Dietmar Müller

Vigorous deep-sea currents cause global anomaly in sediment accumulation in the Southern Ocean

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 08-07-2016

DOI: 10.1130/G38143.1

Seismic stratigraphy of the Adare Trough area, Antarctica

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2006

DOI: 10.1016/J.MARGEO.2006.05.002

Long-term interaction between mid-ocean ridges and mantle plumes

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-05-2015

DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2437

Tectonic evolution of Western Tethys from Jurassic to present day: coupling geological and geophysical data with seismic tomography models

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 11-05-2016

DOI: 10.1080/00206814.2016.1183146

The Pacific basal mantle structure could be older than the African one

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-05-2023

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU23-9971

Abstract: Plate tectonics shapes Earth& #8217 s surface and is linked to motions within its deep interior. Cold oceanic lithosphere sinks into the mantle, and hot mantle plumes rise from the deep Earth, leading to volcanism. Volcanic eruptions over the past 320 million years have been linked to two large structures at the base of the mantle presently under Africa and the Pacific Ocean. This has led to the hypothesis that these basal mantle structures could have been stationary over geological time, in contrast to observations and models suggesting that tectonic plates, subduction zones, and mantle plumes have been mobile and that basal mantle structures are presently deforming. Here we reconstruct mantle flow from one billion years ago to the present day to show that the history of volcanism is statistically as consistent with mobile basal mantle structures as with fixed ones. In our reconstructions, cold lithosphere sank deep into the African hemisphere between 740 and 500 million years ago, and from 400 million years ago the structure beneath Africa progressively assembled, pushed by peri-Gondwana slabs, to become a coherent structure as recently as 60 million years ago. In contrast, the structure beneath the Pacific Ocean was established between 400 and 200 million years ago. These results confirm the link between basal mantle structures and surface volcanism, and they suggest that basal mantle structures are mobile, and aggregate and disperse over time, similarly to continents at Earth& #8217 s surface. This implies that the present-day shape and location of basal mantle structures may not be a suitable reference frame for the motion of tectonic plates.

Bayesian geological and geophysical data fusion for the construction and uncertainty quantification of 3D geological models

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-01-2019

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2019-4

Abstract: Abstract. Traditional approaches to develop 3D geological models employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative scientific techniques, which do not fully provide quantification of uncertainty in the constructed models and fail to optimally weight geological field observations against constraints from geophysical data. Here, we demonstrate a Bayesian methodology to fuse geological field observations with aeromagnetic and gravity data to build robust 3D models in a 13.5 × 13.5 km region of the Gascoyne Province, Western Australia. Our approach is validated by comparing model results to independently-constrained geological maps and cross-sections produced by the Geological Survey of Western Australia. By fusing geological field data with magnetics and gravity surveys, we show that at 89 % of the modelled region has 95 % certainty. The boundaries between geological units are characterized by narrow regions with

Rift and plate boundary evolution across two supercontinent cycles

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2019

DOI: 10.1016/J.GLOPLACHA.2018.11.006

Full-fit reconstruction of the South China Sea conjugate margins

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.TECTO.2015.08.028

Mantle plumes and their role in Earth processes

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-05-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S43017-021-00168-6

Intraplate volcanism triggered by bursts in slab flux

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 18-12-2020

DOI: 10.1126/SCIADV.ABD0953

Abstract: Slab flux drives the frequency of volcanic eruptions by stimulating an enriched reservoir in the mantle transition zone.

Modeling the Dynamic Landscape Evolution of a Volcanic Coastal Environment Under Future Climate Trajectories

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Date: 08-10-2020

DOI: 10.3389/FEART.2020.550312

No Evidence for Milankovitch Cycle Influence on Abyssal Hills at Intermediate, Fast, and Superfast Spreading Rates

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-10-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2018GL079400

Abstract: A recent hypothesis contends that abyssal hill topography is linked to sea level periodicities expressed by Milankovitch cycles, predicting that abyssal hill elevation is correlated to crustal age. We test this prediction by stacking (averaging) bathymetry as a function of age to enhance age‐dependent signal while suppressing random (primarily faulted) components. Stacking is applied to bathymetry data flanking intermediate, fast, and superfast spreading ridges. Revised digital crustal age models were generated in these regions using a recent compilation of reliable magnetic anomaly identifications, with inferred temporal uncertainty of ~0.01 my. We utilize statistical properties of abyssal hills to predict the variability of the age‐stack under the null hypothesis that abyssal hills are random with respect to crustal age the age‐stacked profile is significantly different from zero only if it exceeds this expected variability by a large margin. Our results do not support the presence of Milankovitch‐driven signals in abyssal hill topography.

Intraplate volcanism triggered by bursts in slab flux

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 04-03-2021

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU21-6857

Abstract: & & & span& & span& Long-lived, widespread intraplate volcanism without age progression is one of the most controversial features of plate tectonics. The eastern margin of Australia and Zealandia has experienced extensive mafic volcanism & /span& & span& over the last 100 million years& /span& & span& . A plume origin has been proposed for & /span& & span& three distinct chains of volcanoes,& /span& & span& however& /span& & span& , the majority of eruptions exhibit no clear age progression. Previously proposed edge-driven convection, asthenospheric shear, and lithospheric detachment fail to explain the non age-progressive eruptions & /span& & span& across the & /span& & span& ~5000 km wide intraplate volcanic province from Eastern Australia to Zealandia. We model the subducted slab volume over 100 million years and find that slab flux drives volcanic eruption frequency, indicating stimulation of an enriched mantle transition zone reservoir. Volcanic isotope geochemistry allows us to distinguish a HIMU reservoir (& Ga old) in the slab-poor south, from a northern EM1/EM2 reservoir, reflecting a more recent voluminous influx of oceanic lithosphere into the mantle transition zone. We provide a unified theory linking plate boundary and slab volume reconstructions to upper mantle reservoirs and intraplate volcano geochemistry.& /span& & /span& & &

The Late Cretaceous to recent tectonic history of the Pacific Ocean basin

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2015.11.015

Full-fit reconstruction of the labrador sea and baffin bay

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 26-11-2013

DOI: 10.5194/SE-4-461-2013

Abstract: Abstract. Reconstructing the opening of the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay between Greenland and North America remains controversial. Recent seismic data suggest that magnetic lineations along the margins of the Labrador Sea, originally interpreted as seafloor spreading anomalies, may lie within the crust of the continent–ocean transition. These data also suggest a more seaward extent of continental crust within the Greenland margin near Davis Strait than assumed in previous full-fit reconstructions. Our study focuses on reconstructing the full-fit configuration of Greenland and North America using an approach that considers continental deformation in a quantitative manner. We use gravity inversion to map crustal thickness across the conjugate margins, and assimilate observations from available seismic profiles and potential field data to constrain the likely extent of different crustal types. We derive end-member continental margin restorations following alternative interpretations of published seismic profiles. The boundaries between continental and oceanic crust (COB) are restored to their pre-stretching locations along small circle motion paths across the region of Cretaceous extension. Restored COBs are fitted quantitatively to compute alternative total-fit reconstructions. A preferred full-fit model is chosen based on the strongest compatibility with geological and geophysical data. Our preferred model suggests that (i) the COB lies oceanward of magnetic lineations interpreted as magnetic anomaly 31 (70 Ma) in the Labrador Sea, (ii) all previously identified magnetic lineations landward of anomaly 27 reflect intrusions into continental crust and (iii) the Ungava fault zone in Davis Strait acted as a leaky transform fault during rifting. This robust plate reconstruction reduces gaps and overlaps in Davis Strait and suggests that there is no need for alternative models proposed for reconstructions of this area including additional plate boundaries in North America or Greenland. Our favoured model implies that break-up and formation of continent–ocean transition (COT) first started in the southern Labrador Sea and Davis Strait around 88 Ma and then propagated north and southwards up to the onset of real seafloor spreading at 63 Ma in the Labrador Sea. In Baffin Bay, continental stretching lasted longer and actual break-up and seafloor spreading started around 61 Ma (chron 26).

The deep Earth origin of the Iceland plume and its effects on regional surface uplift and subsidence

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 23-02-2017

DOI: 10.5194/SE-8-235-2017

Abstract: Abstract. The present-day seismic structure of the mantle under the North Atlantic Ocean indicates that the Iceland hotspot represents the surface expression of a deep mantle plume, which is thought to have erupted in the North Atlantic domain during the Palaeocene. The spatial and temporal evolution of the plume since its eruption is still highly debated, and little is known about its deep mantle history. Here, we use palaeogeographically constrained global mantle flow models to investigate the evolution of deep Earth flow beneath the North Atlantic since the Jurassic. The models show that over the last ∼ 100 Myr a remarkably stable pattern of convergent flow has prevailed in the lowermost mantle near the tip of the African Large Low-Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP), making it an ideal plume nucleation site. We extract model dynamic topography representative of a plume beneath the North Atlantic region since eruption at ∼ 60 Ma to present day and compare its evolution to available offshore geological and geophysical observations across the region. This comparison confirms that a widespread episode of Palaeocene transient uplift followed by early Eocene anomalous subsidence can be explained by the mantle-driven effects of a plume head ∼ 2500 km in diameter, arriving beneath central eastern Greenland during the Palaeocene. The location of the model plume eruption beneath eastern Greenland is compatible with several previous models. The predicted dynamic topography is within a few hundred metres of Palaeocene anomalous subsidence derived from well data. This is to be expected given the current limitations involved in modelling the evolution of Earth's mantle flow in 3-D, particularly its interactions with the base of a heterogeneous lithosphere as well as short-wavelength advective upper mantle flow, not captured in the presented global models.

Kinematics and extent of the Liguro-Piemont Ocean

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 23-03-2020

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU2020-11228

Abstract: & & Assessing the extent of a former ocean, of which only remnants are found in mountain belts, is challenging but crucial to understand subduction and exhumation processes. Here we present new constraints on the opening and width of the Liguro-Piemont (LP) Ocean (or Alpine Tethys) in Mesozoic time using plate kinematic reconstructions of the Western Mediterranean-Alpine area.& & & & Our kinematic model is based on a compilation of geological-geophysical data and published reconstructions of the opening of the Atlantic for the motion of Europe, Africa and Iberia, and of the Cenozoic deformation along fold-and-thrust belts (Alps, Apennines, Dinarides, Provence) and extensional basins (Liguro-Provencal Basin and Sicily Channel Rift Zone) for the motion of the Adriatic plate (Adria) and Sardinia-Corsica. For Jurassic and Cretaceous times, our main assumption is to avoid significant convergence or ergence between Adria and Africa and between Iberia and Sardinia-Corsica, as there is no geological evidence for such deformation. This implies in return strike-slip motion between southern France and Iberia-Sardinia-Corsica and within the Adriatic plate.& & & & Our model shows that the LP basin opened in three phases: (1) first a slow extensional phase of c. 4 mm/yr (full rate) in Lower-Middle Jurassic between 200-165 Ma, followed by (2) a faster (up to 1.5 cm/yr) oblique extension in Middle-Upper Jurassic between 165-154 Ma, which coincides with emplacement ages of gabbros and pillow-lavas, and (3) a final main extensional phase in Upper Jurassic between 154 and 145 Ma, with rates up to 2.3 cm/yr. At 145 Ma, Iberia starts to move relative to Europe and thus extension in the LP domain decreases rapidly till it ceases completely at about 130 Ma. We interpret the first phase as rifting of the proximal part of the continental margins (200-165 Ma) followed by hyper-extension and formation of the ocean-continent transition zone (165-154 Ma), and break-up and ultra-slow oceanic spreading during the final third phase (mainly 154-145 Ma). Along a NW-SE transect between Corsica and northern Adria, we estimate the width of the LP Ocean to a maximum of ~ 240 km (oceanic domain) and the extent of the whole rifted margins to ~ 500 km, sub ided into ~380 km for the proximal and necking zones, and ~120 km for the hyper-extended and ocean-continent transition zones. Our results are supported by high-resolution thermo-mechanical modelling of the rifting phase that, using our kinematic constraints, reproduces very well the geometry of the Adriatic margin, as obtained by published geological reconstructions of the Southern Alps.& & & & We test other kinematic scenarios for the motion of Sardinia-Corsica and for the opening of the Ionian Basin which would increase the obliquity of rifting and reduce even more the width of the extended domain. Therefore, our calculated extent of the LP Ocean constitutes a maximum estimate providing crucial constraints for geodynamic modelling and a better understanding of subduction processes during the Alpine Orogeny.& span& & & /span& & &

