed above west-dipping subduction zones. It is suggested that the Norfolk- and Reinga basins formed as back-arc basins to the western arc, and that eastern North Island lay adjacent to Northland and formed the accretionary prism to that arc. Upper Cenozoic evolution of the region involved the simultaneous opening of the Norfolk/Reinga basins, consumption of the western portion of the Oligocene South Fiji Basin by subduction beneath the western arc, and eastwards movement of New Zealand/Three Kings Rise towards the Tonga/Kermadec arc. When the Kermadec and Hikurangi trenches came into line late in the Pliocene, the Tonga/Kermadec arc was able to propagate rapidly southwards into North Island; simultaneously the western arc became extinct, and the tectonic tempo and strike-slip faulting accelerated markedly throughout New Zealand. Eastern North Island was moved dextrally an uncertain distance relative to the western North Island, and rotated 25°–30° clockwise. This accounts for the paradox of a 22-m.y. old accretionary margin lying adjacent to a 2-m.y. old arc (Taupo Volcanic Zone) at the present day.     

Tertiary evolution of the Eastern Indonesia Collision Complex

Eastern Indonesia is the zone of interaction between three converging megaplates: Eurasia, the Pacific and Indo-Australia. The geological basis for interpretations of the Tertiary tectonic evolution of Eastern Indonesia is reviewed, and a series of plate tectonic reconstructions for this region at 5 million year intervals covering the last 35 million years is presented.The oldest reconstruction predates the onset of regional collisional deformation. At this time a simple plate configuration is interpreted, consisting of the northward-moving Australian continent approaching an approximately E–W oriented, southward-facing subduction zone extending from the southern margin of the Eurasian continent eastwards into the Pacific oceanic domain. Beginning at about 30 Ma the Australian continental margin commenced collision with the subduction zone along its entire palinspastically-restored northern margin, from Sulawesi in the west to Papua New Guinea in the east. From this time until ca 24 Ma, the Australian continent indented the former arc trend, with the northward convergence of Australia absorbed at the palaeo-northern boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate (the present-day Palau-Kyushu Ridge).At ca 24 Ma the present-day pattern of oblique convergence between the northern margin of Australia and the Philippine Sea Plate began to develop. At about this time a large portion of the Palaeogene colliding volcanic arc (the future eastern Philippines) began to detach from the northern continental margin by left-lateral strike slip. From ca 18 Ma oblique southward-directed subduction commenced at the Maramuni Arc in northern New Guinea. At ca 12 Ma the Sorong Fault Zone strike-slip system developed, effectively separating the Philippines from the Indonesian tectonic domain. The Sorong Fault Zone became inactive at ca 6 Ma, since which time the tectonics of eastern Indonesia has been dominated by the anticlockwise rotation of the Bird’s Head structural block by some 30–40°.Contemporaneously with post-18 Ma tectonism, the Banda Arc subduction–collision system developed off the northwestern margin of the Australian continent. Convergence between Indo-Australia and Eurasia was accommodated initially by northward subduction of the Indian Ocean, and subsequently, since ca 8 Ma, by the development of a second phase of arc-continent collision around the former passive continental margin of NW Australia.     

北祁连榴辉岩相变沉积岩的特征及其构造意义

在北祁连造山带中,出露典型的高压/低温变质岩石,前人对其中的低温榴辉岩已做过较多的研究,但对其中的变沉积岩研究涉及很少.本文展示了榴辉岩相变质沉积岩的岩石学、地球化学、锆石U-Pb年代学和Hf同位素方面的一些新的研究结果.变沉积岩含有榴辉岩相的矿物组合,峰期温压条件为t= 450～520℃,p=1.9～2.3 GPa,与相邻榴辉岩的温压条件一致.地球化学显示这些岩石的原岩为不成熟的沉积岩,可能形成于大陆边缘或大陆岛弧环境.变沉积岩中的碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄主要集中在1800 Ma左右和540～600 Ma之间,结合锆石Hf同位素特征,表明其原岩的碎屑来源既有周缘陆块的前寒武纪变质基底物质,又有新元古代-早古生代新生洋壳或增生物质.同时,这些数据也表明北祁连早古生代洋壳俯冲过程中发生了活动大陆边缘的构造剥蚀作用,即形成于上盘的沉积物(弧前盆地或增生楔)被构造作用运移到俯冲带中,并俯冲到60～70km深处,遭受榴辉岩相变质作用,然后折返到地表.     

