Three-dimensional mantle lithosphere deformation at collisional plate boundaries: A subduction scissor across the South Island of New Zealand

The continental plate collision across the South Island of New Zealand is highly oblique (dextral) and bounded by oppositely verging ocean plate subduction zones. As such, the region can be considered as a type of ‘subduction scissor’. Within this tectonic context, we use three-dimensional computational geodynamic models to consider how convergent mantle lithosphere can be modified by scissor and strike–slip effects. Bounding subduction at both ends of the continental collision causes flow of the descending mantle lithosphere in the direction along strike of the model plate boundary, with thinning in the centre and thickening towards the subduction zones that bifurcates the continental mantle lithosphere root. With dipping bounding subduction, the mantle lithosphere root takes on a more complex morphology that folds over from one subduction polarity to the other, but remains as a continuous feature as it folds under the collision zone. In the absence of bounding subduction, the plate convergence causes a linear (along strike) mantle lithosphere root to develop. A rapid strike–slip motion between the converging plates transfers material in the plate boundary-parallel direction and tends to blur out features that develop in this direction—such as descending viscous instabilities. The along-strike variations in the morphology of the mantle lithosphere root that develop in the models—viz., thickening of the root towards the subduction edges, thinning in the centre—are consistent with recent, albeit poorly constrained, geophysical interpretations of the large-scale lithospheric structure of the South Island. We speculate that this reflects the nature of the evolution of the South Island collision as a limited continental segment of the plate boundary that it is dominated and guided by adjacent well-developed/developing ocean plate subduction.     

中国东部海域及邻区岩石层地幔的P波速度结构与构造分析

利用中国大陆东部及台湾地区、日本和琉球群岛的地震观测数据,通过体波地震层析技术反演了中国东部海域及其邻近地区的P波速度结构.以此为依据分析了不同地区的岩石层性质和深部动力学条件,探讨了中朝与扬子块体、扬子与华夏块体在海区的深部边界及其构造属性,揭示出菲律宾海板块与欧亚大陆的碰撞以及板片俯冲下沉、弧后扩张作用对中国东部海域岩石层结构的影响.结果表明,中国东部海域的岩石层地幔存在明显的横向非均匀性,它们与区域构造的形成演化有一定的联系.中国大陆东部的五莲－青岛断裂与朝鲜半岛西缘断裂、济州岛南缘断裂共同构成中朝和扬子块体的边界,江绍断裂向东延伸至朝鲜半岛南端成为分隔扬子和华夏块体的边界;东海陆架与冲绳海槽的岩石层结构差异明显,东海陆架具有中国东部地区的岩石层特征,属于欧亚大陆向海域的延伸;冲绳海槽的岩石层强烈减薄,为大陆向大洋过渡的区域;沿着日本－琉球－台湾俯冲带,菲律宾海板块俯冲下沉引起的地幔扰动对中国东部海域产生了较大的影响,欧亚大陆与菲律宾海板块之间的相互碰撞导致台湾地区岩石层明显增厚.     

印度-欧亚碰撞与洋—陆碰撞的差异

观测的证据充分表明,印度——欧亚的缝合带雅鲁藏布江上存在自南向北的地壳俯冲带,它穿过莫霍面,深度大约达到100 km. 喜马拉雅中可能存在多重的地壳俯冲. 它们有别于海洋碰撞时所产生的整个岩石圈俯冲. 作者观测到雅鲁藏布江以北上地幔的板片构造,它可以解释为印度向欧亚俯冲时上地幔岩石圈的痕迹. 它们说明与洋——陆的俯冲不同,印度向欧亚俯冲时,地壳与上地幔岩石圈出现拆层现象. 综合现有的地壳上地幔构造,显示在不同地质年代中,印度与欧亚之间产生自南向北以及自北向南相反方向的俯冲,而且俯冲带周围出现某些速度异常区.      

