Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time

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作者：

JM Whittaker，R. D. Mueller，G Leitchenkov，H Stagg，M Sdrolias，C Gaina，A Goncharov

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摘要：

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.

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关键词：

Experimental/ Earth crust Earth mantle tectonics/ global plate circuit closure plate motion Marianas-Tonga-Kermadec subduction initiation Pacific-Izanagi spreading ridge Pacific Ocean sea-floor reconstructions Antarctica plate Australian plate circum-Pacific plate events plate-shifting hypothesis mantle-driven hypothesis plate-mantle system Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain Hawaiian-Emperor bend time Australian-Antarctic plate reorganization/ A9145D Plate tectonics A9135G Earth crust and upper mantle A9330C Antarctica A9330F Australasia