New Somali Basin magnetic anomalies and a plate model for the early Indian Ocean

The oldest portions of the Indian Ocean formed via the breakup of Gondwana and the subsequent fragmentation of East Gondwana. We present a constrained plate model for this early Indian Ocean development for the time period from Gondwana Breakup until the start of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron. The motions of the East Gondwana terranes are determined using new geophysical observations in the Somali Basin and existing geophysical interpretations from other coeval Indian Ocean basins. Within the Somali Basin, recent satellite gravity data clearly resolve traces of an east–west trending extinct spreading ridge and north–south oriented fracture zones. A thorough compilation of Somali Basin ship track magnetic data allows us to interpret magnetic anomalies M24Bn through M0r about this extinct ridge. Our magnetic interpretations from the Somali Basin are similar in age, spreading rate, and spreading directions to magnetic anomalies previously interpreted in the neighboring Mozambique Basin and Riiser Larsen Sea. The similarity between the two magnetic anomaly datasets allows us to match both basin's older magnetic anomaly picks by defining a pole of rotation for a single and cohesive East Gondwana plate. However, following magnetic anomaly M15n, we find it is no longer possible to match magnetic picks from both basins and maintain plausible plate motions. In order to match the post-M15n geophysical data we are forced to model the motions of Madagascar/India and East Antarctica/Australia as independent plates. The requirement to utilize two independent plates after anomaly M15n provides strong circumstantial evidence that suggests East Gondwana breakup began around 135 Ma.     

Deformation of oceanic lithosphere near slow-spreading ridge discontinuities

Transform and non-transform discontinuities that offset slow spreading mid-ocean ridges involve complex thermal and mechanical interactions. The truncation of the ridge axis influences the dynamics of spreading and accretion over a certain distance from the segment-end. Likewise, the spreading system is expected to influence the lithospheric plate adjacent to the ridge-end opposite of the discontinuity. Tectonic effects of the truncated ridge are noticeable in for example the contrast between seafloor topography at inside corners and outside corners, along-axis variations in rift valley depth, style of crustal accretion, and ridge segment retreat and lengthening. Along such slow-spreading discontinuities and their fossil traces, oceanic core complexes or mega-mullion structures are rather common extensional tectonic features. In an attempt to understand deformation of oceanic lithosphere near ridge offsets, the evolution of discontinuities, and conditions that may favor oceanic core complex formation, a three-dimensional thermo-mechanical model has been developed. The numerical approach allows for a more complete assessment of lithosphere deformation and associated stress fields in inside corners than was possible in previous 3-D models. The initial suite of results reported here focuses on deformation when axial properties do not vary along-strike or with time, showing the extent to which plate boundary geometry alone can influence deformation. We find that non-transform discontinuities are represented by a wide, oblique deformation zone that tends to change orientation with time to become more parallel to the ridge segments. This contrasts with predicted deformation near transform discontinuities, where initial orientation is maintained in time. The boundary between the plates is found to be vertical in the center of the offset and curved at depth in the inside corners near the ridge–transform intersection. Ridge–normal tensile stresses concentrate in line with the ridge tip, extending onto the older plate across the discontinuity, and high stress amplitudes are absent in the inside corners during the magmatic accretionary phase simulated by our models. With the tested rheology and boundary conditions, inside corner formation of oceanic core complexes is predicted to be unlikely during magmatic spreading phases. Additional modeling studies are needed for a full understanding of extensional stress release in relatively young oceanic lithosphere.     