An Evaluation of Proposed Mechanisms of Slab Flattening in Central Mexico

Central Mexico is the site of an enigmatic zone of flat subduction. The general geometry of the subducting slab has been known for some time and is characterized by a horizontal zone bounded on either side by two moderately dipping sections. We systematically evaluate proposed hypotheses for shallow subduction in Mexico based on the spatial and temporal evidence, and we find no simple or obvious explanation for the shallow subduction in Mexico. We are unable to locate an oceanic lithosphere impactor, or the conjugate of an impactor, that is most often called upon to explain shallow subduction zones as in South America, Japan, and Laramide deformation in the US. The only bathymetric feature that is of the right age and in the correct position on the conjugate plate is a set of unnamed seamounts that are too small to have a significant effect on the buoyancy of the slab. The only candidate that we cannot dismiss is a change in the dynamics of subduction through a change in wedge viscosity, possibly caused by water brought in by the slab.     

Subduction-zone peridotites and their records of crust-mantle interaction

Subduction is the core process of plate tectonics. The mantle wedge in subduction-zone systems represents a key tectonic unit, playing a significant role in material cycling and energy exchange between Earth's layers. This study summarizes research progresses in terms of subduction-related peridotite massifs, including supra-subduction zone(SSZ) ophiolites and mantle-wedge-type(MWT) orogenic peridotites. We also provide the relevant key scientific questions that need be solved in the future. The mantle sections of SSZ ophiolites and MWT orogenic peridotites represent the mantle fragments from oceanic and continental lithosphere in subduction zones, respectively. They are essential targets to study the crust-mantle interaction in subduction zones. The nature of this interaction is the complex chemical exchanges between the subducting slab and the mantle wedge under the major control of physical processes. The SSZ ophiolites can record melt/fluid-rock interaction, metamorphism,deformation, concentration of metallogenic elements and material exchange between crust and mantle, during the stages from the generation of oceanic lithosphere at spreading centers to the initiation, development, maturation and ending of oceanic subduction at continental margins. The MWT orogenic peridotites reveal the history of strong metamorphism and deformation during subduction, the multiple melt/fluid metasomatism(including silicatic melts, carbonatitic melts and silicate-bearing C-HO fluids/supercritical fluids), and the complex cycling of crust-mantle materials, during the subduction/collision and exhumation of continental plates. In order to further reveal the crust-mantle interaction using subduction-zone peridotites, it is necessary to utilize high-spatial-resolution and high-precision techniques to constrain the complex chemical metasomatism, metamorphism,deformation at micro scales, and to reveal their connections with spatial-temporal evolution in macro-scale tectonics.     

三维板块几何形态对大陆深俯冲动力学的制约

大陆深俯冲及超高压变质作用是大陆动力学的重要研究内容,前人进行了系统的地质、地球物理观测以及数值模拟研究.然而,自然界中大陆板块的俯冲、碰撞及造山过程大部分具有明显的沿走向的差异性,这种典型的三维特征可能很大程度上依赖于会聚大陆板块的初始几何学和运动学特征.本文采用三维高分辨率的动力学数值模拟方法,建立了方形大陆板块和楔形大陆板块两种不同的俯冲-碰撞模型,并且俯冲大陆板块侧面与大洋俯冲带相邻.数值模拟结果揭示大洋板块可以持续地俯冲到地幔之中,而大陆板块俯冲到一定深度处,其前端的俯冲板块将发生断离,并进而造成残余的大陆板块俯冲角度的减小.方形大陆俯冲板块的断离深度约为150km,而楔形大陆俯冲板块的断离深度较大,约250~300km,这很大程度上取决于俯冲带中大洋板块的牵引力和大陆板块的负浮力之间的竞争关系.同时,无论方形还是楔形大陆板块俯冲模型中,板块断离后,侧向的大洋俯冲板块仍可以拖曳约60~70km宽的大陆边缘岩石圈持续向下俯冲,揭示了新西兰东部的洋-陆空间转换俯冲带的动力学机制.并且,数值模型与喜马拉雅造山带和秦岭—大别—苏鲁造山带进行了对比,进而对其高压-超高压岩石空间展布沿走向的差异性特征和机制提供了一定的启示.     