试论南中国海盆地新生代板块构造及盆地动力学

南海地处欧亚、印度—澳大利亚和菲律宾海板块的交互带,是西太平洋地区面积最大的边缘海之一,其成因机制和演化过程对探讨特提斯构造域和太平洋构造域相互作用及油气勘探等问题具有重要意义,虽备受关注但仍存争议.综合目前该区及外围已有的大地构造等方面的资料,本文从探讨南海外围的构造格架及中-新生代演化过程入手,分析了南海及外围板块...     

中生代东亚大陆边缘构造演化

摘　要　根据东亚陆缘增生带生物古地理、放射虫时代研究的进展并结合同位素年代及东亚 地区火山活动、构造演化探讨了中生代东亚大陆与古太平洋板块之间的运动学关系及俯冲带 后退特征。中、晚三叠世那丹哈达岭、美浓等地体还位于北纬１２°以内及赤道附近,晚侏罗世 到达中高纬度。东亚活动大陆边缘开始于中侏罗世末,在此之前属转换大陆边缘。洋壳板块 向大陆下俯冲之后,由于地体拼贴引起俯冲带快速、长距离后退。     

Evolution of the Himalaya

The compression and attendant deformation of a thick and vast sedimentary prism formed since Early Riphean times on the northern continental margin of the Indian craton gave rise to the Himalaya mountains as a result of convergence and collision of the Indian and Asian plates. The oceanic trench-sediments, tectonically implanted with sea-floor material and intimately associated with calc-al-kaline volcanics in the narrow Sindhu-Tsangpo belt extending from Kohistan through Dras, Leh, Darchen (Mansarovar) to Shigatse and beyond, represent the subduction-island arc complex which developed south of the dynamic southern margin of the Asian continent and was welded to the colliding Indian plate during the late Eocene to Oligocene period. This complex is fringed to the north by a wide zone of Andean-type granitic bodies. The evolution of the Himalayan orogen is closely connected with the development of the present-day Andaman-Nicobar-Indonesia island arc-subduction system in the southeast and the Makran Ranges-Oman Trench in the southwest.The evolution of the Himalaya was accomplished in four major phases of tectonic upheaval during the late Cretaceous to Palaeocene (Karakoram phase), late Eocene to Oligocene (Malla Johar phase), middle Miocene to Pontian (Sirmurian phase), and late Pliocene to middle Pleistocene (Siwalik phase). While the Karakoram phase marks the convergence of continents and the Malla Johar phase represents the collision and subduction, it was during the Sirmurian upheaval that the main tectonic features developed and the Himalaya acquired its distinctive structural complexion     

Stress and deformation patterns in the Aegean region

The Aegean region constitutes the overriding plate of the Africa–Eurasia convergent plate system, in the eastern Mediterranean. To explain the fault kinematics and tectonic forces that controlled rift evolution in the Aegean area, we present fault-slip data from about 900 faults, and summarise the structural analyses of five key structural “provinces”. Five regional tectonic maps are used as the basis for a new stress map for the Aegean region and for discussions on regional geodynamics.Since the Late Miocene, the central Aegean has been affected by WNW- and NE-trending faults which transfer the motion of the Anatolian plate to the southwest, synchronous with arc-normal pull acting on the boundary of the Aegean plate. At the same time, the Hellenic Peninsula has suffered moderate extension by NW-trending grabens formed due to collapse of the Hellenic mountain chain.During intense extension in the southern Aegean in the Plio-Quaternary the arcuate shape of the Hellenic Trench was established. Arc-normal pull in the Aegean plate margin, combined with transform resistive forces along the Hellenic subduction gave rise to widespread strike-slip and oblique-normal faults in the eastern segment and moderate oblique extension in the western segment of the arc. To the north, subduction involves more continental crust and consequently the push of subduction is transmitted to the overriding plate (Hellenic Peninsula), resulting in the formation of NE-trending grabens. WNW-trending grabens in this area are considered to have propagated westward from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea during Plio-Quaternary times, probably acting as pull-apart structures between stable Europe and the rapidly extending southern Aegean area.