East Asia plate tectonics since 15 Ma: constraints from the Taiwan region

15 Ma ago, a major plate reorganization occurred in East Asia. Seafloor spreading ceased in the South China Sea, Japan Sea, Taiwan Sea, Sulu Sea, and Shikoku and Parece Vela basins. Simultaneously, shear motions also ceased along the Taiwan–Sinzi zone, the Gagua ridge and the Luzon–Ryukyu transform plate boundary. The complex system of thirteen plates suddenly evolved in a simple three-plate system (EU, PH and PA). Beneath the Manila accretionary prism and in the Huatung basin, we have determined magnetic lineation patterns as well as spreading rates deduced from the identification of magnetic lineations. These two patterns are rotated by 15°. They were formed by seafloor spreading before 15 Ma and belonged to the same ocean named the Taiwan Sea. Half-spreading rate in the Taiwan Sea was 2 cm/year from chron 23 to 20 (51 to 43 Ma) and 1 cm/year from chron 20 (43 Ma) to 5b (15 Ma). Five-plate kinematic reconstructions spanning from 15 Ma to Present show implications concerning the geodynamic evolution of East Asia. Amongst them, the 1000-km-long linear Gagua ridge was a major plate boundary which accommodated the northwestward shear motion of the PH Sea plate; the formation of Taiwan was driven by two simple lithospheric motions: (i) the subduction of the PH Sea plate beneath Eurasia with a relative westward motion of the western end (A) of the Ryukyu subduction zone; (ii) the subduction of Eurasia beneath the Philippine Sea plate with a relative southwestward motion of the northern end (B) of the Manila subduction zone. The Luzon arc only formed south of B. The collision of the Luzon arc with Eurasia occurred between A and B. East of A, the Luzon arc probably accreted against the Ryukyu forearc.     

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     

The evolution of marginal basins and adjacent shelves in east and southeast Asia

The structural elements on the shallow (Sunda Shelf) and deep seas of east and south—east Asia are interpreted as the result of past interaction between lithospheric plates. During the Mesozoic the western Pacific Ocean and the eastern Indian Ocean were parts of the Tethys Sea and were moving to the north relative to Antarctica. A Mesozoic ridge system trending east—west produced east—west trending magnetic anomalies throughout the entire area. The ridge system was bisected by large north—south transform faults which divided the eastern Indian Ocean—western Pacific Ocean into sub-plates traveling at different speeds. The Mesozoic evolution of the Sunda Shelf and the deep seas resulted from such horizontal differential movement in a north—south direction. During Late Cretaceous—Eocene the various segments of the spreading ridge gradually submerged beneath the deep sea trenches to the north, causing a gradual change in the direction of motion of the Pacific plate. The change in motion of the Pacific plate resulted in the separation between the Pacific and the eastern Indian Ocean plates, the formation of large northeast—southwest tectonic elements on the Sunda Shelf and elsewhere in south—east Asia, the formation of the western Philippine Basin and the rapid northward motion of Australia. The only remnant of the Mesozoic ridge system exists today at the western Philippine Basin.     

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.     

Seafloor magnetic lineation off the Otway/West Tasmania Basins: ridge jumps and the subsidence history of the southeast Australian margins

The seafloor off the Otway/West Tasmanian Basins has an east‐west magnetic lineation attributable to seafloor spreading and notionally identified with the set of seafloor spreading anomalies A8‐A20. Anomaly A20 (45 Ma) lies immediately south of a magnetic quiet zone that extends northward past the continent‐ocean boundary (COB). The Southeast Indian Ocean has a constant angular width between the formerly conjugate margins of Australia and Antarctica, consistent with spreading that started along the entire margin about 96 Ma.The proximity of A20 to the Australian COB in some spreading ridge segments is therefore postulated as due to jumps of the spreading ridge to Australia with concomitant transfer of the older oceanic part of the Australian Plate to the Antarctic Plate. Accordingly, the age of the oldest seafloor at the COB in seven original ridge segments is estimated to step from about 96 to 82, 79, and 75 Ma. Break‐up marks a change in the subsidence of the margin from rapid, during rifting by continental extension, to slow during thermal subsidence of the seafloor. Subsequent ridge jumps to the COB are expected to cause uplift or at least still‐stand of the adjacent continental margin. The subsidence history of the Otway/West Tasmanian margin, as indicated by oil exploration wells, is sympathetic with the timing of the postulated ridge jumps in the adjacent seafloor, as is that of the Great Australian Bight Basin with adjacent seafloor to the west, and of the Bass and Gippsland Basins with the Tasman Sea adjacent to the east. The growth of structure at 80 Ma in the outer Gippsland Basin corresponds with a jump to Australia of the Tasman Sea ridge at 82 and 75 Ma, and at 65 Ma in the Great Australian Bight and Otway Basins to a ridge jump to Australia of the adjacent seafloor. The growth of structure at 60 Ma in the Bass Basin and at 55 Ma in the Gippsland Basin corresponds with the abandonment of the Tasman Sea ridge at A24 (55 Ma) during a re‐organization of spreading in the southwest Pacific.     