汕头－吕宋岛岩石圈速度结构与震源构造──台湾浅滩7．3级地震构造之一

汕头－吕宋岛岩石圈速度结构剖面，划分出华南陆缘古生代陆壳、陆架区晚古生代－中生代陆壳、陆坡带中生代－早第三纪过渡壳、新生代南海海盆洋壳及吕宋岛中生代－新生代岛弧陆壳与东吕宋海槽洋壳等地壳构造组分，并确定了上述地壳构造之间的边界断裂构造及其性质。结合地震震源分布及机制，初步确定了华南陆架盆岭构造带北、南两侧地震构造的控震构造与发震构造性质及其震源力学特征；１）指出１９９４年９月１６日台湾浅滩７．３级地震属于板缘壳幔地震及造成一千公里有感范围的原因；２）马尼拉海沟的海底地堑构造与南海海盆岩石圈地幔上隆是马尼拉海沟俯冲带震源显示正断层性质的原因，且为被动的或转换俯冲带；３）东吕宋海槽仍属于菲律宾海俯冲带性质；吕宋岛东西两侧俯冲带岩石圈板片震源深度的准三层分布，可能表明俯冲带岩石圈板片存在相应的低速滑移层。     

智利三联点南部扩张洋脊俯冲区域岩石层热结构的数值模拟

智利三联点(CTJ)位于纳兹卡板块、南极洲板块与南美板块的交界处,由南极洲—纳兹卡板块之间的智利洋脊俯冲到智利海沟而形成.巴塔哥尼亚板片窗的发展是智利洋脊长期扩张俯冲的结果之一.随着纳兹卡板块的不断东向俯冲,纳兹卡板块范围逐渐变小,CTJ同时向北移动.本文采用数值模拟方法,建立了关于洋脊海沟碰撞的简单二维模型,来研究智利三联点南部扩张洋脊俯冲区域岩石层的热结构.模拟结果表明,洋脊的位置、板块相对汇聚速度及上覆大陆板块的存在均对俯冲区域海洋板块的温度结构有着很大影响,并且大陆板块下方海洋板块温度变化最大的位置距洋脊的水平距离与洋脊到板片窗范围的水平距离两者之间具有较好的一致性.同时,当存在两两板块间的相对汇聚时,洋脊右侧大陆板块下表面的温度升高,俯冲带内海洋板块温度接近于地幔温度.纳兹卡板块以7.8 cm·a~(-1)的速度急速俯冲于南美板块之下的过程中,同时伴随着智利洋脊的持续扩张俯冲,在智利三联点南部,南美板块之下纳兹卡板块的温度因而可以更快地达到地幔软流层的约1300℃温度,并最终消亡于地幔之中.     

SEASAT geoid anomalies and the Macquarie Ridge complex

The seismically active Macquarie Ridge complex forms the Pacific-India plate boundary between New Zealand and the Pacific-Antarctic spreading center. The Late Cenozoic deformation of New Zealand and focal mechanisms of recent large earthquakes in the Macquarie Ridge complex appear consistent with the current plate tectonic models. These models predict a combination of strike-slip and convergent motion in the northern Macquarie Ridge, and strike-slip motion in the southern part. The Hjort trench is the southernmost expression of the Macquarie Ridge complex. Regional considerations of the magnetic lineations imply that some oceanic crust may have been consumed at the Hjort trench. Although this arcuate trench seems inconsistent with the predicted strike-slip setting, a deep trough also occurs in the Romanche fracture zone.Geoid anomalies observed over spreading ridges, subduction zones, and fracture zones are different. Therefore, geoid anomalies may be diagnostic of plate boundary type. We use SEASAT data to examine the Macquarie Ridge complex and find that the geoid anomalies for the northern Hjort trench region are different from the geoid anomalies for the Romanche trough. The Hjort trench region is characterized by an oblique subduction zone geoid anomaly, e.g., the Aleutian-Komandorski region. Also, limited first-motion data for the large 1924 earthquake that occurred in the northern Hjort trench suggest a thrust focal mechanism. We conclude that subduction is occurring at the Hjort trench. The existence of active subduction in this area implies that young oceanic lithosphere can subduct beneath older oceanic lithosphere.     

