Pre-Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Pacific plate and extension of the geomagnetic polarity reversal time scale with implications for the origin of the Jurassic “Quiet Zone”

1988 ◽  
Vol 155 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 365-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Handschumacher ◽  
William W. Sager ◽  
Thomas W.C. Hilde ◽  
Dewey R. Bracey
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. e1600022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydian M. Boschman ◽  
Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen

The oceanic Pacific Plate started forming in Early Jurassic time within the vast Panthalassa Ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangea, and contains the oldest lithosphere that can directly constrain the geodynamic history of the circum-Pangean Earth. We show that the geometry of the oldest marine magnetic anomalies of the Pacific Plate attests to a unique plate kinematic event that sparked the plate’s birth at virtually a point location, surrounded by the Izanagi, Farallon, and Phoenix Plates. We reconstruct the unstable triple junction that caused the plate reorganization, which led to the birth of the Pacific Plate, and present a model of the plate tectonic configuration that preconditioned this event. We show that a stable but migrating triple junction involving the gradual cessation of intraoceanic Panthalassa subduction culminated in the formation of an unstable transform-transform-transform triple junction. The consequent plate boundary reorganization resulted in the formation of a stable triangular three-ridge system from which the nascent Pacific Plate expanded. We link the birth of the Pacific Plate to the regional termination of intra-Panthalassa subduction. Remnants thereof have been identified in the deep lower mantle of which the locations may provide paleolongitudinal control on the absolute location of the early Pacific Plate. Our results constitute an essential step in unraveling the plate tectonic evolution of “Thalassa Incognita” that comprises the comprehensive Panthalassa Ocean surrounding Pangea.


1998 ◽  
Vol 103 (B3) ◽  
pp. 5269-5286 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Sager ◽  
Chester J. Weiss ◽  
Maurice A. Tivey ◽  
H. Paul Johnson

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yufeng Deng ◽  
Song Huang ◽  
Xueshan Wu ◽  
Min Li

The tectonic evolution of northeast China is closely related to the subduction of the Pacific plate. The dehydration of the slab subduction process produces metasomatic agents that have important effects on the physical and chemical properties of the mantle wedge, including the decrease of seismic wave velocity and the increase of Poisson’s ratio and electrical conductivity. In order to investigate the tectonic evolution and fluid action of northeast China, this paper compares the previous seismic and electromagnetic imaging results of northeast China and explores the relationship between the genesis of Cenozoic volcanoes and fluid action in northeast China through rheological analysis. The results show that the western Pacific plate subducted into the mantle transition zone beneath northeast China, and sustained dehydration occurred. The upward migration of these released water caused partial melting at the base of the upper mantle. Some of the upwelling streams pierced the weak tectonic boundary under the buoyancy effect, which finally formed the large-scale Cenozoic volcanic events in northeast China.


1976 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Shou Liu ◽  
Edward S. Chang ◽  
George H. Wyatt

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1963-1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyu Liu

Abstract The emerging interest in decadal climate prediction highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms of decadal to interdecadal climate variability. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of our understanding of interdecadal climate variability in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In particular, the dynamics of interdecadal variability in both oceans will be discussed in a unified framework and in light of historical development. General mechanisms responsible for interdecadal variability, including the role of ocean dynamics, are reviewed first. A hierarchy of increasingly complex paradigms is used to explain variability. This hierarchy ranges from a simple red noise model to a complex stochastically driven coupled ocean–atmosphere mode. The review suggests that stochastic forcing is the major driving mechanism for almost all interdecadal variability, while ocean–atmosphere feedback plays a relatively minor role. Interdecadal variability can be generated independently in the tropics or extratropics, and in the Pacific or Atlantic. In the Pacific, decadal–interdecadal variability is associated with changes in the wind-driven upper-ocean circulation. In the North Atlantic, some of the multidecadal variability is associated with changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). In both the Pacific and Atlantic, the time scale of interdecadal variability seems to be determined mainly by Rossby wave propagation in the extratropics; in the Atlantic, the time scale could also be determined by the advection of the returning branch of AMOC in the Atlantic. One significant advancement of the last two decades is the recognition of the stochastic forcing as the dominant generation mechanism for almost all interdecadal variability. Finally, outstanding issues regarding the cause of interdecadal climate variability are discussed. The mechanism that determines the time scale of each interdecadal mode remains one of the key issues not understood. It is suggested that much further understanding can be gained in the future by performing specifically designed sensitivity experiments in coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation models, by further analysis of observations and cross-model comparisons, and by combining mechanistic studies with decadal prediction studies.


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