Geodynamics and History of the Western Pacific Marginal Seas Formation as Vortex Structures

Abstract

In the tectonic structure of the Earth, formed by rotational processes, a stable regmatic network (tectonic framework) and structures of the central type (ring, vortex, etc.) are of the main importance. Lithosphere plates are global vortex systems arisen as a result of the tectonic flow of masses in the state of a viscous fluid. Eddy structures are tectonic complexes in which the results of vertical and horizontal tectonic movements combination are captured and can be recorded by direct geological observations. In the Western Pacific Ocean, it is noteworthy a series of structures in the form of a system of marginal seas representing the Western Pacific continent-ocean transition zone. The tectonic evolution of the West Pacific region is the formation of lithosphere eddies series in the continent-ocean junction zone. It is associated with the Earth mantle and upper shells (tectonospheres) energy interaction, due to the unstable regime of the planet’s rotational dynamics. Of particular interest are the global shear zones and eddies of the lithosphere formed as a result of horizontal and vertical tectonic movements combination. It is shown that: 1) all tectonic dislocations contain both horizontal and vertical components of the movement velocity, the former dominating in the structure formation of the region; 2) their interaction outcome is vortex and other nonlinear deformations of the lithosphere, which constitute the main type of structural elements of the region; 3) they are often accompanied by the tectonosphere magmatic activation in the form of convective movements and / or plumes “floating”; 4) the Western Pacific marginal-sea depressions are the funnels of convective cells, which formed lithosphere eddies under the conditions of a shift in the interacting lithosphere plates velocities.