Geodynamic model of the evolution of the Pacific Ocean

The present Pacific Ocean differs significantly in its structure and evolution from the expanding Atlantic Ocean. The Pacific is asymmetric. Its mid-ocean ridge is located not along its median line but is closer to South America and adjoins North America. The Pacific is surrounded by a ring of subduction zones but has marginal seas only at its Eurasian margins. After the breakup of Pangea, the Atlantic began to open and the Pacific began to close. This paper examines the evolution of the Pacific Ocean and, in particular, the formation mechanisms of its present structures. Numerical modeling of the long-term drift of a large continent is performed, with the initial position of the continent corresponding to the state after the breakup of the supercontinent. At first the continent, driven by the nearest descending mantle flow, begins to approach a subduction zone. Since the mantle flows beneath a large continent have different directions, its velocity is a few times lower than that of the mantle flows near the subduction zone. As a result, a zone of extension arises at the active continental margin and a fragment is broken off from the continent; this fragment rapidly moves away and stops above the descending mantle flow as in a trap. A marginal sea forms at the active continental margin. The continent continues its slow movement toward the subduction zone. The oceanic lithosphere, which earlier sank vertically, begins to descend obliquely. This evolutionary stage corresponds to the present position of Eurasia. The modeling shows how the interaction of the continent with the mantle causes the subduction zone to roll back toward the ocean. Subsequently, the continent nevertheless catches up with the subduction zone, and they move together for a while. The marginal sea then closes and high compressive stresses arise at the active continental margin. This state corresponds to the present position of South America. During the subsequent drift, the continent together with the subduction zone reaches the mid-ocean ridge and partially overrides it. This state corresponds to North America, which was the first to break off from Pangea and passed through the stages of both Eurasia and South America. The large and slowly moving Eurasia, which formed only at the time of Pangea, is still in the first evolutionary stage of the Pacific Ocean closure.     

Material transportation and fluid-melt activity in the subduction channel: Numerical modeling

The subduction channel is defined as a planar to wedge-like area of variable size,internal structure and composition,which forms between the upper and lower plates during slab subduction into the mantle.The materials in the channel may experience complex pressure,temperature,stress and strain evolution,as well as strong fluid and melt activity.A certain amount of these materials may subduct to and later exhume from100 km depth,forming high to ultra-high pressure rocks on the surface as widely discovered in nature.Rock deformation in the channel is strongly assisted by metamorphic fluids activities,which change composition and mechanical properties of rocks and thus affect their subduction and exhumation histories.In this study,we investigate the detailed structure and dynamics of both oceanic and continental subduction channels,by conducting highresolution petrological-thermomechanical numerical simulations taking into account fluid and melt activities.The numerical results demonstrate that subduction channels are composed of a tectonic rock melange formed by crustal rocks detached from the subducting slab and the hydrated mantle rocks scratched from the overriding plate.These rocks may either extrude sub-vertically upward through the mantle wedge to the crust of the upper plate,or exhume along the subduction channel to the surface near the suture zone.Based on our numerical results,we first analyze similarities and differences between oceanic and continental subduction channels.We further compare numerical models with and without fluid and melt activity and demonstrate that this activity results in strong weakening and deformation of overriding lithosphere.Finally,we show that fast convergence of orogens subjected to fluid and melt activity leads to strong deformation of the overriding lithosphere and the topography builds up mainly on the overriding plate.In contrast,slow convergence of such orogens leads to very limited deformation of the overriding lithosphere and the mountain building mainly occurs on the subducting plate.     

马尼拉俯冲带缺失中深源地震成因初探

马尼拉俯冲带是整个南海地震活动多发区,地震成因与南海的形成和构造演化关系密切.对马尼拉俯冲带地震数据和层析成像结果进行了深入分析.结果表明:马尼拉俯冲带的地震活动主要为密集的浅源地震,缺失中深源地震.进一步分析揭示:①脱水和榴辉岩的形成在南海洋壳到达软流圈前就基本停止.马尼拉俯冲带南部在较浅的深度就转变为塑性变形,并停...     

