Apparent polar wandering for the Atlantic-bordering continents: Late Carboniferous to Eocene

We present a compilation of reliable paleomagnetic pole positions from five continental plates (North America, Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, Africa, and South America) for ten time intervals ranging from Late Carboniferous to Eocene. Only well-dated results obtained by demagnetization techniques have been used. Paleomagnetic poles are plotted with respect to the paleo-positions of the continents, as reconstructed from correlations of marine magnetic anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean by Pitman and Talwani and from the fit by Bullard et al. The poles from North America, Europe and the younger poles from Africa show a very good grouping for most of the ten intervals considered, and a continuous apparent polar wandering path is obtained. These data have been used to construct paleolatitude maps for most intervals; thus the relative positions of the continents were established from sea-floor spreading data and their absolute positions on the globe were determined from paleomagnetic data. The older data from South America and the other Gondwana continents show a systematic deviation from those of the northern continents for Late Paleozoic and Early Triassic time periods. An explanation is offered in a different continental reconstruction between Laurasia and Gondwanaland before Middle Triassic times.     

West Pacific and North Indian Ocean Seafloor and Their Ocean-Continent Connection Zones: Evolution and Debates

The Indian Ocean and the West Pacific Ocean and their ocean-continent connection zones are the core area of "the Belt and Road". Scientific and in-depth recognition to the natural environment, disaster distribution, resources, energy potential of “the Belt and Road” development, is the cut-in point of the current Earth science community to serve urgent national needs. This paper mainly discusses the following key tectonic problems in the West Pacific and North Indian oceans and their ocean-continent connection zones (OCCZs): 1. modern marine geodynamic problems related to the two oceans. Based on the research and development needs to the two oceans and the ocean-continent transition zones, this item includes the following questions. (1) Plate origin, growth, death and evolution in the two oceans, for example, 1) The initial origin and process of the triangle Pacific Plate including causes and difference of the Galapagos and West Shatsky microplates; 2) spatial and temporal process, present status and trends of the plates within the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific Ocean to the evolution of the East Asian Continental Domain; 3) origin and evolution of the Indian Ocean and assembly and dispersal of supercontinents. (2) Latest research progress and problems of mid-oceanic ridges: 1) the ridge-hot spot interaction and ridge accretion, how to think about the relationship between vertical accretion behavior of thousands years or tens of thousands years and lateral spreading of millions years at 0 Ma mid-oceanic ridges; 2) the difference of formation mechanisms between the back-arc basin extension and the normal mid-oceanic ridge spreading; 3) the differentials between ultra-slow dian Ocean and the rapid Pacific spreading, whether there are active and passive spreading, and a push force in the mid-oceanic ridge; 4) mid-oceanic ridge jumping and termination: causes of the intra-oceanic plate reorganization, termination, and spatial jumps; 5) interaction of mantle plume and mid-oceanic ridge. (3) On the intra-oceanic subduction and tectonics: 1) the origin of intra-oceanic arc and subduction, ridge subduction and slab window on continental margins, transform faults and transform-type continental margin; 2) causes of the large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus and seamount chains. (4) The oceanic core complex and rheology of oceanic crust in the Indian Ocean. (5) Advances on the driving force within oceanic plates, including mantle convection, negative buoyancy, trench suction and mid-oceanic ridge push, is reviewed and discussed. 2. The ocean-continent connection zones near the two oceans, including: (1) Property of continental margin basement: the crusts of the Okinawa Trough, the Okhotsk Sea, and east of New Zealand are the continental crusts or oceanic crusts, and origin of micro-continent within the oceans; (2) the ocean-continent transition and coupling process, revealing from the comparison of the major events between the West Pacific Ocean seamount chains and the continental margins, mantle exhumation and the ocean-continent transition zones, causes of transform fault within back-arc basin, formation and subduction of transform-type continental margin; (3) strike-slip faulting between the West Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent and its temporal and spatial range and scale; (4) connection between deep and surface processes within the two ocean and their connection zones, namely the assembly among the Eurasian, Pacific and India-Australia plates and the related effect from the deep mantle, lithosphere, to crust and surface Earth system, and some related issues within the connection zones of the two oceans under the super-convergent background. 3. On the relationship, especially their present relations and evolutionary trends, between the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific plates and the Tethyan Belt, the Eurasian Plate or the plates within the Indian Ocean. At last, this paper makes a perspective of the related marine geology, ocean-continent connection zone and in-depth geology for the two oceans and one zone.     

