/pdf/global-continental-and-ocean-basin-reconstructions-since-200-huopwd2ldv.pdf

Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma

We present a revised global plate motion model with continuously closing plate boundaries ranging from the Triassic at 230 Ma to the present day, assess differences among alternative absolute plate motion models, and review global tectonic events. Relatively high mean absolute plate motion rates of approximately 9–10 cm yr^(−1) between 140 and 120 Ma may be related to transient plate motion accelerations driven by the successive emplacement of a sequence of large igneous provinces during that time. An event at ∼100 Ma is most clearly expressed in the Indian Ocean and may reflect the initiation of Andean-style subduction along southern continental Eurasia, whereas an acceleration at ∼80 Ma of mean rates from 6 to 8 cm yr^(−1) reflects the initial northward acceleration of India and simultaneous speedups of plates in the Pacific. An event at ∼50 Ma expressed in relative, and some absolute, plate motion changes around the globe and in a reduction of global mean plate speeds from about 6 to 4–5 cm yr^(−1) indicates that an increase in collisional forces (such as the India–Eurasia collision) and ridge subduction events in the Pacific (such as the Izanagi–Pacific Ridge) play a significant role in modulating plate velocities.

Ocean Basin Evolution and Global-Scale Plate Reorganization Events Since Pangea Breakup

http://www2.ess.ucla.edu/~yin/05-Publications/papers/124-Yin-2010-Tectonophysics.pdf

Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Asia: A preliminary synthesis

Earth9s long-term sea-level history is characterized by widespread continental flooding in the Cretaceous period (∼145 to 65 million years ago), followed by gradual regression of inland seas. However, published estimates of the Late Cretaceous sea-level high differ by half an order of magnitude, from ∼40 to ∼250 meters above the present level. The low estimate is based on the stratigraphy of the New Jersey margin. By assimilating marine geophysical data into reconstructions of ancient ocean basins, we model a Late Cretaceous sea level that is 170 (85 to 270) meters higher than it is today. We use a mantle convection model to suggest that New Jersey subsided by 105 to 180 meters in the past 70 million years because of North America9s westward passage over the subducted Farallon plate. This mechanism reconciles New Jersey margin–based sea-level estimates with ocean basin reconstructions.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/319/5868/1357.full.pdf

Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics

[1] Plate tectonics constitutes our primary framework for understanding how the Earth works over geological timescales. High-resolution mapping of relative plate motions based on marine geophysical data has followed the discovery of geomagnetic reversals, mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, and seafloor spreading, cementing the plate tectonic paradigm. However, so-called “absolute plate motions,” describing how the fragments of the outer shell of the Earth have moved relative to a reference system such as the Earth's mantle, are still poorly understood. Accurate absolute plate motion models are essential surface boundary conditions for mantle convection models as well as for understanding past ocean circulation and climate as continent-ocean distributions change with time. A fundamental problem with deciphering absolute plate motions is that the Earth's rotation axis and the averaged magnetic dipole axis are not necessarily fixed to the mantle reference system. Absolute plate motion models based on volcanic hot spot tracks are largely confined to the last 130 Ma and ideally would require knowledge about the motions within the convecting mantle. In contrast, models based on paleomagnetic data reflect plate motion relative to the magnetic dipole axis for most of Earth's history but cannot provide paleolongitudes because of the axial symmetry of the Earth's magnetic dipole field. We analyze four different reference frames (paleomagnetic, African fixed hot spot, African moving hot spot, and global moving hot spot), discuss their uncertainties, and develop a unifying approach for connecting a hot spot track system and a paleomagnetic absolute plate reference system into a “hybrid” model for the time period from the assembly of Pangea (∼320 Ma) to the present. For the last 100 Ma we use a moving hot spot reference frame that takes mantle convection into account, and we connect this to a pre–100 Ma global paleomagnetic frame adjusted 5° in longitude to smooth the reference frame transition. Using plate driving force arguments and the mapping of reconstructed large igneous provinces to core–mantle boundary topography, we argue that continental paleolongitudes can be constrained with reasonable confidence.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2007RG000227

Global plate motion frames: Toward a unified model

A marked bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain supposedly resulted from a recent major reorganization of the plate-mantle system there 50 million years ago. Although alternative mantle-driven and plate-shifting hypotheses have been proposed, no contemporaneous circum-Pacific plate events have been identified. We report reconstructions for Australia and Antarctica that reveal a major plate reorganization between 50 and 53 million years ago. Revised Pacific Ocean sea-floor reconstructions suggest that subduction of the Pacific-Izanagi spreading ridge and subsequent Marianas/Tonga-Kermadec subduction initiation may have been the ultimate causes of these events. Thus, these plate reconstructions solve long-standing continental fit problems and improve constraints on the motion between East and West Antarctica and global plate circuit closure.

C. Gaina

Papers

Supporting Online Material for Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time

Plate Tectonic Evolution of Eastern Australian Marginal Ocean Basins

Three-Dimensional, Flexible Nanoscale Field-Effect Transistors as Localized Bioprobes