Global variability in subduction thrust zone-forearc systems

Deviations of slip vector azimuths of interplate thrust earthquakes from expected plate convergence directions at oblique subduction zones provide kinematic information about the deformation of forearcs and indirect evidence on the dynamics of the plate boundary. A global survey of slip vectors at major trenches of the world reveals a large variability in the kinematic response of forearcs to shear produced by oblique convergence. The variability in forearc deformation inferred from slip vector deflections is suggested to be caused by variations in forearc rheology rather than in the stresses acting on subduction zone thrust faults. Estimated apparent macroscopic rheologies range from elastic to perfectly plastic (or viscous). Forearc rheologies inferred from slip vectors do not correlate with age of the subducting lithosphere, but continental forearcs or old arcs appear to deform less than oceanic or young arcs. The inferred absence of forearc deformation at continental arcs from this study is counter to inferences drawn from compiled geologic information on forearc faults. Correlations of the apparent forearc rheology with backarc spreading, convergence rate, slab dip, arc curvature, and downdip length of the thrust contact are poor. However, great subduction zone earthquakes occur where forearcs are apparently more elastic (i.e., less deformed by oblique convergence), which suggests that the mechanical properties of forearcs rather than stress magnitude on thrust faults control both the kinematic behavior of forearcs and where great subduction zone earthquakes occur.     

海洋板块俯冲作用下上覆大陆岩石层减薄机制的动力学模拟

几乎所有大陆岩石层的减薄现象,可能都与海洋板块的俯冲作用相关,但是两者之间的内在联系迄今仍不十分明确,为此,我们设计了一系列包含洋-陆俯冲系统的二维数值模型,来探讨海洋板块的俯冲作用对上覆大陆岩石层变形行为的影响,尤其对大陆岩石层减薄效应的制约.模型结果表明,海洋板块俯冲过程中的地幔楔熔体对大陆岩石层地幔的热侵蚀以及由熔体上升所诱发的地幔局部对流的强烈扰动会导致上覆大陆岩石层的减薄效应.这种效应不仅表现在横向上的向陆内蔓延,还表现在垂向上的向浅部发展.且多类动力学参数都能制约大陆岩石层的减薄效应.具体地,随着汇聚速率和洋壳厚度的增加,上覆大陆岩石层在横向上的减薄范围越大,在垂向上的减薄程度也越深;而随着俯冲海洋板块年龄的增加,上覆大陆岩石层在横向上的减薄范围增大,但在垂向上的减薄程度会减小;随着上覆大陆岩石层厚度的增加,其横向减薄范围会减小,但在垂向上的减薄程度会加深.本文研究成果能为揭示华北克拉通减薄/破坏的动力学过程提供一定的理论参考依据.     

Link between SSZ ophiolite formation, emplacement and arc inception, Northland, New Zealand: U–Pb SHRIMP constraints; Cenozoic SW Pacific tectonic implications

New U–Pb age-data from zircons separated from a Northland ophiolite gabbro yield a mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 31.6 ± 0.2 Ma, providing support for a recently determined 28.3 ± 0.2 Ma SHRIMP age of an associated plagiogranite and  29–26 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages (n = 9) of basalts of the ophiolite. Elsewhere, Miocene arc-related calc-alkaline andesite dikes which intrude the ophiolitic rocks contain zircons which yield mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 20.1 ± 0.2 and 19.8 ± 0.2 Ma. The ophiolite gabbro and the andesites both contain rare inherited zircons ranging from 122–104 Ma. The Early Cretaceous zircons in the arc andesites are interpreted as xenocrysts from the Mt. Camel basement terrane through which magmas of the Northland Miocene arc lavas erupted. The inherited zircons in the ophiolite gabbros suggest that a small fraction of this basement was introduced into the suboceanic mantle by subduction and mixed with mantle melts during ophiolite formation.