The Cretaceous and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 29-04-2014

DOI: 10.5194/SE-5-227-2014

Abstract: Abstract. Tectonic reconstructions of Southeast Asia have given rise to numerous controversies that include the accretionary history of Sundaland and the enigmatic tectonic origin of the proto-South China Sea. We assimilate a ersity of geological and geophysical observations into a new regional plate model, coupled to a global model, to address these debates. Our approach takes into account terrane suturing and accretion histories, the location of subducted slabs imaged in mantle tomography in order to constrain the evolution of regional subduction zones, as well as plausible absolute and relative plate velocities and tectonic driving mechanisms. We propose a scenario of rifting from northern Gondwana in the latest Jurassic, driven by northward slab pull from north-dipping subduction of Tethyan crust beneath Eurasia, to detach East Java, Mangkalihat, southeast Borneo and West Sulawesi blocks that collided with a Tethyan intra-oceanic subduction zone in the mid-Cretaceous and subsequently accreted to the Sunda margin (i.e., southwest Borneo core) in the Late Cretaceous. In accounting for the evolution of plate boundaries, we propose that the Philippine Sea plate originated on the periphery of Tethyan crust forming this northward conveyor. We implement a revised model for the Tethyan intra-oceanic subduction zones to reconcile convergence rates, changes in volcanism and the obduction of ophiolites. In our model the northward margin of Greater India collides with the Kohistan–Ladakh intra-oceanic arc at ∼53 Ma, followed by continent–continent collision closing the Shyok and Indus–Tsangpo suture zones between ∼42 and 34 Ma. We also account for the back-arc opening of the proto-South China Sea from ∼65 Ma, consistent with extension along east Asia and the formation of supra-subduction zone ophiolites presently found on the island of Mindoro. The related rifting likely detached the Semitau continental fragment from South China, which accreted to northern Borneo in the mid-Eocene, to account for the Sarawak Orogeny. Rifting then re-initiated along southeast China by 37 Ma to open the South China Sea, resulting in the complete consumption of proto-South China Sea by ∼17 Ma when the collision of the Dangerous Grounds and northern Palawan blocks with northern Borneo choked the subduction zone to result in the Sabah Orogeny and the obduction of ophiolites in Palawan and Mindoro. We conclude that the counterclockwise rotation of Borneo was accommodated by oroclinal bending consistent with paleomagnetic constraints, the curved lithospheric lineaments observed in gravity anomalies of the Java Sea and the curvature of the Cretaceous Natuna paleo-subduction zone. We complete our model by constructing a time-dependent network of topological plate boundaries and gridded paleo-ages of oceanic basins, allowing us to compare our plate model evolution to seismic tomography. In particular, slabs observed at depths shallower than ∼1000 km beneath northern Borneo and the South China Sea are likely to be remnants of the proto-South China Sea basin.

Supplementary material to "A tectonic-rules based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago – implications for supercontinent cycles and plate-mantle system evolution"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 26-01-2022

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2021-154-SUPPLEMENT

Constraining Absolute Plate Motions Since the Triassic

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 07-2019

DOI: 10.1029/2019JB017442

Abstract: The absolute motion of tectonic plates since Pangea can be derived from observations of hotspot trails, paleomagnetism, or seismic tomography. However, fitting observations is typically carried out in isolation without consideration for the fit to unused data or whether the resulting plate motions are geodynamically plausible. Through the joint evaluation of global hotspot track observations (for times Ma), first‐order estimates of net lithospheric rotation (NLR), and parameter estimation for paleo–trench migration (TM), we present a suite of geodynamically consistent, data‐optimized global absolute reference frames from 220 Ma to the present. Each absolute plate motion (APM) model was evaluated against six published APM models, together incorporating the full range of primary data constraints. Model performance for published and new models was quantified through a standard statistical analyses using three key diagnostic global metrics: root‐mean square plate velocities, NLR characteristics, and TM behavior. Additionally, models were assessed for consistency with published global paleomagnetic data and for ages Ma for predicted relative hotspot motion, track geometry, and time dependence. Optimized APM models demonstrated significantly improved global fit with geological and geophysical observations while performing consistently with geodynamic constraints. Critically, APM models derived by limiting average rates of NLR to ~0.05°/Myr and absolute TM velocities to ~27‐mm/year fit geological observations including hotspot tracks. This suggests that this range of NLR and TM estimates may be appropriate for Earth over the last 220 Myr, providing a key step toward the practical integration of numerical geodynamics into plate tectonic reconstructions.

Effects of initial weakness on rift architecture

Publisher: Geological Society of London

Date: 2007

DOI: 10.1144/SP282.18

Abrupt plate accelerations shape rifted continental margins

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 18-07-2016

DOI: 10.1038/NATURE18319

Abstract: Rifted margins are formed by persistent stretching of continental lithosphere until breakup is achieved. It is well known that strain-rate-dependent processes control rift evolution, yet quantified extension histories of Earth's major passive margins have become available only recently. Here we investigate rift kinematics globally by applying a new geotectonic analysis technique to revised global plate reconstructions. We find that rifted margins feature an initial, slow rift phase (less than ten millimetres per year, full rate) and that an abrupt increase of plate ergence introduces a fast rift phase. Plate acceleration takes place before continental rupture and considerable margin area is created during each phase. We reproduce the rapid transition from slow to fast extension using analytical and numerical modelling with constant force boundary conditions. The extension models suggest that the two-phase velocity behaviour is caused by a rift-intrinsic strength--velocity feedback, which can be robustly inferred for erse lithosphere configurations and rheologies. Our results explain differences between proximal and distal margin areas and demonstrate that abrupt plate acceleration during continental rifting is controlled by the nonlinear decay of the resistive rift strength force. This mechanism provides an explanation for several previously unexplained rapid absolute plate motion changes, offering new insights into the balance of plate driving forces through time.

Testing absolute plate reference frames and the implications for the generation of geodynamic mantle heterogeneity structure

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2012

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2011.11.027

Early to middle Miocene monsoon climate in Australia: REPLY

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 06-2012

DOI: 10.1130/G33384Y.1

Oblique rifting: the rule, not the exception

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 16-07-2018

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2018-63

Abstract: Abstract. Movements of tectonic plates often induce oblique deformation at ergent plate boundaries. This is in striking contrast with traditional conceptual models of rifting and rifted margin formation, which often assume 2D deformation where the rift velocity is oriented perpendicular to the plate boundary. Here we quantify the validity of this assumption by analysing the kinematics of major continent-scale rift systems in a global plate tectonic reconstruction from the onset of Pangea breakup until present-day. We evaluate rift obliquity by joint examination of relative extension velocity and local rift trend using the script-based plate reconstruction software pyGPlates. Our results show that the global mean rift obliquity amounts to 34° with a standard deviation of 24°, using the convention that the angle of obliquity is spanned by extension direction and rift trend normal. We find that more than ~ 70 % of all rift segments exceeded an obliquity of 20° demonstrating that oblique rifting should be considered the rule, not the exception. In many cases, rift obliquity and extension velocity increase during rift evolution (e.g. Australia-Antarctica, Gulf of California, South Atlantic, India-Antarctica), which suggests an underlying geodynamic correlation via obliquity-dependent rift strength. Oblique rifting produces 3D stress and strain fields that cannot be accounted for in simplified 2D plane strain analysis. We therefore highlight the importance of 3D approaches in modelling, surveying, and interpretation of most rift segments on Earth where oblique rifting is the dominant mode of deformation.

A graphical user interface for particle-in-cell finite element analysis of lithospheric deformation and mantle convection in two dimensions

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2007

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2006.11.004

Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2020.103477

Towards community-driven paleogeographic reconstructions: integrating open-access paleogeographic and paleobiology data with plate tectonics

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 07-03-2013

DOI: 10.5194/BG-10-1529-2013

Abstract: Abstract. A variety of paleogeographic reconstructions have been published, with applications ranging from paleoclimate, ocean circulation and faunal radiation models to resource exploration yet their uncertainties remain difficult to assess as they are generally presented as low-resolution static maps. We present a methodology for ground-truthing the digital Palaeogeographic Atlas of Australia by linking the GPlates plate reconstruction tool to the global Paleobiology Database and a Phanerozoic plate motion model. We develop a spatio-temporal data mining workflow to validate the Phanerozoic Palaeogeographic Atlas of Australia with paleoenvironments derived from fossil data. While there is general agreement between fossil data and the paleogeographic model, the methodology highlights key inconsistencies. The Early Devonian paleogeographic model of southeastern Australia insufficiently describes the Emsian inundation that may be refined using biofacies distributions. Additionally, the paleogeographic model and fossil data can be used to strengthen numerical models, such as the dynamic topography and the associated inundation of eastern Australia during the Cretaceous. Although paleobiology data provide constraints only for paleoenvironments with high preservation potential of organisms, our approach enables the use of additional proxy data to generate improved paleogeographic reconstructions.

Age, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetry of the world's ocean crust

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-2008

DOI: 10.1029/2007GC001743

Plate tectonic raster reconstruction in GPlates

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 08-2014

DOI: 10.5194/SE-5-741-2014

Abstract: Abstract. We describe a novel method implemented in the GPlates plate tectonic reconstruction software to interactively reconstruct arbitrarily high-resolution raster data to past geological times using a rotation model. The approach is based on the projection of geo-referenced raster data into a cube map followed by a reverse projection onto rotated tectonic plates on the surface of the globe. This decouples the rendering of a geo-referenced raster from its reconstruction, providing a number of benefits including a simple implementation and the ability to combine rasters with different geo-referencing or inbuilt raster projections. The cube map projection is accelerated by graphics hardware in a wide variety of computer systems manufactured over the last decade. Furthermore, by integrating a multi-resolution tile partitioning into the cube map we can provide on-demand tile streaming, level-of-detail rendering and hierarchical visibility culling, enabling researchers to visually explore essentially unlimited resolution geophysical raster data attached to tectonic plates and reconstructed through geological time. This capability forms the basis for interactively building and improving plate reconstructions in an iterative fashion, particularly for tectonically complex regions.

Community infrastructure and repository for marine magnetic identifications

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-2014

DOI: 10.1002/2013GC005176

The breakup of East Gondwana: Assimilating constraints from Cretaceous ocean basins around India into a best-fit tectonic model

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 03-2013

DOI: 10.1002/JGRB.50079

Simulation of the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 02-2009

DOI: 10.1029/2008GL036571

Early India‐Australia spreading history revealed by newly detected Mesozoic magnetic anomalies in the Perth Abyssal Plain

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 07-2013

DOI: 10.1002/JGRB.50239

Abstract: The seafloor within the Perth Abyssal Plain (PAP), offshore Western Australia, is the only section of crust that directly records the early spreading history between India and Australia during the Mesozoic breakup of Gondwana. However, this early spreading has been poorly constrained due to an absence of data, including marine magnetic anomalies and data constraining the crustal nature of key tectonic features. Here, we present new magnetic anomaly data from the PAP that shows that the crust in the western part of the basin was part of the Indian Plate—the conjugate flank to the oceanic crust immediately offshore the Perth margin, Australia. We identify a sequence of M2 and older anomalies in the west PAP within crust that initially moved with the Indian Plate, formed at intermediate half‐spreading rates (35 mm/yr) consistent with the conjugate sequence on the Australian Plate. More speculatively, we reinterpret the youngest anomalies in the east PAP, finding that the M0‐age crust initially formed on the Indian Plate was transferred to the Australian Plate by a westward jump or propagation of the spreading ridge shortly after M0 time. S les dredged from the Gulden Draak and Batavia Knolls (at the western edge of the PAP) reveal that these bathymetric features are continental fragments rather than igneous plateaus related to Broken Ridge. These microcontinents rifted away from Australia with Greater India during initial breakup at ~130 Ma, then rifted from India following the cessation of spreading in the PAP (~101–103 Ma).