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.     

Mesozoic interaction of the Kula plate and the western margin of north america

Oceanic crust west of North America at the beginning of the Jurassic belonged to the Kula plate. The development of the western margin of North America since the Jurassic reflects interaction with the Kula plate, the Kula-Farallon spreading center and the Farallon plate. The Kula plate ceased to exist in the Paleocene and later developments were caused by interaction of the Farallon plate and, subsequently, collision with the East Pacific Rise.At the beginning of the Jurassic, when spreading between North and South America began, the Kula-Farallon-Pacific triple junction moved to the north relative to North America, and the eastern end of the Kula-Farallon spreading center swept northwards along the continental margin.During the Paleocene, Kula-Pacific spreading ceased and the Kula plate fused to the Pacific plate. Throughout the Mesozoic, subduction of the Kula plate took place along the Alaskan continental margin. When the Kula plate joined the Pacific plate a new subduction zone formed along the line of the present Aleutian chain.Wrangellia and Stikinia, anomalous terrains in Alaska and northwestern Canada respectively, were emplaced by transport on the Kula plate from lower latitudes. Hypotheses which require transport of these plates in the Mesozoic from the “far reaches of the Pacific” ignore the problem of transport across either the Kula-Pacific or Kula-Farallon spreading centers. The interaction of the Kula plate and western North America throughout the Jurassic and the Cretaceous should result in emplacement of these terrains by motion oblique to the continental margin. Tethyan faunas in Stikinia must come from the western end of Tethys between North and South America, not the Indonesian region at the eastern end of Tethys.As the northeastern end of the Kula-Farallon ridge moved northward, the sense of motion changed from right lateral shear between the Kula and North American plates to collision or left lateral shear between the Farallon and North American plates. Left lateral shear along zones analogous to the Mojave-Sonora megashear may have been the means by which anomalous terrains were transported to the southeast into the gap between North and South America forming present day Central America. Such a model overcomes the overlap difficulties suffered in previous attempts to reconstruct the Mesozoic paleogeography of Central America.     

中国东部中—新生代大陆构造的形成与演化

20世纪60年代提出的"威尔逊旋回"以关闭洋盆两侧板块的碰撞作为板块运动旋回的终结,然而板块构造学说"登陆"20多年来的实践说明这种认识是不全面的。大陆弥散而宽广的陆内变形说明洋盆闭合两侧板块的碰撞并未终止板内构造作用。古亚洲大陆形成后中国东部中—新生代广泛发育的板内构造变形、岩浆活动、克拉通内盆地的形成都和古亚洲大陆南、北,印度洋和北冰洋洋脊的持续扩张、西太平洋和菲律宾洋壳的俯冲相关。本文拟厘清中国东部中—新生代大陆构造形成与演化的重大事件、构造性质、形成背景及其时空展布:(1)晚海西—印支期古特提斯洋关闭陆块拼合碰撞古亚洲大陆雏形形成;(2)晚侏罗—早白垩世蒙古—鄂霍茨克海闭合,陆-陆碰撞古亚洲大陆形成,挤压逆冲推覆构造在陆内变形中形成高潮,西太平洋伊佐奈岐洋壳板块的斜俯冲叠加了自东而西的影响;(3)早白垩世晚期—古近纪加厚地壳-岩石圈减薄、转型,陆内伸展变形达到高潮,大陆克拉通泛盆地、准平原化;(4)始新世晚期—早中新世(40~23 Ma)太平洋板块运动转向对东亚大陆NWW向的挤压和印度洋脊扩张印—澳板块对古亚洲南部陆-陆碰撞挤压的叠加,形成中国东部新生的构造地貌;(5)中-上新世—早更新世受东亚—西太平洋巨型裂谷系和印度洋中脊扩张的叠加影响,中国东部岩石圈地幔隆升、地壳减薄,陆缘、陆内伸展变形相继形成边缘海、岛弧、裂谷型盆地和剥蚀高原地貌;(6)早更新世晚期(0.9~0.8 Ma)—晚更新世末(0.01 Ma)中国东部大陆构造地貌基本形成。     

