The kinematic evolution of the Macquarie Plate: A case study for the fragmentation of oceanic lithosphere

Choi, Hakkyum; Kim, Seung‐Sep; Dyment, J.; Granot, Roi; Park, Sung Hyun; Hong, Jong Kuk

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.08.035

Cited by 19 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Matching between the Antarctic 8o and younger isochrons in both the Tasman and Balleny corridors would indicate that the WARS was no longer active during the Neogene. However, formation of the Macquarie microplate some 6 Myr ago 30 , 31 north of the SEIR and east of the Tasman fracture zone 32 (Fig. 1 ) complicates this task.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cenozoic unification of East and West Antarctica

Granot

Dyment

2018

Nat Commun

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The kinematic evolution of the West Antarctic rift system has important consequences for regional and global geodynamics. However, due to the lack of Neogene seafloor spreading at the plate boundary and despite being poorly resolved, East-West Antarctic motion was assumed to have ended abruptly at 26 million years ago. Here we present marine magnetic data collected near the northern edge of the rift system showing that motion between East and West Antarctica lasted until the middle Neogene (~11 million years ago), long after the cessation of the known mid-Cenozoic pulse of motion. We calculate new rotation parameters for the early Neogene that provide the kinematic framework to understand the varied lithospheric settings of the Transantarctic Mountains and the tectono–volcanic activity within the rift. Incorporation of the Antarctic plate motion into the global plate circuit has major implications for the predicted Neogene motion of the Pacific Plate relative to the rest of the plates.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cenozoic unification of East and West Antarctica

Granot

Dyment

2018

Nat Commun

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“…8d) hints to the possibility of linking nests of EQ to detachment in active subduction zones. This could be further tested by scrutinizing present-day subduction zones with dense seismic networks in the most favorable areas (e.g., Puysegur; Hayes et al, 2009;Choi et al, 2017). However, if displacement is controlled by features such as the numerous~10 cm long veins found in rocks, which have been argued to accommodate plate interface movements or invoked in some fracture and viscous flow models (Hayman and Lavier, 2014), their formation would require negative magnitude EQ lasting a fraction of seconds, thus pointing to creep rather than detectable EQ.…”

Section: Creeping or Seismic?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The subduction plate interface: rock record and mechanical coupling (from long to short timescales)

Agard

Plunder

Angiboust

et al. 2018

Lithos

219

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Short-and long-term processes at or close to the subduction plate interface (e.g.,mineral transformations, fluid release, seismicity and more generally deformation) might be more closely related than previously thought. Increasing evidence from the fossil rock record suggests that some episodes of their long geological evolution match or are close to timescales of the seismic cycle. This contribution uses rocks recovered (episodically) from subduction zones, together with insights from thermomechanical modelling, to provide a new dynamic vision of the nature, structure and properties of the plate interface and to bridge the gap between the mechanical behavior of active subduction zones (e.g.,coupling inferred from geophysical monitoring) and fossil ones (e.g., coupling required to detach and recover subducted slab fragments). Based on critical observations and an exhaustive compilation of worldwide subducted oceanic units (for which the presence near the plate interface, rock types, pressure, temperature, T/P gradients, thickness and timing of detachment can be assessed), the present study demonstrates how long-term mechanical coupling exerts a key control on detachment from the slab and potential rock recovery. Critical assessment of rock T/P characteristics indicates that these fragments can indeed be used as natural probes and provide reliable information on subduction interface dynamics down to~2.8 GPa. Rock clusters are identified at depths of 30, 55-60 and 80 km, with some differences between rock types. Data also reveal a first-order evolution with subduction cooling (in the first~5 Myr), which is interpreted as reflecting a systematic trend from strong to weak mechanical coupling, after which subduction is lubricated and mostly inhibits rock recovery. This contribution places bounds on the plate interface constitution, regular thickness (b300 m; i.e. where/when there is no detachment), changing geometry and effective viscosity. The concept of 'coupled thickness' is used here to capture subduction interface dynamics, notably during episodes of strong mechanical coupling, and to link long-and short-term deformation. Mechanical coupling depends on mantle wedge rheology, viscosity contrasts and initial structures (e.g.,heterogeneous lithosphere, existence of décollement horizons, extent of hydration, asperities) but also on boundary conditions (convergence rates, kinematics), and therefore differs for warm and cold subduction settings. Although most present-day subduction zone segments (both along strike and downdip) are likely below the detachment threshold, we propose that the most favorable location for detachment corresponds to the spatial transition between coupled and decoupled areas. Effective strain localization involves dissolution-precipitation and dislocation creep but also possibly brittle fractures and earthquakes, even at intermediate depths.