Modeling the Miocene climatic optimum: Ocean circulation

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 21-02-2012

DOI: 10.1029/2010PA002041

Supplementary material to "The Cretaceous and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 21-08-2013

DOI: 10.5194/SED-5-1335-2013-SUPPLEMENT

Supplementary material to "Improving global paleogeography since the late Paleozoic using paleobiology"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 18-04-2017

DOI: 10.5194/BG-2017-94-SUPPLEMENT

Evolution and dynamics of the Australian Plate

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 2003

DOI: 10.1130/0-8137-2372-8.1

A full-plate global reconstruction of the Neoproterozoic

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2017

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2017.04.001

Tectonic evolution of the southwest Pacific using constraints from backarc basins

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 2003

DOI: 10.1130/0-8137-2372-8.343

Correspondence: Reply to ‘Numerical modelling of the PERM anomaly and the Emeishan large igneous province’

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 10-10-2017

DOI: 10.1038/S41467-017-00130-5

Cretaceous Vertical Motion of Australia and the AustralianAntarctic Discordance

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 06-03-1998

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.279.5356.1499

Abstract: A three-dimensional model of mantle convection in which the known history of plate tectonics is imposed predicts the anomalous Cretaceous vertical motion of Australia and the present-day distinctive geochemistry and geophysics of the Australian-Antarctic Discordance. The dynamic models infer that a subducted slab associated with the long-lived Gondwanaland-Pacific converging margin passed beneath Australia during the Cretaceous, partially stagnated in the mantle transition zone, and is presently being drawn up by the Southeast Indian Ridge.

Global patterns of Earth's dynamic topography since the Jurassic

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 23-03-2017

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2017-26

Abstract: Abstract. We evaluate the spatial and temporal evolution of Earth’s long-wavelength surface dynamic topography since the Jurassic, using a series of high-resolution global mantle convection models. These models are Earth-like in terms of convective vigour, thermal structure, surface heat-flux and the geographic distribution of heterogeneity. The models generate a degree-2 dominated spectrum of dynamic topography, with negative litudes above subducted slabs (i.e. circum-Pacific regions and southern Eurasia) and positive litudes elsewhere (i.e. Africa, north-west Eurasia and the central Pacific). Model predictions are compared with published observations and subsidence patterns from well data, both globally and for the Australian and South African regions. We find that our models reproduce the long-wavelength component of these observations, although observed smaller-scale variations are not reproduced. We subsequently define “geodynamic rules” for how different surface tectonic settings are affected by mantle processes: (i) locations in the vicinity of a subduction zone show large negative dynamic topography litudes (ii) regions far away from convergent margins feature long-term positive dynamic topography (iii) rapid variations in dynamic support occur along the margins of overriding plates (e.g. Western US) and at points located on a plate that rapidly approaches a subduction zone (e.g. India and Arabia). Our models provide a predictive quantitative framework linking mantle convection with plate tectonics and sedimentary basin evolution, thus improving our understanding of how subduction and mantle convection affect the spatio-temporal evolution of basin architecture.

Bayeslands: A Bayesian inference approach for parameter uncertainty quantification in Badlands

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2019

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2019.06.012

Kinematic constraints on the Rodinia to Gondwana transition

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2017

DOI: 10.1016/J.PRECAMRES.2017.07.013

Kinematics and extent of the Piemont–Liguria Basin – implications for subduction processes in the Alps

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 21-04-2021

DOI: 10.5194/SE-12-885-2021

Abstract: Abstract. Assessing the size of a former ocean of which only remnants are found in mountain belts is challenging but crucial to understanding subduction and exhumation processes. Here we present new constraints on the opening and width of the Piemont–Liguria (PL) Ocean, known as the Alpine Tethys together with the Valais Basin. We use a regional tectonic reconstruction of the Western Mediterranean–Alpine area, implemented into a global plate motion model with lithospheric deformation, and 2D thermo-mechanical modeling of the rifting phase to test our kinematic reconstructions for geodynamic consistency. Our model fits well with independent datasets (i.e., ages of syn-rift sediments, rift-related fault activity, and mafic rocks) and shows that, between Europe and northern Adria, the PL Basin opened in four stages: (1) rifting of the proximal continental margin in the Early Jurassic (200–180 Ma), (2) hyper-extension of the distal margin in the Early to Middle Jurassic (180–165 Ma), (3) ocean–continent transition (OCT) formation with mantle exhumation and MORB-type magmatism in the Middle–Late Jurassic (165–154 Ma), and (4) breakup and mature oceanic spreading mostly in the Late Jurassic (154–145 Ma). Spreading was slow to ultra-slow (max. 22 mm yr−1, full rate) and decreased to ∼5 mm yr−1 after 145 Ma while completely ceasing at about 130 Ma due to the motion of Iberia relative to Europe during the opening of the North Atlantic. The final width of the PL mature (“true”) oceanic crust reached a maximum of 250 km along a NW–SE transect between Europe and northwestern Adria. Plate convergence along that same transect has reached 680 km since 84 Ma (420 km between 84–35 Ma, 260 km between 35–0 Ma), which greatly exceeds the width of the ocean. We suggest that at least 63 % of the subducted and accreted material was highly thinned continental lithosphere and most of the Alpine Tethys units exhumed today derived from OCT zones. Our work highlights the significant proportion of distal rifted continental margins involved in subduction and exhumation processes and provides quantitative estimates for future geodynamic modeling and a better understanding of the Alpine Orogeny.

A reconstruction of the North Atlantic since the earliest Jurassic

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-09-2016

DOI: 10.1111/BRE.12214

Long-term Phanerozoic sea level change from solid Earth processes

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 04-2022

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2022.117451

Global tectonic reconstructions with continuously deforming and evolving rigid plates

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2018.04.007

Geological, tomographic, kinematic and geodynamic constraints on the dynamics of sinking slabs

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2014

DOI: 10.1016/J.JOG.2013.10.006

Early to Middle Miocene monsoon climate in Australia

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 03-12-2010

DOI: 10.1130/G31208.1

Modelling the role of dynamic topography and eustasy in the evolution of the Great Artesian Basin

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 20-10-2021

DOI: 10.1111/BRE.12606

Abstract: Widespread flooding of the Australian continent during the Early Cretaceous, referred to as the Eromanga Sea, deposited extensive shallow marine sediments throughout the Great Artesian Basin (GAB). This event had been considered ‘out of sync’ with eustatic sea level and was instead solely attributed to dynamic subsidence associated with Australia's passage over eastern Gondwanan subducted material. However, mantle convection models previously used to explain this event have since been shown to overestimate dynamic topography litude by a factor of two compared with residual topography estimates. Previous models were also based on a Cretaceous eustatic sea level peak at ca. 90 Ma in conventional eustatic sea level curves however, more recent estimates of global sea level from ocean basin volume (OBV) suggest this peak may have occurred earlier at ca. 120 Ma. Our work links time‐dependent erosion and deposition with dynamic topography and eustasy to test their contribution to basin development using the landscape evolution code pyBadlands. Our results show that the lower litude estimates of dynamic topography derived from pseudo‐compressible mantle flow models better reflect the Cretaceous vertical motions of the Australian continent (ca. 100 m) compared with their incompressible counterparts (ca. 200–400 m). Additionally, our models include the Neogene north‐eastward tilting of Australia, elusive in most previously published geodynamic models. In conjunction with an OBV‐derived sea level curve, our preferred landscape evolution model broadly matches the Cretaceous inundation patterns and first‐order sedimentary sequences in the GAB. The results highlight that the Early Cretaceous inundation of the Australian continent is likely a combination of high global sea levels and the regional effects of dynamic subsidence. Our work provides a framework for a new generation of evolving paleogeographic models at continental scales, while also providing key insights into the viability of existing sea level curves and dynamic topography estimates for reproducing topographic and basin evolution.

Climate model sensitivity to changes in Miocene paleotopography

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 12-2009

DOI: 10.1080/08120090903246170

The Interplay Between the Eruption and Weathering of Large Igneous Provinces and the Deep‐Time Carbon Cycle

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 09-06-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2017GL076691

Palaeolatitudinal distribution of lithologic indicators of climate in a palaeogeographic framework

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Date: 12-03-2019

DOI: 10.1017/S0016756818000110

Abstract: Whether the latitudinal distribution of climate-sensitive lithologies is stable through greenhouse and icehouse regimes remains unclear. Previous studies suggest that the palaeolatitudinal distribution of palaeoclimate indicators, including coals, evaporites, reefs and carbonates, has remained broadly similar since the Permian period, leading to the conclusion that atmospheric and oceanic circulation control their distribution rather than the latitudinal temperature gradient. Here we revisit a global-scale compilation of lithologic indicators of climate, including coals, evaporites and glacial deposits, back to the Devonian period. We test the sensitivity of their latitudinal distributions to the uneven distribution of continental areas through time and to global tectonic models, correct the latitudinal distributions of lithologies for s ling- and continental area-bias, and use statistical methods to fit these distributions with probability density functions and estimate their high-density latitudinal ranges with 50% and 95% confidence intervals. The results suggest that the palaeolatitudinal distributions of lithologies have changed through deep geological time, notably a pronounced poleward shift in the distribution of coals at the beginning of the Permian. The distribution of evaporites indicates a clearly bimodal distribution over the past ~400 Ma, except for Early Devonian, Early Carboniferous, the earliest Permian and Middle and Late Jurassic times. We discuss how the patterns indicated by these lithologies change through time in response to plate motion, orography, evolution and greenhouse/icehouse conditions. This study highlights that combining tectonic reconstructions with a comprehensive lithologic database and novel data analysis approaches provide insights into the nature and causes of shifting climatic zones through deep time.

Origin and evolution of the deep thermochemical structure beneath Eurasia

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 18-01-2017

DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS14164

Abstract: A unique structure in the Earth’s lowermost mantle, the Perm Anomaly, was recently identified beneath Eurasia. It seismologically resembles the large low-shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) under Africa and the Pacific, but is much smaller. This challenges the current understanding of the evolution of the plate–mantle system in which plumes rise from the edges of the two LLSVPs, spatially fixed in time. New models of mantle flow over the last 230 million years reproduce the present-day structure of the lower mantle, and show a Perm-like anomaly. The anomaly formed in isolation within a closed subduction network ∼22,000 km in circumference prior to 150 million years ago before migrating ∼1,500 km westward at an average rate of 1 cm year −1 , indicating a greater mobility of deep mantle structures than previously recognized. We hypothesize that the mobile Perm Anomaly could be linked to the Emeishan volcanics, in contrast to the previously proposed Siberian Traps.