大洋岛弧的前世今生

正这些年来似乎地球变小了,人的寿命变长了,90寻常,80刚迈入老年人之列。一些同事和学生为庆祝叶大年院士八十华诞及从事科研六十载在岩石学报出版一期论文专辑,邀请我作序,这才惊奇叶大年院士已近杖朝之年,我和他交往甚密,经常见面就觉不出有什么变化,也就觉不出他的年龄增长。叶大年老师和我是亦师亦友的关系。我称他老师是名正言顺的。最早见到他是在河南许昌地区的野外     

Cenozoic Tectonism in the Central Basin and Range: Motion of the Sierran-Great Valley Block

According to geologic reconstructions, the motion of the Sierran-Great Valley block with respect to the Colorado Plateau was mainly westerly at more than 20 mm/yr from 16 to 10 Ma, changing to northwest or NNW since 8 to 10 Ma, at an average rate of 15 mm/yr. These kinematics are consistent with two other independent methods of determining the position of the block since 20 Ma–reconstructions based on paleomagnetic data from range blocks that bound the Basin and Range on the west, and a revised history of Pacific-North America plate motion based on a global plate circuit (Atwater and Stock, 1998, this issue). The plate-tectonic reconstruction shows a change to more northerly motion between the Pacific and North American plates at ～8 Ma, in concert with the motion of the Sierran-Great Valley block. Moreover, the northeast limit of extant oceanic crust (as indicated by the reconstruction of the continental geology) tracks closely with the southwest limit of extant continental crust (as indicated by the positions of oceanic plates) since 20 Ma. The coordination between plate motions and the intraplate geology suggests that plate-boundary forces strongly influenced deformation within the continent.     

Reconstructing seafloor age distributions in lost ocean basins

Reconstructions of past seafloor age make it possible to quantify how plate tectonic forces,surface heat flow,ocean basin volume and global sea level have varied through geological time.However,past ocean basins that have now been subducted cannot be uniquely reconstructed,and a significant challenge is how to explore a wide range of possible reconstructions.Here,we investigate possible distributions of seafloor ages from the late Paleozoic to present using published full-plate reconstructions and a new,efficient seafloor age reconstruction workflow,all developed using the open-source software GPlates.We test alternative reconstruction models and examine the influence of assumed spreading rates within the Panthalassa Ocean on the reconstructed history of mean seafloor age,oceanic heat flow,and the contribution of ocean basin volume to global sea level.The reconstructions suggest variations in mean seafloor age of~15 Myr during the late Paleozoic,similar to the amplitude of variations previously proposed for the Cretaceous to present.Our reconstructed oceanic age-area distributions are broadly compatible with a scenario in which the long-period fluctuations in global sea level since the late Paleozoic are largely driven by changes in mean seafloor age.Previous suggestions of a constant rate of seafloor production through time can be modelled using our workflow,but require that oceanic plates in the Paleozoic move slower than continents based on current reconstructions of continental motion,which is difficult to reconcile with geodynamic studies.     

Model of the formation of marginal seas in the western Pacific Ocean

A geodynamic model for the formation and movement of marginal seas in the Pacific Ocean during lateral interaction between the Eurasian and Pacific lithospheric plates is proposed. In a transition strike-slip megazone, the continental and oceanic plates disintegrate into blocks, which are involved in rotation, thus causing formation of mantle plumes and tectonospheric funnels (ascending and descending lithospheric vortexes). The implications of the model are formulated. Three scenarios of the evolution of the marginal sea basins depending on the direction of motion of the Pacific plate are discussed.     