微板块构造理论：全球洋内与陆缘微地块研究的启示（附对该文的审稿意见）

任何板块都存在一个由小长大的过程。微地块(微板块)有时是大板块的前身,微地块的起源、生长、夭折、消亡和残留过程对研究板块构造具有重要意义。据其组成,微地块可划分为微陆块、微洋块、微幔块。本文以太平洋、印度洋和大西洋中的微地块为例,系统总结了洋脊增生系统、俯冲消减系统、深海板内系统、伸展裂解系统、碰撞造山系统5种构造环境下的微地块特征,并据此首次进行了成因分类,提出拆离微地块、裂生微地块、转换微地块、延生微地块、跃生微地块、残生微地块、增生微地块、碰生微地块和拆沉微幔块9种类型。对不同类型微地块边界进行了系统界定,并对其成因进行了系统讨论。这些微地块边界类型,包括活动的或死亡的拆离断层、俯冲带、洋中脊、转换断层、破碎带、切割岩石圈的断裂、假断层、洋内汇聚带、叠接扩张中心、非叠接扩张中心、洋脊断错等,其成因的关键研究在于对三节点稳定性进行分析。洋内或洋缘微地块研究,不仅为开展深海大洋精细化构造分析和板块重建工作提供参考,而且对解释大陆内部一些微地块成因具有启发性,可丰富大陆造山带、陆内、板内、幔内和陆缘构造的研究内容,使得造山带演化、板内变形和地幔过程研究更为精细化,甚至推广到早前寒武纪的前板块构造机制研究。     

Recent tectonics in the northern part of the Knipovich Ridge,Atlantic ocean

The walls of the Knipovich Ridge are complicated by normal and reverse faults revealed by a high-frequency profilograph. The map of their spatial distribution shows that the faults are grouped into domains a few tens of kilometers in size and are a result of superposition of several inequivalent geodynamic factors: the shear zone oriented parallel to the Hornsunn Fault and superposed on the typical dynamics of the midocean ridge with offsets along transform fracture zones and rifting along short segments of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). According to the anomalous magnetic field, the Knipovich Ridge as a segment of the MAR has formed since the Oligocene including several segments with normal direction of spreading separated by a multitransform system of fracture zones. In the Quaternary, the boundary of plate interaction along the tension crack has been straightened to form the contemporary Knipovich Ridge, which crosses the previously existing magmatic spreading substrate and sedimentary cover at an angle of about 45° relative to the direction of accretion. The sedimentary cover along the walls of the Knipovich is Paleogene in age and has subsided into the rift valley to a depth of 500–1000 m along the normal faults.     

Instantaneous velocity of mid-ocean ridges

Intuition suggests that all points on the same mid-ocean ridge should rotate around the relative pole of the two-plate system at the same instantaneous angular velocity. Contrary to intuition, the instantaneous angular velocity of a ridge varies from one point to another along the ridge, given the general case in which two plates move around different plate-specific poles of rotation. The variation in the instantaneous angular velocity of a ridge is a function of the motion characteristics of the plates and the position of the ridge relative to the poles of plate motion. The length or orientation of individual ridge segments is predicted to vary over time, leading to local changes in the shape of the ridge. The gradient in instantaneous angular velocity for the fast-spreading East Pacific Ridge, between the Cocos and Pacific plates, is an order of magnitude greater than the gradient along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between the North American and African plates. This great contrast in ridge instantaneous velocity gradients may be reflected in the contrasting ridge geometries of the East Pacific and Mid-Atlantic Ridges.     