Global sediment thickness data set updated for the Australian‐Antarctic Southern Ocean

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 08-2013

DOI: 10.1002/GGGE.20181

Dynamic subsidence of Eastern Australia during the Cretaceous

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2011

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2010.06.006

Oceanic Residual Topography Agrees With Mantle Flow Predictions at Long Wavelengths

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-11-2017

DOI: 10.1002/2017GL074800

Origin and evolution of a submarine large igneous province: the Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge, southern Indian Ocean

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2000

DOI: 10.1016/S0012-821X(99)00315-5

Catastrophic initiation of subduction following forced convergence across fracture zones

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2003

DOI: 10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00242-5

Supplementary material to "Arc volcanism, carbonate platform evolution and palaeo-atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>: Components and interactions in the deep carbon cycle&

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 19-09-2017

DOI: 10.5194/CP-2017-112-SUPPLEMENT

Potential links between continental rifting, CO2 degassing and climate change through time

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 13-11-2017

DOI: 10.1038/S41561-017-0003-6

Improved decision-making in geochemical sampling based on both frequency and Bayesian frameworks

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 25-03-2022

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU22-14

Abstract: & & A common problem in geochemical exploration projects is the limited number of collected s les due to budgetary, time, and other constraints. Therefore, to study spatial mineralisation patterns using available s les in both s led and uns led areas, the interpolation of the available data is essential to assign estimates to uns led areas. Because interpolation estimates are based on the data available only within the search window, in continuous field geochemical modelling such interpolations using any single method are often the main source of uncertainty. Error propagation analysis needs to be considered to evaluate interpolation errors& #8217 effects in geochemical anomaly detection. One method for analysing the propagation of errors in models and evaluating their stability is Monte Carlo Simulation (MCSIM). In this method, the P50 (median) value (called & #8216 return& #8217 ) and the uncertainty value (called & #8216 risk& #8217 ) are calculated. Here the uncertainty is calculated as 1/(P90-P10) for which P10 (lower decile) and P90 (upper decile) are the average 10th and 90th percentiles of the multiple simulated values, correspond to each element. We have applied this method to Swedish till data, collected throughout the country by the Geological Survey of Sweden. The main concern is whether to evaluate if the s les are sufficient and representative of the target elements concentrations for geochemical studies. To address this concern, the s ling uncertainty in a statistical sense (not geochemical) per element was studied using the return-risk matrix. This matrix was applied to volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) target elements, then subsequently to the s les per bedrock. Therefore, a large number of simulated values (e.g., 5,000, which is higher than the number of the s les, i.e., 2,578) was generated using MCSIM. Where the quantified return is low or negative, and the quantified uncertainty is high, particularly higher than its relevant return, additional s ling is required to achieve the minimum required spatial continuity in the data or the stability of the later applied classification models. This affects the certainty of the models generated in the study area. In the Sweden data, all the elements assessed have relatively high returns and low uncertainty, demonstrating the stability of the parameters. The process was subsequently applied to s les separated into the main lithological categories or geological domains to determine if the stability in the patterns is affected by rock type (and associate natural variability in the background). In Swedish till s les, the statistical s ling quality is acceptable in the bedrocks of Exotic Terranes, Archean, Baltoscandian, and Idefjorden. However, it is not acceptable in the Palaeoproterozoic units and the Eastern Segment, due to the risks being higher than the returns, which may increase the error propagation effect on the interpolated map and efficiency of the classes obtained by different classification models.& &

Geodynamic implications of moving Indian Ocean hotspots

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2003

DOI: 10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00368-6

Supplementary material to "Global patterns of Earth's dynamic topography since the Jurassic"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 23-03-2017

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2017-26-SUPPLEMENT

Improving global paleogeography since the late Paleozoic using paleobiology

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 04-12-2017

DOI: 10.5194/BG-14-5425-2017

Abstract: Abstract. Paleogeographic reconstructions are important to understand Earth's tectonic evolution, past eustatic and regional sea level change, paleoclimate and ocean circulation, deep Earth resources and to constrain and interpret the dynamic topography predicted by mantle convection models. Global paleogeographic maps have been compiled and published, but they are generally presented as static maps with varying map projections, different time intervals represented by the maps and different plate motion models that underlie the paleogeographic reconstructions. This makes it difficult to convert the maps into a digital form and link them to alternative digital plate tectonic reconstructions. To address this limitation, we develop a workflow to restore global paleogeographic maps to their present-day coordinates and enable them to be linked to a different tectonic reconstruction. We use marine fossil collections from the Paleobiology Database to identify inconsistencies between their indicative paleoenvironments and published paleogeographic maps, and revise the locations of inferred paleo-coastlines that represent the estimated maximum transgression surfaces by resolving these inconsistencies. As a result, the consistency ratio between the paleogeography and the paleoenvironments indicated by the marine fossil collections is increased from an average of 75 % to nearly full consistency (100 %). The paleogeography in the main regions of North America, South America, Europe and Africa is significantly revised, especially in the Late Carboniferous, Middle Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Late Cretaceous and most of the Cenozoic. The global flooded continental areas since the Early Devonian calculated from the revised paleogeography in this study are generally consistent with results derived from other paleoenvironment and paleo-lithofacies data and with the strontium isotope record in marine carbonates. We also estimate the terrestrial areal change over time associated with transferring reconstruction, filling gaps and modifying the paleogeographic geometries based on the paleobiology test. This indicates that the variation of the underlying plate reconstruction is the main factor that contributes to the terrestrial areal change, and the effect of revising paleogeographic geometries based on paleobiology is secondary.

Predicting Sediment Thickness on Vanished Ocean Crust Since 200 Ma

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 12-2017

DOI: 10.1002/2017GC007258

Middle Miocene tectonic boundary conditions for use in climate models

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 10-2008

DOI: 10.1029/2008GC002046

Relationships between palaeogeography and opal occurrence in Australia: A data-mining approach

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2013.02.002

Convergence of tectonic reconstructions and mantle convection models for significant fluctuations in seafloor spreading

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2013.09.032

Kimberlite eruptions driven by slab flux and subduction angle

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 06-06-2023

DOI: 10.1038/S41598-023-36250-W

Abstract: Kimberlites are sourced from thermochemical upwellings which can transport diamonds to the surface of the crust. The majority of kimberlites preserved at the Earth’s surface erupted between 250 and 50 million years ago, and have been attributed to changes in plate velocity or mantle plumes. However, these mechanisms fail to explain the presence of strong subduction signatures observed in some Cretaceous kimberlites. This raises the question whether there is a subduction process that unifies our understanding of the timing of kimberlite eruptions. We develop a novel formulation for calculating subduction angle based on trench migration, convergence rate, slab thickness and density to connect the influx of slab material into the mantle with the timing of kimberlite eruptions. We find that subduction angles combined with peaks in slab flux predict pulses of kimberlite eruptions. High rates of subducting slab material trigger mantle return flow that stimulates fertile reservoirs in the mantle. These convective instabilities transport slab-influenced melt to the surface at a distance inbound from the trench corresponding to the subduction angle. Our deep-time slab dip formulation has numerous potential applications including modelling the deep carbon and water cycles, and an improved understanding of subduction-related mineral deposits.

Controls on the global distribution of contourite drifts: Insights from an eddy-resolving ocean model

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2018.02.044

Surrogate-assisted Bayesian inversion for landscape and basin evolution models

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 08-07-2020

DOI: 10.5194/GMD-13-2959-2020

Abstract: Abstract. The complex and computationally expensive nature of landscape evolution models poses significant challenges to the inference and optimization of unknown model parameters. Bayesian inference provides a methodology for estimation and uncertainty quantification of unknown model parameters. In our previous work, we developed parallel tempering Bayeslands as a framework for parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification for the Badlands landscape evolution model. Parallel tempering Bayeslands features high-performance computing that can feature dozens of processing cores running in parallel to enhance computational efficiency. Nevertheless, the procedure remains computationally challenging since thousands of s les need to be drawn and evaluated. In large-scale landscape evolution problems, a single model evaluation can take from several minutes to hours and in some instances, even days or weeks. Surrogate-assisted optimization has been used for several computationally expensive engineering problems which motivate its use in optimization and inference of complex geoscientific models. The use of surrogate models can speed up parallel tempering Bayeslands by developing computationally inexpensive models to mimic expensive ones. In this paper, we apply surrogate-assisted parallel tempering where the surrogate mimics a landscape evolution model by estimating the likelihood function from the model. We employ a neural-network-based surrogate model that learns from the history of s les generated. The entire framework is developed in a parallel computing infrastructure to take advantage of parallelism. The results show that the proposed methodology is effective in lowering the computational cost significantly while retaining the quality of model predictions.

Global kinematics of tectonic plates and subduction zones since the late Paleozoic Era

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2019

DOI: 10.1016/J.GSF.2018.05.011

Dynamic topography and anomalously negative residual depth of the Argentine Basin

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2012

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2011.12.005

Plate tectonic raster reconstruction in GPlates

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 12-03-2014

DOI: 10.5194/SED-6-793-2014

Abstract: Abstract. We describe a novel method implemented in the GPlates plate tectonic reconstruction software to interactively reconstruct arbitrarily high-resolution raster data to past geological times using a rotation model. The approach is based on the projection of geo-referenced raster data into a cube map followed by a reverse projection onto rotated tectonic plates on the surface of the globe. This decouples the rendering of a geo-referenced raster from its reconstruction, providing a number of benefits including a simple implementation and the ability to combine rasters with different geo-referencing or inbuilt raster projections. The cube map projection is accelerated by graphics hardware in a wide variety of computer systems manufactured over the last decade. Furthermore, by integrating a multi-resolution tile partitioning into the cube map we can provide on-demand tile streaming, level-of-detail rendering and hierarchical visibility culling enabling researchers to visually explore essentially unlimited resolution geophysical raster data attached to tectonic plates and reconstructed through geological time. This capability forms the basis for interactively building and improving plate reconstructions in an iterative fashion, particularly for tectonically complex regions.

Predicting the emplacement of Cordilleran porphyry copper systems using a spatio-temporal machine learning model

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.OREGEOREV.2021.104300

The tectonic evolution of the Arctic since Pangea breakup: Integrating constraints from surface geology and geophysics with mantle structure

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2013.05.012

Seawater chemistry driven by supercontinent assembly, breakup, and dispersal

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 08-2013

DOI: 10.1130/G34405.1

Influence of mantle flow on the drainage of eastern Australia since the Jurassic Period

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1002/2016GC006617

Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200Ma

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2012

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2012.03.002

The GPlates Portal: Cloud-Based Interactive 3D Visualization of Global Geophysical and Geological Data in a Web Browser

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 09-03-2016

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0150883

Organization of the tectonic plates in the last 200 Myr

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 07-2013

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2013.04.020

The evolution of basal mantle structure in response to supercontinent aggregation and dispersal

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-11-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-02359-Z

Abstract: Seismic studies have revealed two Large Low-Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) in the lowermost mantle. Whether these structures remain stable over time or evolve through supercontinent cycles is debated. Here we analyze a recently published mantle flow model constrained by a synthetic plate motion model extending back to one billion years ago, to investigate how the mantle evolves in response to changing plate configurations. Our model predicts that sinking slabs segment the basal thermochemical structure below an assembling supercontinent, and that this structure eventually becomes unified due to slab push from circum-supercontinental subduction. In contrast, the basal thermochemical structure below the superocean is generally coherent due to the persistence of a superocean in our imposed plate reconstruction. The two antipodal basal thermochemical structures exchange material several times when part of one of the structures is carved out and merged with the other one, similarly to “exotic” tectonic terranes. Plumes mostly rise from thick basal thermochemical structures and in some instances migrate from the edges towards the interior of basal thermochemical structures due to slab push. Our results suggest that the topography of basal structures and distribution of plumes change over time due to the changing subduction network over supercontinent cycles.

The role of deep Earth dynamics in driving the flooding and emergence of New Guinea since the Jurassic

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2017

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2017.09.039

On the uncertainties in hot spot reconstructions and the significance of moving hot spot reference frames

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-2005

DOI: 10.1029/2004GC000784

Paleobathymetry reconstructions during the Mesozoic and uncertainties in oceanic gateway evolution

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-05-2023

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU23-10133

Abstract: The reconstruction of paleobathymetry, in particular the evolution of oceanic gateways, has important implications for paleo-ocean circulation, paleoclimate, as well as biotic and faunal exchanges. During the past ~250 million years there have been major changes in paleobathymetry and oceanic gateways associated with the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent, including the development of the North and South Atlantic ocean basins and the Central Atlantic seaway. Considerable research effort has been invested into better understanding the global evolution of paleobathymetry and oceanic gateways during the Cenozoic, but there remain large uncertainties about the timing of opening, closure, and physiographic evolution of Mesozoic oceanic gateways and seaways.Here, we present new paleobathymetry reconstructions based on a recent global plate tectonic model (M& #252 ller et al., 2019) spanning the Triassic (~250 Ma) to the present. We reconstruct presently-preserved oceanic crust using new functionality developed in pybacktrack v1.4, a python module for backstripping and reconstructing paleobathymetry. For present-day submerged continental crust we use pybacktrack to reconstruct paleobathymetry based on its rifting and deformation history and assuming a single lithology for the progressive decompaction of sediments. In regions where ancient seafloor is now subducted, we use an established approach of synthetically reconstructing paleobathymetry based on the age-area distribution of oceanic crust (& #8216 age grids& #8217 ) convolved with an age-depth relationship to reconstruct basement depths followed by modelling effects from sediment thickness and seafloor volcanism including large igneous provinces. Our methodology additionally allows for alternative plate tectonic models (and/or absolute reference frames) to be integrated into reconstructions of paleobathymetry. Further, we use our new paleobathymetry reconstructions to explore the formation and evolution of pre-Cenozoic oceanic gateways. We find significant differences in the development and physiography of Mesozoic oceanic gateways and seaways in our new reconstructions compared to a widely used paleogeographic model, which has major implications for paleoceanographic models and interpretations of paleoclimate proxies.

