Regional setting and structure of the western Solomon Sea

Davies, H. L.; Honza, Eiichi; Tiffin, D L; Lock, Jo; Okuda, Y.; Keene, J. B.; Murakami, Fumitoshi; Kisimoto, Kiyoyuki

doi:10.1007/bf02238045

Cited by 45 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Abbreviations: A = Athens; I = Istanbul; NAF = North Anatolian fault. C. Trobriand Trough subduction zone (Kiriwina Trench of Ollier and Pain, 1980) after Davies et al (1984Davies et al ( , 1987, Honza et al (1987), and Lock et al (1987); core-complex vergence after Hill et al (1992); Woodlark Basin spreading system (WBSS) after Taylor et al (1995) and Martínez et al (1999); Papuan arc volcanoes (onshore and offshore) from Smith and Compston (1982), and Smith and Milsom (1984) southwestern Oregon into southwesternmost Washington, implies bulk rotation of an elongate crustal sliver moving clockwise as an intact lever with respect to the interior of the continental block (Heller and Ryberg, 1983;Heller et al, 1987). The northern end of the rotating lever apparently lay just south of the Olympic Peninsula, for Paleogene strata of the Olympic Mountains (Figs.…”

Section: Pacific Northwest Transrotationmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

Dickinson

2002

International Geology Review

227

254

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The Basin and Range province is a composite Cenozoic taphrogen with a present configuration and internal geometry derived from superimposed multiple phases of extensional deformation driven by varied geodynamic impulses. Different components of the composite taphrogen derive from: (a) post-orogenic Late Paleocene to Middle Miocene slab rollback beneath overthickened crust of the Sevier-Laramide orogen, to induce migratory arc magmatism, tectonic denudation of Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes within associated domains of crustal extension, and belts of backarc rifting including pre-Middle Miocene phases of the Rio Grande rift; (b) Eocene transrotational tectonism that pivoted and displaced crustal elements of the Paleogene forearc in the Pacific Northwest; (c) late Early Miocene and younger crustal extension in the northwestern Basin and Range province (Numic subtraphrogen including segments in the Great Basin, Southeast Oregon Plateau, and Idaho-Montana border regions) as structural accompaniment to northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction; and (d) late Middle Miocene and younger crustal extension in the southeastern Basin and Range province (Piman subtaphrogen including the Gulf of California extensional province, interior Meseta Central province, and post-mid-Miocene Rio Grande rift) succeeding the rapid southward migration of the Rivera triple junction. A transtaphrogen bridge spanning the Mojave block, Eastern Transverse Ranges, and a broad region in southeastern California and southwestern Arizona experienced only limited post-mid-Miocene extensional deformation during evolution of the active Numic and Piman subtaphrogens lying to the northwest and southeast. The compound evolutionary history of the Basin and Range province renders moot any unitary theories for its geodynamic behavior.

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Section: Pacific Northwest Transrotationmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

Dickinson

2002

International Geology Review

227

254

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“…Seismic reflection profiles across the Trobriand Trough show structures characteristic of an accretionary wedge that might be expected above a south-west-dipping seismic zone . However, the reflection profiles across the Trobriand Trough, and the lack of significant levels of seismicity (compared to the New Britain trench) indicate that convergence across the Trobriand Trough is very small, perhaps only a few millimetres per year (Davies et al 1987;Reed er a/. 1988).…”

Section: Seismicity Beneath the Papuan Peninsula And Its Relation To mentioning

confidence: 96%

A seismological study of the eastern New Guinea and the western Solomon Sea regions and its tectonic implications