We postulate that the tholeiitic suite of the ophiolite represents the crustal segment of SSZ lithosphere (SSZL) generated in the southern South Fiji Basin (SFB) at a northeast-dipping subduction zone that was initiated at about 35 Ma. The subduction zone nucleated along a pre-existing transform boundary separating circa 45–20 Ma oceanic lithosphere to the north and west of the Northland Peninsula from nascent back arc basin lithosphere of the SFB. Construction of the SSZL propagated southward along the transform boundary as the SFB continued to unzip to the southeast. After subduction of a large portion of oceanic lithosphere by about 26 Ma and collision of the SSZL with New Zealand, compression between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate was taken up along a new southwest-dipping subduction zone behind the SSZL. Renewed volcanism began in the oceanic forearc at 25 Ma producing boninitic-like, SSZ and within-plate alkalic and calc-alkaline rocks. Rocks of these types temporally overlap ophiolite emplacement and subsequent Miocene continental arc construction.     

Subduction-channel model of prism accretion,melange formation,sediment subduction,and subduction erosion at convergent plate margins: 1. Background and description

Many geological and geophysical investigations, particularly the Deep Sea Drilling Project, have shown that convergent plate margins are highly diverse features. For example, at some sites of subduction, such as the Lesser Antilles, the bedded sediment atop the incoming oceanic plate is extensively offscraped, whereas at others, such as Mariana, not only is the incoming sediment completely subducted beneath crystalline rock but portions of the overriding plate are undergoing subduction erosion. Earthquakes indicate wide variations in stress distribution within and between sites of plate convergence. Many ancient accretionary complexes include tracts of intensely-deformed subduction melange that contain blocks of mafic greenstones. Some contain bodies of thoroughly recrystallized blueschist that were uplifted from depths of 20 to 30 km. A comprehensive model for convergent plate margins must explain these and numerous other observations. Although the still widely cited imbricatethrust model for prism accretion qualitatively explains some observations at subduction zones, it does not account for many others, such as deep sediment subduction and subduction erosion. The subduction-channel model postulates essentially the same basic mechanics for all convergent plate margins that have attained a quasi-steady state (typically reached after about 20 Ma of subduction at speeds of 10 to 20 km Ma^?1). It assumes that the subducting sediment deforms approximately as a viscous material once it is dragged into a relatively thin shear zone, or subduction channel, between the downgoing plate and the overriding one. It predicts the overall movement patterns of the sediment deforming within the channel and near its inlet, accounts for most of the observed features at convergent plate margins, and quantifies the processes of sediment subduction, offscraping, and underplating, and the formation of subduction melange. The predicted variations in tectonic behavior depend upon such site-specific variables as the speed of subduction, the supply of sediment, the geometry of the descending plate, and the topography and structure of the overriding block.     

Subduction of continental margins and the uplift of high-pressure metamorphic rocks

The mechanism by which high-pressure metamorphosed continental material is emplaced at high structural levels is a major unsolved problem of collisional orogenesis. We suggest that the emplacement results from partial subduction of the continental margin which, because of its high flexural rigidity, produces a rapid change in the trajectory of the descending slab. We assume a two-fold increase in effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere as the continental margin approaches the subduction zone, and calculate the flexural profile of a thin plate for progressive downward migration of the zone of increased rigidity. We assess the effect of changes in the flexural profile on the overlying accretionary prism and mantle wedge as the continent approaches by estimating the extra stresses that are imposed on the wedge due to the bending moment exerted by the continental part of the plate. The wedges overlying the subduction zones, and the subducting slab itself, experience substantial extra compressional stress at depths of around 100 km, and extensional stress at shallower depths, as the continental margin passes through the zone of maximum curvature. The magnitudes of such extra stresses are probably adequate to effect significant deformation of the wedge and/or the descending plate, and are experienced in a time interval of less than 5 m.y. for typical subduction rates. The spatial variation of yield stresses in the region of the wedge and descending slab indicates that much of this deformation may be taken up in the crustal part of the descending slab, which is the weakest region in the deeper parts of the subduction zone. This may result in rapid upward migration of the crust of the partially subducted continental margin, against the flow of subduction. High-pressure metamorphosed terranes emplaced by the mechanism envisaged in this paper would be bounded by thrust faults below and normal faults above. Movement on the faults would have been coeval, and would have resulted in rapid unroofing of the high-pressure terranes, synchronous with arrival of the continental margin at the subduction zone and, therefore, relatively early in the history of a collisional orogen.     