Evolution of Earth’s tectonic carbon conveyor belt

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-05-2022

DOI: 10.1038/S41586-022-04420-X

An expression of Philippine Sea plate rotation: the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2004

DOI: 10.1016/J.TECTO.2004.07.061

Kinematics and extent of the Piemont-Liguria Basin – implications for subduction processes in the Alps

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 08-10-2020

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2020-161

Abstract: Abstract. Assessing the size of a former ocean, of which only remnants are found in mountain belts, is challenging but crucial to understand subduction and exhumation processes. Here we present new constraints on the opening and width of the Piemont-Liguria (PL) Ocean, known as the Alpine Tethys together with the Valais Basin. We use a regional tectonic reconstruction of the Western Mediterranean-Alpine area, implemented into a global plate motion model with lithospheric deformation, and 2D thermo-mechanical modelling of the rifting phase to test our kinematic reconstructions for geodynamic consistency. Our model fits well with independent datasets (i.e. ages of syn-rift sediments, rift-related fault activity and mafic rocks) and shows that the PL Basin opened in four stages: (1) Rifting of the proximal continental margin in Early Jurassic (200–180 Ma), (2) Hyper-extension of the distal margin in Early-Middle Jurassic (180–165 Ma), (3) Ocean-Continent Transition (OCT) formation with mantle exhumation and MORB-type magmatism in Middle-Late Jurassic (165–154 Ma), (4) Break-up and mature oceanic spreading mostly in Late Jurassic (154–145 Ma). Spreading was slow to ultra-slow (max. 22 mm/yr, full rate) and decreased to ~ 5 mm/yr after 145 Ma while completely ceasing at about 130 Ma due to motion of Iberia relative to Europe during the opening of the North Atlantic. The final width of the PL Ocean reached a maximum of 250 km along a NW–SE transect between Europe and Adria (Ivrea). In the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, the amount of plate convergence between Adria (Ivrea) and Europe during Alpine subduction (84–35 Ma, 420 km) and collision (35–0 Ma, 260 km) largely exceeded the width of the ocean. We suggest that at least 63 % of the subducted and accreted material was highly thinned continental lithosphere and most of the Alpine Tethys Ophiolites exhumed today derived from OCT zones. Our work highlights the importance of distal rifted continental margins during subduction and exhumation processes and provides quantitative estimates for future geodynamic modelling and a better understanding of the Alpine Orogeny.

Forward modelling of oceanic lithospheric magnetization

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 29-12-2012

DOI: 10.1093/GJI/GGS063

Multiobjective Bayesian optimization and joint inversion for active sensor fusion

Publisher: Society of Exploration Geophysicists

Date: 2021

DOI: 10.1190/GEO2019-0460.1

Abstract: A critical decision process in data acquisition for mineral and energy resource exploration is how to efficiently combine a variety of sensor types and how to minimize the total cost. We have developed a probabilistic framework for multiobjective optimization and inverse problems given an expensive cost function for allocating new measurements. This new method is devised to jointly solve multilinear forward models of 2D sensor data and 3D geophysical properties using sparse Gaussian process kernels while taking into account the cross-variances of different parameters. Multiple optimization strategies are tested and evaluated on a set of synthetic and real geophysical data. We determine the advantages on a specific ex le of a joint inverse problem, recommending where to place new drill-core measurements given 2D gravity and magnetic sensor data the same approach can be applied to a variety of remote sensing problems with linear forward models — ranging from constraints limiting surface access for data acquisition to adaptive multisensor positioning.

Earth's tectonic and plate boundary evolution over 1.8 billion years

Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)

Date: 25-08-2023

DOI: 10.31223/X5CW96

Abstract: Understanding the intricate relationships between the solid Earth and its surface systems in deep time necessitates comprehensive full-plate tectonic reconstructions that include evolving plate boundaries and oceanic plates. In particular, a tectonic reconstruction that spans multiple supercontinent cycles is important to understand the long-term evolution of Earth's interior, surface environments and mineral resources. Here we present a new full-plate tectonic reconstruction from 1.8 Ga to present that combines and refines three published models: one full-plate tectonicmodel spanning 1 Ga to present, and two continental-drift models focused on the late Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic eras. Our model is constrained by geological and geophysical data, and presented as a relative plate motion model in a palaeomagnetic reference frame. The model encompasses three supercontinents, Nuna (Columbia),Rodinia, and Gondwana/Pangea, and more than two complete supercontinent cycles, covering ~40% of the Earth’s history. Our refinements to the base models are focussed on times before 1.0 Ga, with minor changes for the Neoproterozoic. For times between 1.8 Ga and 1.0 Ga, the root mean square speeds for all plates range between 4 and 10 cm/yr, and the net lithospheric rotation is below 0.9°/Myr, which are kinematically consistent with post-Pangean plate tectonic constraints. The time spans of the existence of Nuna and Rodinia are updated to between 1.6 Ga (1.65 Ga in the base model) and 1.46 Ga, and between 930 Ma and 780 Ma (800 Ma in the base model), respectively, based on geological and paleomagnetic data. We follow the base models to leave Amazonia/West Africa separate from Nuna (as well as Western Australia, which only collides with the remnants of Nuna after initial break-up), and South China/India separate from Rodinia. Contrary to the concept of a "boring billion", our model reveals a dynamic geological history between 1.8 Ga and 0.8 Ga, which is characterized by supercontinent assembly and breakup, continuous accretion events, and widespread LIP events. The model is publicly accessible, providing a framework for future refinements and facilitating deep time studies of Earth's system.

Mid-Cretaceous seafloor spreading pulse: Fact or fiction?

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 30-07-2009

DOI: 10.1130/G25624A.1

The GPlates Geological Information Model and Markup Language

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 08-10-2012

DOI: 10.5194/GI-1-111-2012

Abstract: Abstract. Understanding tectonic and geodynamic processes leading to the present-day configuration of the Earth involves studying data and models across a variety of disciplines, from geochemistry, geochronology and geophysics, to plate kinematics and mantle dynamics. All these data represent a 3-D spatial and 1-D temporal framework, a formalism which is not exploited by traditional spatial analysis tools. This is arguably a fundamental limit in both the rigour and sophistication in which datasets can be combined for geological deep time analysis, and often confines the extent of data analyses to the present-day configurations of geological objects. The GPlates Geological Information Model (GPGIM) represents a formal specification of geological and geophysical data in a time-varying plate tectonics context, used by the GPlates virtual-globe software. It provides a framework in which relevant types of geological data are attached to a common plate tectonic reference frame, allowing the data to be reconstructed in a time-dependent spatio-temporal plate reference frame. The GPlates Markup Language (GPML), being an extension of the open standard Geography Markup Language (GML), is both the modelling language for the GPGIM and an XML-based data format for the interoperable storage and exchange of data modelled by it. The GPlates software implements the GPGIM allowing researchers to query, visualise, reconstruct and analyse a rich set of geological data including numerical raster data. The GPGIM has recently been extended to support time-dependent geo-referenced numerical raster data by wrapping GML primitives into the time-dependent framework of the GPGIM. Coupled with GPlates' ability to reconstruct numerical raster data and import/export from/to a variety of raster file formats, as well as its handling of time-dependent plate boundary topologies, interoperability with geodynamic softwares is established, leading to a new generation of deep-time spatio-temporal data analysis and modelling, including a variety of new functionalities, such as 4-D data-mining.

A review of observations and models of dynamic topography

Publisher: GeoScienceWorld

Date: 04-2013

DOI: 10.1130/L245.1

Coupled Evolution of Plate Tectonics and Basal Mantle Structure

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 2021

DOI: 10.1029/2020GC009244

Abstract: The relationships between plate motions and basal mantle structure remain poorly understood, with some models implying that the basal mantle structure has remained stable over time, while others suggest that it could be shaped by the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents. Here we investigate the evolution of mantle flow driven by end‐member plate tectonic models over 1 Gyr. We implement a tectonic scenario in which supercontinent reassembly occurs by introversion, and consider three distinct references frames that result in different net lithospheric rotation. Our flow models predict a dominant degree‐2 mantle structure most of the time. We analyze the relationship between imposed tectonic velocities and deep mantle flow, and find that at spherical harmonic degree 2, the maxima of lower mantle radial flow and temperature follow the motion path of the maxima of surface ergence. It may take ∼160–240 Myr for lower mantle structure to reflect plate motion changes when the lower mantle is reorganized by slabs sinking onto basal thermochemical structures, and/or when slabs stagnate in the transition zone before sinking to the lower mantle. Basal thermochemical structures move at less than 0.6°/Myr in our models, with a temporal average of 0.16°/Myr when there is no net lithospheric rotation, and between 0.20 and 0.23°/Myr when net lithospheric rotation exists and is induced in the lower mantle. Our results suggest that basal thermochemical structures are not stationary, but rather linked to global plate motions and plate boundary reconfigurations, reflecting the dynamic nature of the coevolving plate‐mantle system.

PyBacktrack 1.0: A Tool for Reconstructing Paleobathymetry on Oceanic and Continental Crust

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 06-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2017GC007313

Global plate boundary evolution and kinematics since the late Paleozoic

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.GLOPLACHA.2016.10.002

A suite of early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) climate model boundary conditions

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 16-09-2014

DOI: 10.5194/GMD-7-2077-2014

Abstract: Abstract. We describe a set of early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) climate model boundary conditions constructed in a self-consistent reference frame and incorporating recent data and methodologies. Given the growing need for uniform experimental design within the Eocene climate modelling community and the challenges faced in simulating the prominent features of Eocene climate, we make publicly available our data sets of Eocene topography, bathymetry, tidal dissipation, vegetation, aerosol distributions and river runoff. Major improvements in our boundary conditions over previous efforts include the implementation of the ANTscape palaeotopography of Antarctica, more accurate representations of the Drake Passage and Tasman Gateway, as well as an approximation of sub grid cell topographic variability. Our boundary conditions also include for the first time modelled estimates of Eocene aerosol distributions and tidal dissipation, both consistent with our palaeotopography and palaeobathymetry. The resolution of our data sets is unprecedented and will facilitate high resolution climate simulations. In light of the inherent uncertainties involved in reconstructing global boundary conditions for past time periods these data sets should be considered as one interpretation of the available data and users are encouraged to modify them according to their needs and interpretations. This paper marks the beginning of a process for reconstructing a set of accurate, open-access Eocene boundary conditions for use in climate models.