中-新生代东北和华北的洋陆转换作用

本文对西太平洋的洋-陆转换作用进行探讨。西太平洋洋-陆转换带在中国东部可分为华南、华北-黄海和东北3个区段。东北地区中-新生代洋-陆转换作用涉及古今太平洋板块和蒙古—鄂霍茨克洋板块两方面俯冲作用的影响,产生大面积中基性岩浆和火山活动,从侏罗纪一直延伸到现在。不同于东北和华南地区,华北-黄海有克拉通型的岩石圈,在晚侏罗世—新近纪因为太平洋板块的大角度旋转造成软流圈低黏度物质上涌,和地壳拉张与幔源岩浆的底侵,造成上地壳裂谷型沉积盆地。燕山地区在侏罗纪与东北地区类似,有强烈的软流圈上涌和岩石圈岩石部分熔融,产生强烈岩浆活动。在白垩纪到新生代,因为蒙古—鄂霍茨克洋闭合和太平洋板块大角度旋转,发生沿蒙古—鄂霍茨克洋的转换断层的拉张,产生从南蒙古过锡林浩特的NW向玄武质岩浆和火山带。洋-陆转换带不同区段有不同的动力学作用演化过程,与先期岩石圈的性质、大洋板块俯冲带的分布、方向变化和俯冲持续时间、以及后期俯冲带后撤作用都有密切关系。洋-陆转换作用的统一后果是大陆的增生,但是不同区段大陆增生和物质运动的模式是不一样的。     

中国的全球构造位置和地球动力系统

现今之中国位于亚洲大陆东南部,西太平洋活动带中段;在全球板块构造图上,中国位于欧亚板块的东南部,南为印度板块,东为太平洋板块和菲律宾海板块。地质历史上,以中朝、扬子、塔里木等小克拉通为标志的中国主体属于冈瓦纳和西伯利亚两个大陆之间的转换(互换)构造域:古生代时期,位于古亚洲洋之南,属冈瓦纳结构复杂的大陆边缘;中生代阶段,位于特提斯之北,属劳亚大陆的一部分。显生宙中国大地构造演化依次受古亚洲洋、特提斯-古太平洋、太平洋-印度洋三大动力体系之控制,形成古亚洲洋、特提斯和太平洋三大构造域。不论古亚洲洋,还是特提斯,都不是结构简单的大洋盆地,而是由一系列海底裂谷带(小洋盆带)和众多微陆块组合而成的结构复杂的洋盆体系。加之中、新生代的太平洋构造域和特提斯构造域叠加在古生代的古亚洲洋构造域之上,使中国地质构造图像在二维平面上呈现镶嵌构造,在三维空间上呈现立交桥式结构,使中国不仅是亚洲,也是全球构造最复杂的一个区域。不同阶段的地球动力体系在中国的叠加、复合,使多旋回构造-岩浆和成矿作用成为中国地质最突出的特征。因而中国的造山带大多是多旋回复合造山带,成矿(区)带大多是多旋回复合成矿(区)带,大型含油气盆地大多是多旋回叠合盆地。     

THE GLOBAL TECTONIC SYSTEMS AND A LATITUDINAL MOUNTAIN-PLATEAU CHAIN ON THE NORTH HEMISPHERE

THE GLOBAL TECTONIC SYSTEMS AND A LATITUDINAL MOUNTAIN-PLATEAU CHAIN ON THE NORTH HEMISPHERE     

Two stage continental collision and plate driving forces

It is proposed that major continental collision normally causes two orogenies. The first is characterized by ophiolite obduction, and the second by widespread deformation, often accompanied by metamorphism and granite intrusion. The two orogenies are separated by a relatively quiescent orogenic pause of 40–60 Ma. The two stages of continental collision are illustrated by examples from the Paleozoic Newfoundland Appalachians, and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tethyan collision belts of the Zagros and Himalayas.

The stages of continental collision are explained in terms of the forces driving plate motions, which are dominated by the downward pull of subducting oceanic lithosphere and, to a lesser extent, by the outward push of spreading oceanic ridges.

The Taconic stage marks attempted subduction of continental crust. The buoyancy of continental crust offsets the negative buoyancy of subducting oceanic lithosphere and other driving forces so that plate motion is halted. Orogeny involves vertical buoyancy forces and is concentrated along the narrow belt of plate overlap at the subduction zone.

In a major collision the Taconic stage destroys a substantial proportion of the earth's subducting capacity. It is an event of such magnitude that it has global consequences, reducing sea-floor spreading and the rate of convection. This results in retention of heat within the earth and a consequent increase in the forces driving the plates. The orogenic pause represents the time taken for these forces to become strong enough to overcome the obstruction of buoyant continental crust and renew subduction at the collision zone.

The Acadian stage of collision occurs when renewed subduction is achieved by detachment of continental crust from its underlying lithosphere. As the subcrustal lithosphere is subducted, the crust moves horizontally. The result is crustal shortening with widespread deformation and generation of anatectic granitic magma, as well as subduction related volcanism.

