| Abstract: | New magnetic, seismic and bathymetric data show that the South Fiji basin is a structurally complex marginal basin. A gap in the identifiable magnetic anomaly lineations exist over the central part of the basin and prevents the unequivocal linking of the anomaly lineations (anomalies 7A to 12) associated with the ridgc-ridge-ridge triple junction in the north with an apparent single spreading centre of the same age in the south. This gap, which makes a detailed synthesis of the historical development of the basin difficult, may arise from post-spreading intraplate tectonics. If symmetric spreading is assumed, part of the oceanic lithosphere formed during the Oligocene episode of seafloor spreading has subsequently been consumed, presumably by subduction westward under Three Kings rise. |