Circum‐Arctic mantle structure and long‐wavelength topography since the Jurassic

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 10-2014

DOI: 10.1002/2014JB011078

A tectonic model reconciling evidence for the collisions between India, Eurasia and intra-oceanic arcs of the central-eastern Tethys

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2015.01.001

How supercontinents and superoceans affect seafloor roughness

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 12-2008

DOI: 10.1038/NATURE07573

Abstract: Seafloor roughness varies considerably across the world's ocean basins and is fundamental to controlling the circulation and mixing of heat in the ocean and dissipating eddy kinetic energy. Models derived from analyses of active mid-ocean ridges suggest that ocean floor roughness depends on seafloor spreading rates, with rougher basement forming below a half-spreading rate threshold of 30-35 mm yr(-1) (refs 4, 5), as well as on the local interaction of mid-ocean ridges with mantle plumes or cold-spots. Here we present a global analysis of marine gravity-derived roughness, sediment thickness, seafloor isochrons and palaeo-spreading rates of Cretaceous to Cenozoic ridge flanks. Our analysis reveals that, after eliminating effects related to spreading rate and sediment thickness, residual roughness anomalies of 5-20 mGal remain over large swaths of ocean floor. We found that the roughness as a function of palaeo-spreading directions and isochron orientations indicates that most of the observed excess roughness is not related to spreading obliquity, as this effect is restricted to relatively rare occurrences of very high obliquity angles (>45 degrees ). Cretaceous Atlantic ocean floor, formed over mantle previously overlain by the Pangaea supercontinent, displays anomalously low roughness away from mantle plumes and is independent of spreading rates. We attribute this observation to a sub-Pangaean supercontinental mantle temperature anomaly leading to slightly thicker than normal Late Jurassic and Cretaceous Atlantic crust, reduced brittle fracturing and smoother basement relief. In contrast, ocean crust formed above Pacific superswells, probably reflecting metasomatized lithosphere underlain by mantle at only slightly elevated temperatures, is not associated with basement roughness anomalies. These results highlight a fundamental difference in the nature of large-scale mantle upwellings below supercontinents and superoceans, and their impact on oceanic crustal accretion.

Tectonic speed limits from plate kinematic reconstructions

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2015.02.037

A review of machine learning in processing remote sensing data for mineral exploration

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2022

DOI: 10.1016/J.RSE.2021.112750

The role of oceanic plateau subduction in the Laramide orogeny

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 28-03-2010

DOI: 10.1038/NGEO829

Towards a predictive model for opal exploration using a spatio-temporal data mining approach

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 03-2013

DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2012.754793

The Cretaceous and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 21-08-2013

DOI: 10.5194/SED-5-1335-2013

Abstract: Abstract. Tectonic reconstructions of Southeast Asia have given rise to numerous controversies which include the accretionary history of Sundaland and the enigmatic tectonic origin of the Proto South China Sea. We assimilate a ersity of geological and geophysical observations into a new regional plate model, coupled to a global model, to address these debates. Our approach takes into account terrane suturing and accretion histories, the location of subducted slabs imaged in mantle tomography in order to constrain the opening and closure history of paleo-ocean basins, as well as plausible absolute and relative plate velocities and tectonic driving mechanisms. We propose a scenario of rifting from northern Gondwana in the Late Jurassic, driven by northward slab pull, to detach East Java, Mangkalihat, southeast Borneo and West Sulawesi blocks that collided with a Tethyan intra-oceanic subduction zone in the mid Cretaceous and subsequently accreted to the Sunda margin (i.e. southwest Borneo core) in the Late Cretaceous. In accounting for the evolution of plate boundaries, we propose that the Philippine Sea Plate originated on the periphery of Tethyan crust forming this northward conveyor. We implement a revised model for the Tethyan intra-oceanic subduction zones to reconcile convergence rates, changes in volcanism and the obduction of ophiolites. In our model the northward margin of Greater India collides with the Kohistan-Ladakh intra-oceanic arc at ∼53 Ma, followed by continent-continent collision closing the Shyok and Indus-Tsangpo suture zones between ∼42 and 34 Ma. We also account for the back-arc opening of the Proto South China Sea from ∼65 Ma, consistent with extension along east Asia and the emplacement of supra-subduction zone ophiolites presently found on the island of Mindoro. The related rifting likely detached the Semitau continental fragment from east China, which accreted to northern Borneo in the mid Eocene, to account for the Sarawak Orogeny. Rifting then re-initiated along southeast China by 37 Ma to open the South China Sea, resulting in the complete consumption of Proto South China Sea by ∼17 Ma when the collision of the Dangerous Grounds and northern Palawan blocks with northern Borneo choked the subduction zone to result in the Sabah Orogeny and the obduction of ophiolites in Palawan and Mindoro. We conclude that the counterclockwise rotation of Borneo was accommodated by oroclinal bending consistent with paleomagnetic constraints, the curved lithospheric lineaments observed in gravity anomalies of the Java Sea and the curvature of the Cretaceous Natuna paleo-subduction zone. We complete our model by constructing a time-dependent network of continuously closing plate boundaries and gridded paleo-ages of oceanic basins, allowing us to test our plate model evolution against seismic tomography. In particular, slabs observed at depths shallower than ∼1000 km beneath northern Borneo and the South China Sea are likely to be remnants of the Proto South China Sea basin.

GPlates: Building a Virtual Earth Through Deep Time

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 07-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2018GC007584

Abstract: GPlates is an open‐source, cross‐platform plate tectonic geographic information system, enabling the interactive manipulation of plate‐tectonic reconstructions and the visualization of geodata through geological time. GPlates allows the building of topological plate models representing the mosaic of evolving plate boundary networks through time, useful for computing plate velocity fields as surface boundary conditions for mantle convection models and for investigating physical and chemical exchanges of material between the surface and the deep Earth along tectonic plate boundaries. The ability of GPlates to visualize subsurface 3‐D scalar fields together with traditional geological surface data enables researchers to analyze their relationships through geological time in a common plate tectonic reference frame. To achieve this, a hierarchical cube map framework is used for rendering reconstructed surface raster data to support the rendering of subsurface 3‐D scalar fields using graphics‐hardware‐accelerated ray‐tracing techniques. GPlates enables the construction of plate deformation zones—regions combining extension, compression, and shearing that accommodate the relative motion between rigid blocks. Users can explore how strain rates, stretching/shortening factors, and crustal thickness evolve through space and time and interactively update the kinematics associated with deformation. Where data sets described by geometries (points, lines, or polygons) fall within deformation regions, the deformation can be applied to these geometries. Together, these tools allow users to build virtual Earth models that quantitatively describe continental assembly, fragmentation and dispersal and are interoperable with many other mapping and modeling tools, enabling applications in tectonics, geodynamics, basin evolution, orogenesis, deep Earth resource exploration, paleobiology, paleoceanography, and paleoclimate.

Ellipsis 3D: A particle-in-cell finite-element hybrid code for modelling mantle convection and lithospheric deformation

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2006

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2006.04.006

Sea-level fluctuations driven by changes in global ocean basin volume following supercontinent break-up

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 09-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2020.103293

Reconstructing slab dip through deep time to explain pulses in kimberlite eruptions

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 15-05-2023

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU23-10847

Abstract: The recycling of oceanic lithosphere at subduction zones constitutes the largest driving force of plate tectonic motion. The angle at which subducting plates enter the mantle influences the magnitude of this force, the distribution of subduction-related earthquakes, intensity of volcanism, and mountain building. However, the factors that control subduction angle remain unresolved. We develop a novel formulation for calculating the subduction angle based on trench migration, convergence rate, slab thickness, and plate density which reproduces the present-day dynamics of global subduction zones. Applying this formulation to reconstructed subduction boundaries from the Jurassic to present day, we relate subduction angle combined with slab flux to pulses in kimberlite eruptions. High rates of subducting slab material trigger mantle return flow that stimulates fertile reservoirs in the mantle. These convective instabilities transport slab-influenced melt to the surface at a distance inbound from the trench corresponding to the subduction angle. Our deep-time slab dip formulation has numerous potential applications including modelling the deep carbon and water cycles, and an improved understanding of subduction-related mineral deposits.

The influence of carbonate platform interactions with subduction zone volcanism on palaeo-atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> since the Devonian

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 21-06-2018

DOI: 10.5194/CP-14-857-2018

Abstract: Abstract. The CO2 liberated along subduction zones through intrusive/extrusive magmatic activity and the resulting active and diffuse outgassing influences global atmospheric CO2. However, when melts derived from subduction zones intersect buried carbonate platforms, decarbonation reactions may cause the contribution to atmospheric CO2 to be far greater than segments of the active margin that lacks buried carbon-rich rocks and carbonate platforms. This study investigates the contribution of carbonate-intersecting subduction zones (CISZs) to palaeo-atmospheric CO2 levels over the past 410 million years by integrating a plate motion and plate boundary evolution model with carbonate platform development through time. Our model of carbonate platform development has the potential to capture a broader range of degassing mechanisms than approaches that only account for continental arcs. Continuous and cross-wavelet analyses as well as wavelet coherence are used to evaluate trends between the evolving lengths of carbonate-intersecting subduction zones, non-carbonate-intersecting subduction zones and global subduction zones, and are examined for periodic, linked behaviour with the proxy CO2 record between 410 Ma and the present. Wavelet analysis reveals significant linked periodic behaviour between 60 and 40 Ma, when CISZ lengths are relatively high and are correlated with peaks in palaeo-atmospheric CO2, characterised by a 32–48 Myr periodicity and a ∼ 8–12 Myr lag of CO2 peaks following CISZ length peaks. The linked behaviour suggests that the relative abundance of CISZs played a role in affecting global climate during the Palaeogene. In the 200–100 Ma period, peaks in CISZ lengths align with peaks in palaeo-atmospheric CO2, but CISZ lengths alone cannot be determined as the cause of a warmer Cretaceous–Jurassic climate. Nevertheless, across the majority of the Phanerozoic, feedback mechanisms between the geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere likely played dominant roles in modulating climate. Our modelled subduction zone lengths and carbonate-intersecting subduction zone lengths approximate magmatic activity through time, and can be used as input into fully coupled models of CO2 flux between deep and shallow carbon reservoirs.

Tectonic evolution and deep mantle structure of the eastern Tethys since the latest Jurassic

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2016.09.005

Comparing early to middle Miocene terrestrial climate simulations with geological data

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 12-2010

DOI: 10.1130/GES00544.1

Full-fit, palinspastic reconstruction of the conjugate Australian-Antarctic margins

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 12-2011

DOI: 10.1029/2011TC002912

Revised tectonic evolution of the Eastern Indian Ocean

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 06-2013

DOI: 10.1002/GGGE.20120

Arc volcanism, carbonate platform evolution and palaeo-atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>: Components and interactions in the deep carbon cycle

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 19-09-2017

DOI: 10.5194/CP-2017-112

Abstract: Abstract. Carbon dioxide (CO2) liberated at arc volcanoes that intersect buried carbonate platforms plays a larger role in influencing atmospheric CO2 than those active margins lacking buried carbonate platforms. This study investigates the contribution of carbonate-intersecting arc activity on palaeo-atmospheric CO2 levels over the past 410 million years by integrating a plate motion model with an evolving carbonate platform development model. Our modelled subduction zone lengths and carbonate-intersecting arc lengths approximate arc activity with time, and can be used as input into fully-coupled models of CO2 flux between deep and shallow reservoirs. Continuous and cross-wavelet as well as wavelet coherence analyses were used to evaluate trends between carbonate-intersecting arc activity, non-carbonate-intersecting arc activity and total global subduction zone lengths and the proxy-CO2 record between 410 Ma and the present. Wavelet analysis revealed significant linked periodic behaviour between 75–50 Ma, where global carbonate-intersecting arc activity is relatively high and where peaks in palaeo-atmospheric CO2 is correlated with peaks in global carbonate-intersecting arc activity, characterised by a ~ 32 Myr periodicity and a 10 Myr lag of CO2 peaks after carbonate-intersecting arc length peaks. The linked behaviour may suggest that the relative abundance of carbonate-intersecting arcs played a role in affecting global climate during the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene greenhouse. At all other times, atmospheric CO2 emissions from carbonate-intersecting arcs were not correlated with the proxy-CO2 record. Our analysis did not support the idea that carbonate-intersecting arc activity is more important than non-carbonate intersecting arc activity in driving changes in palaeo-atmospheric CO2 levels. This suggests that tectonic controls are more elaborate than the subduction-related volcanic emissions component or that other feedback mechanisms between the geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere played larger roles in modulating climate in the Phanerozoic.