Vertical tectonic movements of the crust in transform fracture zones of the Central Atlantic

The most significant vertical movements of the oceanic crust in the Central Atlantic are characteristic of transverse ridges confined to transform fracture zones. These movements are also recorded in some local depressions of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and in older structures of deep-sea basins. The amplitude of such movements substantially exceeds that related to the cooling of lithospheric plates. Vertical movements can be driven by various factors: the thermal effect of a heated young MAR segment upon a cold plate, thermal stress, thermal energy released by friction in the course of displacement of fault walls relative to each other, serpentinization of the upper mantle rocks in the transform fault zone, and lateral compression and extension. The alternation of compression and extension that arises because of the nonparallel boundaries of the transform fracture zone and the unstable configuration of the rift/fracture zone junction was the main factor responsible for the formation of the transverse ridge in the Romanche Fracture Zone. The most probable cause of the vertical rise of the southern transverse ridge in the Vema Fracture Zone is the change in the spreading direction. In general, the fracture zones with active segments more than 100 km long are characterized by extension and compression oriented perpendicularly to the main displacement and related to slight changes in the spreading configuration. It is impossible to single out ambiguously the causes of vertical movements in particular structural features. In most cases, the vertical movements are controlled by several factors, while the main role belongs to the lateral compressive and tensile stresses that appear owing to changes in the movement of lithospheric blocks in the course of MAR spreading.     

Density section of the Earth’s crust in the Deryugin Basin (Sea of Okhotsk): Gravity modeling results

A geological density section of the Deryugin Basin (western part of the Sea of Okhotsk) was studied along the profile Sakhalin Island-Deryugin Basin-Central Okhotsk Rise. The investigations were conducted by the method of gravity modeling, which allowed us to trace the density variations of the Earth’s crust layers along the lateral. The horizontal density stratification of the Earth’s crust layers was found, which assumes a stratified-block model of its structure. The established density structure of the Earth’s crust showed that the Deryugin Basin is located in the junction zone between the Sakhalin-Hokkaido microplate and the Okhotsk Sea Plate separated by a structural suture. The western and eastern edges of the basin belong to the aforementioned plates, respectively. It was assumed that accumulations of various mineral associations are confined to the suture zone, while the “granite” layer (basement) of the Deryugin trough walls in the western edge of the Deryugin Basin presumably contains secondary reservoirs of hydrocarbons.     

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.     

The opening of the Woodlark Basin, subduction of the Woodlark spreading system, and the evolution of Northern Melanesia since mid-pliocene time

Magnetic anomaly and seismological data define segments of active seafloor spreading and associated magnetic lineations trending ENE in the Woodlark Basin. The total opening rate has been approximately 6 cm/yr for the last 1 m.y. Spreading rates diminish by over 10% from east to west along the Woodlark spreading system implying a pole of current opening 15°–20° to the west. Commencement of seafloor spreading in the basin has apparently been time-transgressive, beginning prior to 3.5 m.y. in the east, and at successively later times to the west. Earthquake focal mechanisms and geological evidence suggest that the land areas bounding the western end of the Woodlark Basin are undergoing tensional deformation. We believe that eventually the Woodlark Basin plate boundary will propagate westward through the d'Entrecasteaux Islands into the Papuan peninsula. Hitherto unreported shallow seismicity associated with the northern margin of the NE-trending section of the Woodlark Rise probably reflects partial decoupling of the Woodlark and Solomon basins, possibly due to mechanical difficulties in subducting the young Woodlark lithosphere.Analysis of the relative motions between the Solomon, Indo-Australian, and Pacific plates shows that the Woodlark spreading system has been subducted at high rates (> 10 cm/yr) beneath the Solomon Islands during the opening of the Woodlark Basin. Several tectonic and geological features limited to the region of interaction of the Woodlark Basin with the Solomon Trench and arc may be symptomatic of ridge subduction. These features include high heat flow in the Solomon Trench, which shoals to 4 km; low levels of seismicity and only shallow hypocenters; and voluminous eruptions of high olivine basalts and basaltic andesites extremely close to the trench axis. This close association in space and time of an unusual volcanic suite with ridge subduction implies a strong dependence of the petrogenesis on the tectonic regime.A combination of this study of the Woodlark Basin and the previous study of the Bismarck Basin (Taylor, 1979) provides a reconstruction of the positions of the continents, ocean basins, and island chains in northern Melanesia for mid-Pliocene time. In accepting the existence of a Solomon plate, we can explain the trench-like structure off the Trobriand margin of New Guinea, the occurrence of Late Cenozoic calc-alkaline volcanism along the Papuan peninsula, and the presence of intermediate depth seismicity beneath the north Papuan peninsula. The rapid changes in relative motions along or across the New Ireland-Solomons chain over the past 3.5 m.y. may explain the spatial and temporal changes in igneous activity observed on these islands.     

