Cenozoic reconstruction of southwest Pacific

Conference · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6984756

Chun, Y Y; Kroenke, L W

Poles of opening and spreading rates for some of the well-studied marginal basins in the southwest Pacific have been redetermined. Times of opening range from Late Cretaceous-Paleocene in the Tasman basin to middle Pliocene in the Bismarck Sea. The observed magnetic lineations in most of these basins show a relatively short duration of opening and relatively small area of total opening. Most of the smaller basins are bounded by troughs and arcuate island chains, some of which are inferred to be trenches and volcanic arcs situated along paleoconvergent boundaries. At least four successive paleoconvergent boundaries are believed to have formed between the Pacific and the Indian-Australian plates during the Cenozoic. Combining the newly determined poles of opening, spreading rates, and paleoplate boundary locations, a series of palinspastic maps of the southwest Pacific have been constructed for these times, relative to a fixed hot-spot frame of reference for both the Pacific and Indian-Australian plates.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu
• OSTI ID: 6984756
• Report Number(s): CONF-8608105-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 70:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MAPPING
PACIFIC OCEAN
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SURFACE WATERS