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“…A plot of plate convergence rates through time was produced by calculating relative plate motions between the Australian and Pacific plates since the Oligocene, using published total reconstruction poles in GPlates (Boyden et al, ), and is presented in Figure b. The kinematic setting of the STB is determined by the summation of Australia‐Antarctic (Cande & Stock, ; Choi et al, ), Antarctica‐Pacific (Croon, Cande, & Stock, ) and East‐West Antarctica (Granot, Cande, Stock, & Damaske, ) plate motions and the calculation of the relative displacement vector across the Australia‐Pacific plate boundary zone through New Zealand (Cande & Stock, ). The relative Australian‐Pacific displacement vector at a fixed point (relative to the Australian plate) on the Wairau Fault (Figure inset) was determined, and from which, margin‐normal and margin‐parallel components of motion were estimated using a trend of 055°E (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plate Tectonic Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic controls on Miocene sedimentation in the Southern Taranaki Basin and implications for New Zealand plate boundary deformation

et al. 2019

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Miocene strata in the southern Taranaki Basin (STB), up to 3 km thick, provide a distal record of erosion associated with plate boundary deformation in New Zealand. 2D and 3D seismic reflection data tied to drillhole stratigraphy have been used to constrain four main phases of basin development. These are: (a) Early Miocene (22–19 Ma) subsidence, dominantly bathyal water depths and deposition of minor submarine fans along the eastern basin margin. (b) Middle Miocene (19–14 Ma) widespread submarine fan deposition on a bathyal basin floor in the central STB. (c) Rapid Middle–Late Miocene (14–7 Ma) progradation of the shelf break northwards across the STB. (d) Widespread uplift and erosion of the STB during the latest Miocene–Pliocene (7–4.5 Ma). Bathyal water depths and fan deposition in the Early Miocene were influenced by vertical motions on major reverse faults and regional subsidence produced by subduction of the Pacific plate beneath northern New Zealand. Subsequent submarine fan deposition and northward shelf‐break progradation reflect increasing input of terrigenous material, primarily eroded from an uplifting region to the south of the STB. Sedimentation patterns in the STB are consistent with the age and locations of conglomerates deposited in onshore West Coast basins, related to this uplift and erosion. Sediment transport in the West Coast region was mainly parallel to NNE trending active reverse faults, and in the STB was perpendicular to the NE‐SW orientated shelf break, especially from ca. 14–7 Ma, when sedimentation rates exceeded fault‐displacement rates. Increases in sedimentation rates in the STB coincide with regional increases in the rates of shortening that appear to reflect plate boundary‐wide events and have been attributed to, or correlated with, increases in the plate convergence rate. Miocene sedimentation patterns in the STB thus reflect both intra‐basinal deformation and tectonic signals from the wider developing New Zealand plate boundary.

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The kinematic evolution of the Macquarie Plate: A case study for the fragmentation of oceanic lithosphere

Cited by 19 publications

References 45 publications

Late Cenozoic unification of East and West Antarctica

Late Cenozoic unification of East and West Antarctica

The subduction plate interface: rock record and mechanical coupling (from long to short timescales)

Tectonic controls on Miocene sedimentation in the Southern Taranaki Basin and implications for New Zealand plate boundary deformation

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