Plate margin transition from oceanic arc-trench to continental system: The Kermadec-New Zealand example

The East Coast Fold Belt (ECFB) of the North Island, New Zealand, is the continuation of the Tonga-Kermadec arc-trench system. Structurally its tectonic front to the east defines the Indian-Pacific plate boundary. This, however, is not continuous with the Kermadec Trench. Large-scale fragmentation of the ECFB into segments of greatly varying width, strike and structure may be caused by a strongly segmented subducting plate, individual segments of which strike in different directions and have different dips and rates of subduction. Towards the southwest, regional change of strike with respect to plate motion has resulted in the formation of a broad shear zone marked by a strongly subsiding trough filled with rapidly deposited, largely undeformed sediments in front of the ECFB. This foredeep (Hikurangi Trough), which thus occupies the gap between ECFB (Indian plate) and the continental Chatham Rise (Pacific plate) is gradually being involved in the overall deformation, due to continuing motion of the Pacific plate to the southwest, in a slightly oblique sense along the shear zone. As a result, the Hikurangi Trough is shifting with time to the east-northeast. From a tectonic, structural and morphological point of view, it is unrelated to the Kermadec Trench which terminates in the region of East Cape.The structure of the ECFB is characterized mainly by extension normal to the plate boundary, with regional tilting and down-faulting of the continental margin. Effects of compression are observed only locally, and are often due to diapiric uplifts caused by widespread, undercompacted shale. Such diapirs form elongate structural highs which in many cases have supplied sediments into adjacent basins on their landward side. Overall the continental slope and margin are underlain by land-derived sediments which exhibit in-place deformation. Locally they extend as undeformed sediment aprons beyond the tectonicfront. There is no compelling evidence of a subduction complex of imbricate thrust slices. It is concluded that the tectonic evolution is not controlled by accretion but rather by subsidence and tectonic erosion along the continental margin. The conditions are complicated, however, because of the discrete change from an oceanic arc-trench subduction system to an intercontinental shear zone.     

Plate motion on Europa and nonrigid behavior of the Icy lithosphere: The Castalia Macula region

We have developed a generalized quantitative technique for determining the finite pole of rotation between two rigid plates and use it to critically examine differing reconstructions of a region surrounding a prominent dark spot on Europa, Castalia Macula. This region is located near the equator of Europa's trailing hemisphere and has been suggested as a site where crustal convergence may have occurred. Previous reconstructions of the region have indicated that a ridge set and/or a band-like complex that define a collection of tectonic plates in the region accommodated surface contraction. However, a critical examination of the differences between these reconstructions has been complicated by the lack of a finite pole of rotation for the plates involved in either reconstruction. We have applied our modeling technique, coupled with a detailed examination of the morphology and cross-cutting relationships involving this ridge set and band-like complex, to determine if a unique reconstruction exists for several tectonic plates in this region. The cross-cutting relationships involving the ridge set also allow us to test the general assumption that plates behave rigidly on Europa. Assuming rigid behavior, our results suggest that a unique reconstruction does exist, indicating the ridge set accommodated surface contraction. However, analysis performed to test the assumption of plate rigidity indicates that one or more of the plates in the region did not behave rigidly. This does not rule out surface contraction along the ridge set but does indicate that a component of nonrigid behavior must be considered.     

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。     

Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic–Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic–Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus–proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian–Penninic–Pieniny–Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western–central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous–Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian–Pieniny Ocean. Adria–Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene–Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.During the Late Cretaceous, the Lesser Caucasus, Sanandaj–Sirjan and Makran plates were sutured to the Iranian–Afghanistan plates in the Caucasus–Caspian Sea area. A north-dipping subduction zone jumped during Paleogene to the Scythian–Turan Platform. The Shatski terrane moved northward, closing the Greater Caucasus Basin and opening the eastern Black Sea. The South Caspian underwent reorganization during Oligocene–Neogene times. The southwestern part of the South Caspian Basin was reopened, while the northwestern part was gradually reduced in size. The collision of India and the Lut plate with Eurasia caused the deformation of Central Asia and created a system of NW–SE wrench faults. The remnants of Jurassic–Cretaceous back-arc systems, oceanic and attenuated crust, as well as Tertiary oceanic and attenuated crust were locked between adjacent continental plates and orogenic systems.     