Response to Comment on Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 25-07-2008

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.1157501

Abstract: Accurately locating boundaries between continental and oceanic crust is topical in view of locating offshore boundaries relevant to margin formation models, plate kinematics, and frontier resource exploration. Although we disagree with Tikku and Direen's interpretations, the associated controversies reflect an absence of agreed-upon geophysical criteria for distinguishing stretched continental from oceanic crust, and a lack of s les from nonvolcanic margins.

Geologic and kinematic constraints on Late Cretaceous to mid Eocene plate boundaries in the southwest Pacific

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2014.10.008

Oceanic microplate formation records the onset of India–Eurasia collision

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2015.10.040

Subsidence history and forming mechanism of anomalous tectonic subsidence in the Bozhong depression, Bohaiwan basin

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-0012

DOI: 10.1007/S11430-007-0095-8

Miocene drainage reversal of the Amazon River driven by plate–mantle interaction

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 21-11-2010

DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1017

Revision of Paleogene plate motions in the Pacific and implications for the Hawaiian-Emperor bend: REPLY

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 22-03-2016

DOI: 10.1130/G37828Y.1

Formation of Australian continental margin highlands driven by plate–mantle interaction

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2016

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2016.02.025

Fragmentation of active continental plate margins owing to the buoyancy of the mantle wedge

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 21-03-2010

DOI: 10.1038/NGEO825

Tectonic environments of South American porphyry copper magmatism through time revealed by spatiotemporal data mining

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 12-2016

DOI: 10.1002/2016TC004289

Coupled evolution of supercontinents and lower mantle structure

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 04-03-2021

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU21-13892

Abstract: & & The relationships between plate motions and basal mantle structure remain poorly understood, with some models implying that the basal mantle structure has remained stable over time, while others suggest that it could be shaped by the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents. Here we investigate the plate-basal mantle relationship through 1) building a series of end-member plate tectonic models over one billion years, and 2) creating mantle flow models assimilated by those plate models. To achieve that, we build synthetic plate tectonic models dating from 1& Ga to 250 Ma that we connect to an existing palaeogeographical plate reconstruction from 250 Ma to create a relative plate motion model for the last 1 Gyr, in which supercontinent breakup and reassembly occur via introversion. We consider three distinct reference frames that result in different net lithospheric rotation. We find that the flow models predict a dominant degree-2 lower mantle structure most of the time and that they are in first-order agreement (~70% spatial match) with tomographic models. Model thermochemical structures at the base of the mantle may split into smaller structures when slabs sink onto them, and smaller basal structures may merge into larger ones as a result of slab pushing. The basal thermochemical structure under the superocean is large and continuous, whereas the basal thermochemical structure under the supercontinent is smaller and progressively assembles during and shortly after supercontinent assembly. In the models, plumes also develop preferentially along the edge of the basal thermochemical structures and tend to migrate towards the interior of basal structures over time as they interact with the slabs. Lone plumes can also form away from the main thermochemical structures, often within a small network of sinking slabs. Lone plumes may migrate between basal structures. We analyse the relationship between imposed tectonic velocities and deep mantle flow, and find that at spherical harmonic degree 2, the maxima of lower mantle radial flow and temperature follow the motion path of the maxima of surface ergence. It may take ~160-240 Myr for lower mantle structure to reflect plate motion changes when the lower mantle is reorganised by slabs sinking onto basal thermochemical structures, and/or when slabs stagnate in the transition zone before sinking to the lower mantle. Basal thermochemical structures move at less than 0.6 & #176 /Myr in our models with a temporal average of 0.16 & #176 /Myr when there is no net lithospheric rotation, and between 0.20-0.23 & #176 /Myr when net lithospheric rotation exists and is induced to the lower mantle. Our results suggest that basal thermochemical structures are not stationary, but rather linked to global plate motions and plate boundary reconfigurations, reflecting the dynamic nature of the co-evolving plate-mantle system.& &

Multicore Parallel Tempering Bayeslands for Basin and Landscape Evolution

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 11-2019

DOI: 10.1029/2019GC008465

Plate tectonic reconstructions with continuously closing plates

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2012

DOI: 10.1016/J.CAGEO.2011.04.014

Australian-Antarctic breakup and seafloor spreading: Balancing geological and geophysical constraints

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2019

DOI: 10.1016/J.EARSCIREV.2018.10.011

A rapid burst in hotspot motion through the interaction of tectonics and deep mantle flow

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 11-05-2016

DOI: 10.1038/NATURE17422

Abstract: Volcanic hotspot tracks featuring linear progressions in the age of volcanism are typical surface expressions of plate tectonic movement on top of narrow plumes of hot material within Earth's mantle. Seismic imaging reveals that these plumes can be of deep origin--probably rooted on thermochemical structures in the lower mantle. Although palaeomagnetic and radiometric age data suggest that mantle flow can advect plume conduits laterally, the flow dynamics underlying the formation of the sharp bend occurring only in the Hawaiian-Emperor hotspot track in the Pacific Ocean remains enigmatic. Here we present palaeogeographically constrained numerical models of thermochemical convection and demonstrate that flow in the deep lower mantle under the north Pacific was anomalously vigorous between 100 million years ago and 50 million years ago as a consequence of long-lasting subduction systems, unlike those in the south Pacific. These models show a sharp bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor hotspot track arising from the interplay of plume tilt and the lateral advection of plume sources. The different trajectories of the Hawaiian and Louisville hotspot tracks arise from asymmetric deformation of thermochemical structures under the Pacific between 100 million years ago and 50 million years ago. This asymmetric deformation waned just before the Hawaiian-Emperor bend developed, owing to flow in the deepest lower mantle associated with slab descent in the north and south Pacific.

Climate model sensitivity to atmospheric CO2 concentrations for the middle Miocene

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 06-2009

DOI: 10.1016/J.GLOPLACHA.2009.02.001

Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic

Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)

Date: 31-01-2022

DOI: 10.31223/X52S4G

Abstract: Recent progress in plate tectonic reconstructions has seen models move beyond the classical idea of continental drift by attempting to reconstruct the full evolving configuration of tectonic plates and plate boundaries. A particular problem for the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian is that many existing interpretations of geological and palaeomagnetic data have remained disconnected from younger, better-constrained periods in Earth history. An important test of deep time reconstructions is therefore to demonstrate the continuous kinematic viability of tectonic motions across multiple supercontinent cycles. We present, for the first time, a continuous full-plate model spanning 1 Ga to the present-day, that includes a revised and improved model for the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian (1000–520 Ma) that connects with models of the Phanerozoic, thereby opening up pre-Gondwana times for quantitative analysis and further regional refinements. In this contribution, we first summarise methodological approaches to full-plate modelling and review the existing full-plate models in order to select appropriate models that produce a single continuous model. Our model is presented in a palaeomagnetic reference frame, with a newly-derived apparent polar wander path for Gondwana from 540 to 320 Ma, and a global apparent polar wander path from 320 to 0 Ma. We stress, though while we have used palaeomagnetic data when available, the model is also geologically constrained, based on preserved data from past-plate boundaries. This study is intended as a first step in the direction of a detailed and self-consistent tectonic reconstruction for the last billion years of Earth history, and our model files are released to facilitate community development.

Semiautomatic fracture zone tracking

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 07-2015

DOI: 10.1002/2015GC005853

Bayesian geological and geophysical data fusion for the construction and uncertainty quantification of 3D geological models

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.GSF.2020.04.015

Dynamic topography and eustasy controlled the paleogeographic evolution of northern Africa since the mid‐Cretaceous

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 05-2017

DOI: 10.1002/2016TC004280

A Quantitative Tomotectonic Plate Reconstruction of Western North America and the Eastern Pacific Basin

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 08-2020

DOI: 10.1029/2020GC009117

Ridge subduction sparked reorganization of the Pacific plate‐mantle system 60–50 million years ago

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 24-03-2015

DOI: 10.1002/2015GL063057

Increasing the usability and accessibility of geodynamic modelling tools to the geoscience community: UnderworldGUI

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 23-06-2008

DOI: 10.1007/S10069-007-0006-3

Global chemical weathering dominated by continental arcs since the mid-Palaeozoic

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 23-08-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41561-021-00806-0

On the Scales of Dynamic Topography in Whole‐Mantle Convection Models

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 09-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2018GC007516

Abstract: Mantle convection shapes Earth's surface by generating dynamic topography. Observational constraints and regional convection models suggest that surface topography could be sensitive to mantle flow for wavelengths as short as 1,000 and 250 km, respectively. At these spatial scales, surface processes including sedimentation and relative sea‐level change occur on million‐year timescales. However, time‐dependent global mantle flow models do not predict small‐scale dynamic topography yet. Here we present 2‐D spherical annulus numerical models of mantle convection with large radial and lateral viscosity contrasts. We first identify the range of Rayleigh number, internal heat production rate and yield stress for which models generate plate‐like behavior, surface heat flow, surface velocities, and topography distribution comparable to Earth's. These models produce both whole‐mantle convection and small‐scale convection in the upper mantle, which results in small‐scale ( km) to large‐scale ( 4 km) dynamic topography, with a spectral power for intermediate scales (500 to 10 4 km) comparable to estimates of present‐day residual topography. Timescales of convection and the associated dynamic topography vary from five to several hundreds of millions of years. For a Rayleigh number of 10 7 , we investigate how lithosphere yield stress variations (10–50 MPa) and the presence of deep thermochemical heterogeneities favor small‐scale (200–500 km) and intermediate‐scale (500–10 4 km) dynamic topography by controlling the formation of small‐scale convection and the number and distribution of subduction zones, respectively. The interplay between mantle convection and lithosphere dynamics generates a complex spatial and temporal pattern of dynamic topography consistent with constraints for Earth.

Oblique rifting: the rule, not the exception

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 26-10-2018

DOI: 10.5194/SE-9-1187-2018

Abstract: Abstract. Movements of tectonic plates often induce oblique deformation at ergent plate boundaries. This is in striking contrast with traditional conceptual models of rifting and rifted margin formation, which often assume 2-D deformation where the rift velocity is oriented perpendicular to the plate boundary. Here we quantify the validity of this assumption by analysing the kinematics of major continent-scale rift systems in a global plate tectonic reconstruction from the onset of Pangea breakup until the present day. We evaluate rift obliquity by joint examination of relative extension velocity and local rift trend using the script-based plate reconstruction software pyGPlates. Our results show that the global mean rift obliquity since 230 Ma amounts to 34° with a standard deviation of 24°, using the convention that the angle of obliquity is spanned by extension direction and rift trend normal. We find that more than ∼ 70 % of all rift segments exceeded an obliquity of 20° demonstrating that oblique rifting should be considered the rule, not the exception. In many cases, rift obliquity and extension velocity increase during rift evolution (e.g. Australia-Antarctica, Gulf of California, South Atlantic, India-Antarctica), which suggests an underlying geodynamic correlation via obliquity-dependent rift strength. Oblique rifting produces 3-D stress and strain fields that cannot be accounted for in simplified 2-D plane strain analysis. We therefore highlight the importance of 3-D approaches in modelling, surveying, and interpretation of most rift segments on Earth where oblique rifting is the dominant mode of deformation.

Prospectivity of Western Australian iron ore from geophysical data using a reject option classifier

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.OREGEOREV.2015.03.014

Ocean Basin Evolution and Global-Scale Plate Reorganization Events Since Pangea Breakup

Publisher: Annual Reviews

Date: 29-06-2016

DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-EARTH-060115-012211

Abstract: We present a revised global plate motion model with continuously closing plate boundaries ranging from the Triassic at 230 Ma to the present day, assess differences among alternative absolute plate motion models, and review global tectonic events. Relatively high mean absolute plate motion rates of approximately 9–10 cm yr −1 between 140 and 120 Ma may be related to transient plate motion accelerations driven by the successive emplacement of a sequence of large igneous provinces during that time. An event at ∼100 Ma is most clearly expressed in the Indian Ocean and may reflect the initiation of Andean-style subduction along southern continental Eurasia, whereas an acceleration at ∼80 Ma of mean rates from 6 to 8 cm yr −1 reflects the initial northward acceleration of India and simultaneous speedups of plates in the Pacific. An event at ∼50 Ma expressed in relative, and some absolute, plate motion changes around the globe and in a reduction of global mean plate speeds from about 6 to 4–5 cm yr −1 indicates that an increase in collisional forces (such as the India–Eurasia collision) and ridge subduction events in the Pacific (such as the Izanagi–Pacific Ridge) play a significant role in modulating plate velocities.