India-Eurasian collision <Emphasis Type="Italic">vs.</Emphasis> ocean-continent collision

Ample observational evidence shows that there is a northward crustal subduction zone underneath the Yarlung Zangbo suture between India and Eurasia. It penetrates Moho to a depth of about 100 km. There are probably multiple such crustal subductions under the Himalayas. They are different from lithosphere subduction during oceanic collisions. The detected slabs in the upper mantle north of the Yarlung Zangbo suture can be interpreted as remains of the Indian Plate’s mantle lithosphere. In contrary to ocean-continent subduction, the mantle lithosphere is delaminated from the crust as the Indian Plate subducts underneath Eurasia. Existing structural images of the crust and upper mantle of the Tibetan Plateau reveal that there were both northward and southward subductions over different geological periods, causing some seismic velocity anomalies around those subduction zones.     

Collision, subduction and accretion events in the Philippines: A synthesis

Abstract The Philippines preserves evidence of the superimposition of tectonic processes in ancient and present‐day collision and subduction zone complexes. The Baguio District in northern Luzon, the Palawan–Central Philippine region and the Mati–Pujada area in southeastern Mindanao resulted from events related to subduction polarity reversal leading to trench initiation, continent‐arc collision and autochthonous oceanic lithosphere emplacement, respectively. Geological data on the Baguio District in Northern Luzon reveal an Early Miocene trench initiation for the east‐dipping Manila Trench. This followed the Late Oligocene cessation of subduction along the west‐dipping proto‐East Luzon Trough. The Manila Trench initiation, which is modeled as a consequence of the counter‐clockwise rotation of Luzon, is attributed to the collision of the Palawan microcontinental block with the Philippine Mobile Belt. In the course of rotation, Luzon onramped the South China Sea crust, effectively converting the shear zone that bounded them into a subduction zone. Several collision‐related accretionary complexes (e.g. Romblon, Mindoro) are present in the Palawan–Central Philippine region. The easternmost collision zone boundary is located east of the Romblon group of islands. The Early Miocene southwestward shift of the collision boundary from Romblon to Mindoro started to end by the Pliocene. Continuous interaction between the Palawan microcontinental block and the Philippine Mobile Belt is presently taken up again along the collisional boundary east of the Romblon group of islands. The Mati–Pujada Peninsula area, on the other hand, is underlain by the Upper Cretaceous Pujada Ophiolite. This supra‐subduction zone ophiolite is capped by chert and pelagic limestones which suggests its derivation from a relatively deep marginal basin. The Pujada Ophiolite could be a part of a proto‐Molucca Sea plate. The re‐interpretation of the geology and tectonic settings of the three areas reaffirm the complex geodynamic evolution of the Philippine archipelago and addresses some of its perceived geological enigmas.     

Interarc spreading and Cordilleran tectonics as alternates related to the age of subducted oceanic lithosphere

Old, cold oceanic lithosphere is denser and therefore gravitationally more unstable than younger, hotter oceanic lithosphere. Hence, whereas old lithosphere will sink under its own weight, subduction of young lithosphere may require an additional force. Interarc spreading occurs or occurred recently in the western Pacific, in the southern Atlantic, and possibly in the Mediterranean, where the subducted sea floor appears to be more than 50 m.y. old, and in many cases, is more than 100 m.y. old. In most of these regions, the ease with which the old dense lithosphere sinks may have contributed to a seaward migration of the trenches, which led to interarc spreading. Cordilleran tectonics, including high mountains and broad zones of deformation, are present on the margins of the eastern Pacific where the subducted oceanic lithosphere is younger than about 50 m.y. An extra force, which we presume to be necessary to cause subduction of the young lithosphere, may be responsible for the deformation and mountains just as an extra force seems necessary to drive continental collision in Asia. The extensive early Tertiary deformation across a broad zone of western North America may be related to the long-term, continuous subduction of young lithosphere of the Farallon and Kula plates.