Satellite Gravity Anomalies and Their Correlation with the Major Tectonic Features in the South China Sea

The South China Sea (SCS) is a region of interaction among three major plates: the Pacific, Indo-Australian and Eurasian. The collision of the Indian subcontinent with the Eurasian plate in the northwest, back-arc spreading at the center, and subduction beneath the Philippine plate along Manila trench in the east and the collision along Palawan trough in the south have produced complex tectonic features within and along the SCS. This investigation examines the satellite-derived gravity anomalies of the SCS and compares them with major tectonic features of the area. A map of Bouguer gravity anomaly is derived in conjunction with available seafloor topography to investigate the crustal structure. The residual isostatic gravity anomaly is calculated assuming that the Cenozoic sedimentary load is isostatically compensated. The features in the gravity anomalies in general correlate remarkably well with the major geological features, including offsets in the seafloor spreading segments, major faults, basins, seamounts and other manifestations of magmatism and volcanism on the seafloor. They also correlate with the presumed location of continental-oceanic crust boundary. The region underlain by oceanic crust in the central part of the SCS is characterized by a large positive Bouguer gravity anomaly (220–330 mgal) as well as large free-air and residual isostatic anomalies. There are, however, important differences among spreading segments. For example, in terms of free-air gravity anomaly, the southwest section of mid-ocean has an approximately 50 km wide belt of gravity low superimposed on a broad high of 45 mgal running NW–SE, whereas there are no similar features in other spreading segments. There are indications that gravity anomalies may represent lateral variation in upper crustal density structure. For instance, free air and isostatic anomalies show large positive anomalies in the east of the Namconson basin, which coincide with areas of dense volcanic material known from seismic surveys. The Red River Fault system are clearly identified in the satellite gravity anomalies, including three major faults, Songchay Fault in the southwest, Songlo Fault in the Northeast and Central Fault in the center of the basin. They are elongated in NW–SE direction between 20±30'N and 17°N and reach to Vietnam Scarp Fault around 16°30'N. It is also defined that the crustal density in the south side of the Central Basin is denser than that in the north side of the Central Basin.     

Deep structure of the Earth's crust in the contact zone of the Palaeozoic and Precambrian Platforms in Poland (Tornquist-Teisseyre zone)

One of the major tectonic problems in Europe concerns the southwest margin of the East European Platform in the region of the so-called Polish-Danish trough. In general, this margin is assumed to be the Tornquist-Teisseyre (T-T) Line, running approximately from northwest to southeast in this part of Europe. Determination of deep crustal structure of the contact zone between the Precambrian Platform and the Palaeozoic Platform was the main aim of the deep seismic sounding (DSS) programme in Poland in 1965–1982.Deep seismic soundings of the Earth's crust have been made in the T-T Line zone along nine profiles with a total length of about 2600 km. The results of deep seismic soundings have shown that the crust in the marginal zone of the East European Platform has highly anomalous properties. The width of this zone ranges from 50 km in northwest Poland to about 90 km in southeast Poland. The crustal thickness of the Palaeozoic Platform in Poland is 30–35 km, and of the Precambrian Platform 42–47 km, while in the T-T tectonic zone it varies from 50 to 55 km. Above the Moho boundary, in the T-T zone, at a depth of 40–45 km, there is a seismic discontinuity with P-wave velocities of 7.5–7.7 km/s. Boundary velocities, mean velocities and stratification of the Earth's crust vary distinctly along the T-T zone. There are also observed high gravimetric and magnetic anomalies in the T-T zone. The T-T tectonic zone determined in this manner is a deep tectonic trough with rift properties.The deep fractures delineating the T-T tectonic zone are of fundamental importance for the localization of the plate edge of the Precambrian Platform of eastern Europe. In the light of DSS results, the northeastern margin of the T-T tectonic zone is a former plate boundary of the East European Platform.