Tectonic reconstructions of New Zealand: 40 Ma to the Present

King, Peter R.

doi:10.1080/00288306.2000.9514913

Cited by 325 publications

(383 citation statements)

References 116 publications

(236 reference statements)

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“…Cox and Engebretson (1985) identified this change of motion to have occurred at 5 Ma visible in a slight bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain at that time. Further investigations of geologic settings along almost the entire Pacific plate boundary as well as magnetic anomalies have supported this finding (Bevis et al, 1995;Cande and Stock, 2004;Harbert and Cox, 1989;King, 2000;Oskin et al, 2001;Oskin and Stock, 2003a, b;Wessel and Kroenke, 2000). It has been suggested that the change of plate motion was caused by cessation of southward-directed subduction of the Pacific plate along the northern Melanesian arc which was initiated by the collision of the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) with the arc (Cox and Engebretson, 1985;Harbert and Cox, 1989;Knesel et al, 2008;Kroenke, 2000, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…Although this region was under compression for much of Miocene time, geological evidence shows that orogenic uplift initiated at various locations between 8-7 Ma and 5 Ma (King, 2000). Many tectonic changes at ca.…”

Section: Evidence For a Clockwise Rotation Of Pacific Plate Motion Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many tectonic changes at ca. 5 Ma have been linked to a plate motion change (see King (2000) and references therein). Comparison of the observed thermal history of the Southern Alps with that seen in models based on differing hypotheses of the tectonic evolution of the South Island (Batt and Braun, 1999) shows that the present tectonic regime of the orogen most probably developed in a single rapid reorganization at approximately 5 Ma with relative stability of the tectonic regime since that time.…”

Section: Evidence For a Clockwise Rotation Of Pacific Plate Motion Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying the forces needed for the rapid change of Pacific plate motion at 6Ma

Austermann¹,

Ben‐Avraham²,

Bird³

et al. 2011

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Editor: Y. Ricard Keywords:Pacific plate motion plate driving forces slab detachment oceanic plateau collision northern Melanesian arc Studies have documented several rapid changes along the Pacific-North American, Pacific-Antarctic and Pacific-Australian plate boundaries in latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene time consistent with a sudden clockwise rotation of Pacific plate velocity relative to hotspots during this period. We test the hypothesis that this change in plate motion was initiated by cessation of subduction along the northern Melanesian arc due to the collision between the arc and the Ontong Java plateau. This hypothesis has long been formulated but never tested quantitatively. We use a geomechanical model of the lithosphere to determine the changes in plate boundary forces that are necessary to obtain the observed change in the Pacific plate motion. Our model results show that the change in motion can be explained by a clockwise rotation of the slab-related (basal-strength) component of plate driving force. The change of slab-related force from a post-6 Ma to a pre-6 Ma setting is perpendicular to the arc and points towards the Australian plate. The force per unit length is in the range of currently accepted values for subduction zones. Since there have been no other relevant changes at subduction zones along the Pacific plate boundary during the latest Miocene, we relate this change in slab-related force to the former southward-dipping Pacific plate slab along the northern Melanesian arc system which is now detached. Our model results suggest that rapid changes in plate motion can be triggered by slab detachment, with consequences for plate boundary processes even at great distances from the event.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Evidence For a Clockwise Rotation Of Pacific Plate Motion Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evidence For a Clockwise Rotation Of Pacific Plate Motion Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying the forces needed for the rapid change of Pacific plate motion at 6Ma

Austermann¹,

Ben‐Avraham²,

Bird³

et al. 2011

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…Arabia collision initiation: Middle Miocene [Dewey and Sengor, 1979;Le Pichon and Angelier, 1979;Karig and Kozlu, 1990;Gautier et al, 1999], Apulian Platform collision: Late Miocene [van Hinsbergen et al, 2006] Taupo Volcanic Zone/Central Volcanic region New Zealand 2 -4 Ma ago to present [Stern, 1987] Yes Hikurangi Plateau/Chatham Rise Hikurangi Plateau likely present at the margin since $20 Ma ago [King, 2000] Manus Basin Papua New Guinea 3.5 Ma ago to present [Taylor, 1979] Yes New Guinea Highlands $3 -4 Ma ago [Abbott et al, 1994] Okinawa Trough SW Japan to Taiwan Miocene-present [Lee et al, 1980]; Shimbara-Beppu Graben rifting started at 6 Ma ago, the same time that CCW rotation of Kyushu began [Itoh et al, 1998] Yes Kyushu-Palau ridge and Taiwan collision Taiwan collision: 6 -8 Ma ago [Byrne and Liu, 2002, and references therein]; Kyushu-Palau ridge collision:…”

Section: Part Of the North Fiji Basin Vanuatumentioning

confidence: 99%

Collisional model for rapid fore‐arc block rotations, arc curvature, and episodic back‐arc rifting in subduction settings

Wallace

Ellis

Mann

2009

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

101

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[1] We review geophysical and geological data from 23 active and ancient plate boundaries to document a compelling spatial and temporal relationship between collision, plate boundary curvature, rapid tectonic rotations, and the occurrence of back-arc rifting. Our observations support a conceptual model where the change from subduction to collision causes rapid fore-arc rotation (when viewed in a reference frame relative to the bounding tectonic plates), leading to marked plate boundary curvature. Our global compilation reveals that most active back-arc rifts are associated with rapidly rotating fore arcs and nearby collisions. Thus, we propose that collision and rapid fore-arc rotations play a major role in the evolution and kinematics of back-arc basins. We conduct numerical modeling to better understand the physical processes behind these observed rapid tectonic rotations at convergent margins. Our results suggest that the presence of an indentor or choke point in the subduction system (e.g., collision) can generate rapid rotation of the fore arc about a nearby pole and lead to back-arc rifting. The rate of fore-arc rotation and back-arc rifting depends on the incoming indentor velocity and can be greatly enhanced by slab rollback and the presence of a low-viscosity back arc. Where viscosity of the back arc is low, fore-arc rotation dominates; where back-arc viscosity is high, the formation of strike-slip faults and tectonic escape dominates. Our observational and model-derived results illustrate that shallow crustal forces produced by the entry of buoyant features into subduction zones are a fundamental mechanism for the generation of fore-arc block rotations, plate boundary curvature, back-arc rift evolution, and tectonic escape in subduction systems. Rollback of the subducting slab within the mantle will certainly enhance the processes we describe but it is not the only driving force. Wallace, L. M., S. Ellis, and P. Mann (2009), Collisional model for rapid fore-arc block rotations, arc curvature, and episodic back-arc rifting in subduction settings, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q05001,

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“…), tectonically controlled, transgressive-regressive cycle (Carter and Norris, 1976;Field and Browne, 1989). The basin formed part of a simple passive margin from the Late Cretaceous to some time in the late Eocene, when convergence between the Australasian and Pacific plates began to influence the region, eventually leading to the formation of the Alpine Fault at ~23 Ma (Wellman, 1971;King, 2000). The marine sedimentary section can be divided into three principal intervals, the Onekakara, Kekenodon, and Otakou groups (Carter, 1988), during which contrasting large-scale sedimentary processes operated (Fig.…”

Section: Regional Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%