The effects of continental collision on the rate of sea-floor spreading can be related to eustatic changes in sea level, glaciations, and mass extinctions. There may also be connections, through changes in the rate of mantle convection, to the earth's magnetic polarity bias and rotation rate.     

The margin between Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones: Implications from plate tectonics

Analysis of multichannel seismic data from the continental margin off Svalbard between the Senja and Spitsbergen fracture zones suggests that the transition between continental and oceanic crust is located at or close to the Hornsund Fault Zone. In the Late Paleocene/Early Eoeene (57 m.y.) the region between Svalbard and Northeast-Greenland was subjected to regional shear movements associated with a transform system between the young Lofoten-Greenland Basin and the Arctic Ocean. Approximately 50 m.y. ago the spreading axis migrated to the northeast creating a deep basin north of the Greenland-Senja Fracture Zone forming the passive margin between Bear Island and 76.5°N. North of 76.5°N the regional transform was maintained. At the time of the main reorganization of relative plate motion (36 m.y.) the northern margin evolved. A continental fragment was possibly cut off from the Svalbard margin forming a small microcontinent. The microcontinent appears as the submarine ridge which has been associated with the Hovgaard Fracture Zone. It is suggested that the sediments west of the Hornsund Fault Zone are not older than Eocene in the south and mid-Oligocene in the north. The position of the spreading axis has greatly influenced the margin sedimentation.     

Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).     

华南洋陆过渡带构造演化:特提斯构造域向太平洋构造域的转换过程与机制

南海北部陆缘位于大华南地块洋陆过渡带南段的关键核心段落,曾处于特提斯洋构造域与（古）太平洋构造域交接地带,是印度洋构造动力系统与太平洋构造动力系统波及的共同地区。然而,以往研究和勘探程度较低,特提斯构造域与太平洋构造域交接转换区域的大地构造背景、过程、机制始终不够明确。基于南海北部陆缘地震剖面,不仅关注该区新生代盆地结构构造,以服务该区油气精准勘探,并且试图以此解剖、揭示该区中生代基底结构特征,进而探索新生代南海海盆打开、扩张、停滞到消亡过程的前生今世。对珠江口盆地地震剖面解析和华南陆缘野外构造研究表明:华南地块洋陆过渡带先后经历了中生代印支期碰撞造山、燕山早期增生造山、燕山晚期压扭造山三个过程;随后进入新生代,又经历了早期北东东—南西西走向正断层主控下的弥散性裂解成盆、中期北东—北北东走向张扭断裂主控下的右行走滑拉分成盆、晚期北西—北西西向张扭断裂主控下的左行走滑拉分成盆三期伸展构造叠加。总体上,该区特提斯洋构造体系向太平洋构造体系的转换过程经历了四个阶段:古特提斯洋构造体系向新特提斯洋构造体系转换、新特提斯洋构造体系向古太平洋构造体系转换、新特提斯洋构造体系向太平洋构造体系转换及古太平洋构造体系向太平洋构造体系的转换。东亚洋陆过渡带的构造转换折射出地球深浅部动力系统驱动“东亚大汇聚”的长期机制,即东南亚环形俯冲驱动体系、太平洋LLSVP和非洲LLSVP的深部动力系统（统称为海底“三极”）的重要性,其中,东南亚环形俯冲驱动体系是地球板块运动的重要动力引擎之一。      

Relating rapid plate-motion variations to plate-boundary forces in global coupled models of the mantle/lithosphere system: Effects of topography and friction