Pegler

Das

Woodhouse

1995

Geophysical Journal International

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SUMMARY We use new and pre‐existing seismological data to study the neotectonics and the state of stress in the seismic zones of eastern Papua New Guinea and the western Solomon Sea regions. Earthquake hypocentres for the period 1964–90 were relocated, using the Joint Hypocentre Determination (JHD) technique. We show that the T axes of earthquakes in the 100–250 km depth range beneath eastern Papua New Guinea are aligned parallel to the seismic zone, with no seismicity below ≈250 km. This intermediate‐depth seismic zone forms an inverted U‐shaped zone, with limbs dipping to the north and south, and is interpreted to be seismicity along the subducted Solomon Sea plate. The northern and southern limbs of the seismic zone are connected by a flattened zone of seismicity which is marked by predominantly strike‐slip, and a few normal, fault mechanisms. We suggest that the Solomon Sea plate at depth beneath the Finisterre mountains is no longer influenced by the tectonic forces acting at the surface, but breaking up and sinking under its own gravitational forces. A significant north‐dipping seismic zone is imaged above the deeper seismic zone. This feature, characterized by thrust mechanisms, extrapolates to the surface along the Ramu Markham Valley and is attributed to the Ramu Markham Fault (RMF). The RMF has an average dip of about 40° to the north‐east but its detailed geometry would appear to be complex. The RMF is interpreted to ramp steeply in the uppermost 10–20 km, flattening out sharply to a dip of ≈15° at a depth of about 20 km. The RMF marks the suture between the Finisterre Terrane and the Australia‐New Guinea plate and may extend to a depth of 90 km beneath the western limit of the Finisterre mountains. There is a clear gap in seismicity between the RMF and the deeper Solomon Sea plate seismic zone beneath the Finisterre mountains, which, together with the alignment of the T axes of earthquakes along the seismic zone at depths >100 km, indicates that these are indeed two distinct features. The seismicity in the depth range 50–80 km, along the New Britain Arc, follows the trend of the 2000 m bathymetric contour of the New Britain Trench and the Finsch Deep far more closely than it does the trend of the surface plate boundary, indicating that the increase in the distance between the Solomon Sea/South Bismarck plate boundary and the active volcanos along the New Britain Arc, west of (6.8°S, 150.0°E) is only a shallow phenomenon, and does not reflect the geometry of the Solomon Sea plate at depths greater than 50 km.

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“…The WPWP is strongly influenced by large‐scale climatic features, for example, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the East Asian monsoon, and an intense low‐pressure center in the WPWP associated with the warm surface water leads to high precipitation (Beaufort et al, ; de Garidel‐Thoron et al, ; Stott et al, ; Wang et al, ). The New Britain Trench is a 840‐km‐long curved trench and is generally more than 6 km deep, with its maximum depth of 9,140 m (Planet Deep) west of Bougainville Island (Davies et al, ). It was formed by the subduction of Solomon Sea Plate beneath the South Bismarck Plate to the northwest and beneath the Pacific Plate to the northeast (Cooper & Taylor, ; Figure ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources, Degradation, and Transport of Organic Matter in the New Britain Shelf‐Trench Continuum, Papua New Guinea

et al. 2019

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Hadal trenches are considered as depocenters for organic matter and hotspots for microbial diagenetic activity. Here, we explore the sources, degradation, and transport of organic matter in the shelf‐trench continuum using seven short sediment cores collected along two transects with water depths ranging between 1,553 and 8,901 m in the New Britain Trench area, Papua New Guinea. Carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) and radiocarbon contents (Δ14C) of sedimentary organic matter accompanied by total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratios suggest an important contribution from the preaged soil organic matter mixed by the marine algae and terrigenous C3 vascular plants. In addition, the trench axis sites are characterized by elevated accumulation of terrigenous organic materials. Rates of organic matter mineralization approximated by dissolved inorganic carbon fluxes at the sediment‐water interface reveal an approximately threefold higher rate at the trench axis sites than the abyssal sites. 210Pbxs profiles and burial of carbonate (up to 50%) at both trench axis sites reflect recent occurrence of mass‐wasting events possibly induced by earthquakes, which is responsible for the transport of preaged, terrigenous organic matter to the trench bottom. This tectonically triggered deposition event, which was also shown to occur in the Japan Trench, the Tonga Trench, and probably in many other trenches, is likely to efficiently transport terrigenous organic matter to hadal trenches, thereby underpinning the importance of terrigenous organic matter burial in hadal trenches for the ocean organic carbon budget. Furthermore, we hypothesize that hadal trenches may host a distinct microbial community that is capable of feeding on old, refractory terrigenous organic matter.

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Regional setting and structure of the western Solomon Sea

Cited by 45 publications

References 11 publications

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

A seismological study of the eastern New Guinea and the western Solomon Sea regions and its tectonic implications

Sources, Degradation, and Transport of Organic Matter in the New Britain Shelf‐Trench Continuum, Papua New Guinea

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