Recent high-resolution models of past plate motions and their comparison with plate motion models inferred from space geodetic techniques reveal a number of short-term variations in global plate velocities over the past 10 Myrs. Such variations serve as powerful probe into the nature and magnitude of plate boundary forces, because they are unlikely to originate from changes in mantle buoyancy forces, which evolve on longer time scales. Here we explore the constraints of the velocity record using a novel coupled modeling-approach of global neo-tectonic simulations combined with realistic plate driving forces obtained from mantle circulation models (MCMs) to arrive at simple global budgets of mantle, lithosphere and plate boundary forces. We focus on three plate boundary systems along the Nazca/South America plate margin, the Aleutian trench and the India/Australia plate boundary to show that gravitational spreading from high topography in the Andes and Tibet contributes substantially to the global plate tectonic force balance and that this contribution is sufficient to explain some 35% of recent velocity changes over the Earth's surface, including among others the observed 30% convergence reduction between the Nazca/South America plates. Our models make a number of specific predictions such as significant lateral variations in plate coupling forces along a given margin revealed by trench-parallel gravity and bathymetry anomalies and the occurrence of large earthquakes, as well as differences by as much as a factor of five from margin to margin. They also support the notion of a relatively young plate boundary separating the India and Australia plates, which has been previously suggested based on independent observations. Importantly, we find that the modeled Nazca/South America convergence reduction explains recent spreading-rate variations in the South Atlantic and South Pacific, which points to the importance of far field effects on the adjacent continents in explaining the spreading record of oceanic basins. Our numerical results demonstrate (a) that detailed budgets of forces acting upon plates can be obtained and (b) support the notion of strong forcing along weak plate boundaries.     

Continental- Margin Structure of Northeast China and Its Adjacent Areas

The continental margin of Northeast China and its adjacent areas is composed of two tectonic belts. The inner belt is a collage made up of fragments resulting from breakup of an old land with the north part related to the evolution of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and the south part to the evolution of the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean. The outer belt is a Mesozoic terrane, which is a melange made up of fragments of the Late Palaeozoic to Early Mesozoic oceanic crust and the Late M esozoic trench accumulations.There existed another ocean-the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean during the period from the closing of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean to the opening of the modern Pacific Ocean or from the Devonian to Jurassic, and the ocean-floor spreading of the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean led to the formation of the above-mentioned tectonic belts. The development of the strike-slip fault system after the Late Jurassic and the formation of an epicontinental volcano -plutonic rock belt in the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary are attributed to the i     

山系的形成与板块构造碰撞无关

本文根据对中国重要蛇绿岩带的观察,并参考大量国内外文献,对板块构造学说的造山模式提出了否定意见,认为古老山系和现代山系的形成都与板块构造碰撞无关,并提出大陆内部山系形成与盆地形成研究的必要性。     

Microthermometric and O‐ and H‐isotope characteristics of the mineralizing fluid in the Akgüney copper–lead–zinc deposit,NE Turkey

We use updated rotations within the Pacific-Antarctica-Africa-North America plate circuit to calculate Pacific-North America plate reconstructions for times since chron 13 (33 Ma). The direction of motion of the Pacific plate relative to stable North America was fairly steady between chrons 13 and 4, and then changed and moved in a more northerly direction from chron 4 to the present (8 Ma to the present). No Pliocene changes in Pacific-North America plate motion are resolvable in these data, suggesting that Pliocene changes in deformation style along the boundary were not driven by changes in plate motion. However, the chron 4 change in Pacific-North America plate motion appears to correlate very closely to a change in direction of extension documented between the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado Plateau. Our best solution for the displacement with respect to stable North America of a point on the Pacific plate that is now near the Mendocino triple junction is that from 30 to 12 Ma the point was displaced along an azimuth of ～N60°W at rate of ～33 mm/yr; from 12 Ma to about 8 Ma the azimuth of displacement was about the same as previously, but the rate was faster (～52 mm/yr); and since 8 Ma the point was displaced along an azimuth of N37°W at a rate of ～52 mm/yr.

We compare plate-circuit reconstructions of the edge of the Pacific plate to continental deformation reconstructions of North American tectonic elements across the Basin and Range province and elsewhere in order to evaluate the relationship of this deformation to the plate motions. The oceanic displacements correspond remarkably well to the continental reconstructions where deformations of the latter have been quantified along a path across the Colorado Plateau and central California. They also supply strong constraints for the deformation budgets of regions to the north and south, in Cascadia and northern Mexico, respectively.

We examine slab-window formation and evolution in a detailed re-analysis of the spreading geometry of the post-Farallon microplates, from 28 to 19 Ma. Development of the slab window seems linked to early Miocene volcanism and deformation in the Mojave Desert, although detailed correlations await clarification of early Miocene reconstructions of the Tehachapi Mountains. We then trace the post-20 Ma motion of the Mendocino slab window edge beneath the Sierran-Great Valley block and find that it drifted steadily north, then stalled just north of Sutter Buttes at ～4 Ma.