Enigmatic formation of the Norfolk Basin, SW Pacific: A plume influence on back‐arc extension

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 06-2004

DOI: 10.1029/2003GC000643

Deformation-related volcanism in the Pacific Ocean linked to the Hawaiian–Emperor bend

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 27-04-2015

DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2416

The Dynamic Topography of Eastern China Since the Latest Jurassic Period

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 05-2018

DOI: 10.1029/2017TC004830

Topographic asymmetry of the South Atlantic from global models of mantle flow and lithospheric stretching

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2014

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2013.11.017

A Global Plate Model Including Lithospheric Deformation Along Major Rifts and Orogens Since the Triassic

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 06-2019

DOI: 10.1029/2018TC005462

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

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 05-10-2007

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.1143769

Abstract: 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.

Seawater chemistry driven by supercontinent assembly, breakup and dispersal: REPLY

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 05-2014

DOI: 10.1130/G35636Y.1

Computer vision-based framework for extracting tectonic lineaments from optical remote sensing data

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 11-10-2019

DOI: 10.1080/01431161.2019.1674462

The tectonic fabric of the ocean basins

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 24-12-2011

DOI: 10.1029/2011JB008413

Decoding earth's plate tectonic history using sparse geochemical data

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.GSF.2019.05.002

Subduction controls the distribution and fragmentation of Earth’s tectonic plates

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 15-06-2016

DOI: 10.1038/NATURE17992

Abstract: The theory of plate tectonics describes how the surface of Earth is split into an organized jigsaw of seven large plates of similar sizes and a population of smaller plates whose areas follow a fractal distribution. The reconstruction of global tectonics during the past 200 million years suggests that this layout is probably a long-term feature of Earth, but the forces governing it are unknown. Previous studies, primarily based on the statistical properties of plate distributions, were unable to resolve how the size of the plates is determined by the properties of the lithosphere and the underlying mantle convection. Here we demonstrate that the plate layout of Earth is produced by a dynamic feedback between mantle convection and the strength of the lithosphere. Using three-dimensional spherical models of mantle convection that self-consistently produce the plate size–frequency distribution observed for Earth, we show that subduction geometry drives the tectonic fragmentation that generates plates. The spacing between the slabs controls the layout of large plates, and the stresses caused by the bending of trenches break plates into smaller fragments. Our results explain why the fast evolution in small back-arc plates reflects the marked changes in plate motions during times of major reorganizations. Our study opens the way to using convection simulations with plate-like behaviour to unravel how global tectonics and mantle convection are dynamically connected.

Australian paleo-stress fields and tectonic reactivation over the past 100 Ma

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 02-2012

DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2011.605801

Supplementary material to "Kinematics and extent of the Piemont-Liguria Basin – implications for subduction processes in the Alps"

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 08-10-2020

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2020-161-SUPPLEMENT

Developing community-based scientific priorities and new drilling proposals in the southern Indian and southwestern Pacific oceans

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 22-10-2018

DOI: 10.5194/SD-24-61-2018

Abstract: Abstract. An International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) workshop was held at Sydney University, Australia, from 13 to 16 June 2017 and was attended by 97 scientists from 12 countries. The aim of the workshop was to investigate future drilling opportunities in the eastern Indian Ocean, southwestern Pacific Ocean, and the Indian and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. The overlying regional sedimentary strata are underexplored relative to their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, and thus the role of the Southern Hemisphere in past global environmental change is poorly constrained. A total of 23 proposal ideas were discussed, with ∼ 12 of these deemed mature enough for active proposal development or awaiting scheduled site survey cruises. Of the remaining 11 proposals, key regions were identified where fundamental hypotheses are testable by drilling, but either site surveys are required or hypotheses need further development. Refinements are anticipated based upon regional IODP drilling in 2017/2018, analysis of recently collected site survey data, and the development of site survey proposals. We hope and expect that this workshop will lead to a new phase of scientific ocean drilling in the Australasian region in the early 2020s.

Sunda-Java trench kinematics, slab window formation and overriding plate deformation since the Cretaceous

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2007

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2006.12.031

Geodynamic reconstruction of an accreted Cretaceous back-arc basin in the Northern Andes

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.JOG.2018.09.008

Tracing the global consumption of carbon at subduction zones over the last 230 million years

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 23-03-2020

DOI: 10.5194/EGUSPHERE-EGU2020-14838

Abstract: & & & span& Chemical heterogeneities in the mantle are typically introduced by recycling oceanic lithosphere through subduction, which transports volatiles into the mantle. The provenance of volatiles, such as carbon, with the down-going plate is varied here we show how the & /span& & span& spatial & /span& & span& distribution of carbon evolves through time & /span& & span& with the motion of the tectonic plates& /span& & span& . Carbon is sequestered at mid-ocean ridges, as new oceanic crust forms, and is transported similar to a conveyor belt until it is recycled at subduction zones. We budget the amount of carbon that has been recycled at subduction zones over the past 230 million years using a global plate reconstruction. The present-day distribution of in-plate carbon,& /span& & span& taking into consideration the last 230 million years of plate influx, is predominantly distributed in the Atlantic. & /span& & span& In contrast, most of the carbon that was sequestered in Pacific seafloor from 230 Ma has since been subducted. Therefore, it is likely that the carbon stored in Pacific seafloor& /span& & span& has played an important role in stimulating volcanic activity along the Ring of Fire.& /span& & &

Global patterns in Earth's dynamic topography since the Jurassic: the role of subducted slabs

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 11-09-2017

DOI: 10.5194/SE-8-899-2017

Abstract: Abstract. We evaluate the spatial and temporal evolution of Earth's long-wavelength surface dynamic topography since the Jurassic using a series of high-resolution global mantle convection models. These models are Earth-like in terms of convective vigour, thermal structure, surface heat-flux and the geographic distribution of heterogeneity. The models generate a degree-2-dominated spectrum of dynamic topography with negative litudes above subducted slabs (i.e. circum-Pacific regions and southern Eurasia) and positive litudes elsewhere (i.e. Africa, north-western Eurasia and the central Pacific). Model predictions are compared with published observations and subsidence patterns from well data, both globally and for the Australian and southern African regions. We find that our models reproduce the long-wavelength component of these observations, although observed smaller-scale variations are not reproduced. We subsequently define geodynamic rules for how different surface tectonic settings are affected by mantle processes: (i) locations in the vicinity of a subduction zone show large negative dynamic topography litudes (ii) regions far away from convergent margins feature long-term positive dynamic topography and (iii) rapid variations in dynamic support occur along the margins of overriding plates (e.g. the western US) and at points located on a plate that rapidly approaches a subduction zone (e.g. India and the Arabia Peninsula). Our models provide a predictive quantitative framework linking mantle convection with plate tectonics and sedimentary basin evolution, thus improving our understanding of how subduction and mantle convection affect the spatio-temporal evolution of basin architecture.

A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago - implications for supercontinent cycles and plate-mantle system evolution

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 07-07-2022

DOI: 10.5194/SE-13-1127-2022

Abstract: Abstract. Understanding the long-term evolution of Earth's plate–mantle system is reliant on absolute plate motion models in a mantle reference frame, but such models are both difficult to construct and controversial. We present a tectonic-rules-based optimization approach to construct a plate motion model in a mantle reference frame covering the last billion years and use it as a constraint for mantle flow models. Our plate motion model results in net lithospheric rotation consistently below 0.25∘ Myr−1, in agreement with mantle flow models, while trench motions are confined to a relatively narrow range of −2 to +2 cm yr−1 since 320 Ma, during Pangea stability and dispersal. In contrast, the period from 600 to 320 Ma, nicknamed the “zippy tricentenary” here, displays twice the trench motion scatter compared to more recent times, reflecting a predominance of short and highly mobile subduction zones. Our model supports an orthoversion evolution from Rodinia to Pangea with Pangea offset approximately 90∘ eastwards relative to Rodinia – this is the opposite sense of motion compared to a previous orthoversion hypothesis based on paleomagnetic data. In our coupled plate–mantle model a broad network of basal mantle ridges forms between 1000 and 600 Ma, reflecting widely distributed subduction zones. Between 600 and 500 Ma a short-lived degree-2 basal mantle structure forms in response to a band of subduction zones confined to low latitudes, generating extensive antipodal lower mantle upwellings centred at the poles. Subsequently, the northern basal structure migrates southward and evolves into a Pacific-centred upwelling, while the southern structure is dissected by subducting slabs, disintegrating into a network of ridges between 500 and 400 Ma. From 400 to 200 Ma, a stable Pacific-centred degree-1 convective planform emerges. It lacks an antipodal counterpart due to the closure of the Iapetus and Rheic oceans between Laurussia and Gondwana as well as due to coeval subduction between Baltica and Laurentia and around Siberia, populating the mantle with slabs until 320 Ma when Pangea is assembled. A basal degree-2 structure forms subsequent to Pangea breakup, after the influence of previously subducted slabs in the African hemisphere on the lowermost mantle structure has faded away. This succession of mantle states is distinct from previously proposed mantle convection models. We show that the history of plume-related volcanism is consistent with deep plumes associated with evolving basal mantle structures. This Solid Earth Evolution Model for the last 1000 million years (SEEM1000) forms the foundation for a multitude of spatio-temporal data analysis approaches.

Dynamic topography of passive continental margins and their hinterlands since the Cretaceous

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2017.04.028

Constraining the Jurassic extent of Greater India: Tectonic evolution of the West Australian margin

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 05-2012

DOI: 10.1029/2011GC003919

A geospatial platform for the tectonic interpretation of low-temperature thermochronology Big Data

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 26-05-2023

DOI: 10.1038/S41598-023-35776-3

Abstract: Low-temperature thermochronology is a powerful tool for constraining the thermal evolution of rocks and minerals in relation to a breadth of tectonic, geodynamic, landscape evolution, and natural resource formation processes through deep time. However, complexities inherent to these analytical techniques can make interpreting the significance of results challenging, requiring them to be placed in their geological context in 4-dimensions (3D + time). We present a novel tool for the geospatial archival, analysis and dissemination of fission-track and (U-Th)/He data, built as an extension to the open-access AusGeochem platform ( ausgeochem.auscope.org.au ) and freely accessible to scientists from around the world. To demonstrate the power of the platform, three regional datasets from Kenya, Australia and the Red Sea are placed in their 4D geological, geochemical, and geographic contexts, revealing insights into the tectono-thermal evolutions of these areas. Beyond facilitating data interpretation, the archival of fission track and (U-Th)/He (meta-)data in relational schemas unlocks future potential for greater integration of thermochronology and numerical geoscience techniques. The power of formatting data to interface with external tools is demonstrated through the integration of GPlates Web Service with AusGeochem , enabling thermochronology data to be readily viewed in their paleogeographic context through deep time from within the platform.

Convection models in the Kamchatka region using imposed plate motion and thermal histories

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 08-2008

DOI: 10.1016/J.JOG.2008.02.002

Improving global paleogeography since the late Paleozoic using paleobiology

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 18-04-2017

DOI: 10.5194/BG-2017-94

Abstract: Abstract. Paleogeographic reconstructions are important to understand Earth's tectonic evolution, past eustatic and regional sea level change, hydrocarbon genesis, and to constrain and interpret the dynamic topography predicted by time-dependent global mantle convection models. Several global paleogeographic maps have been compiled and published but they are generally presented as static maps with varying temporal resolution and fixed spatial resolution. Existing global paleogeographic maps are also tied to a particular plate motion model, making it difficult to link them to alternative digital plate tectonic reconstructions. To address this limitation, we developed a workflow to reverse-engineer global paleogeographic maps to their present-day coordinates and enable them to be linked to any tectonic reconstruction. Published paleogeographic compilations are also tied to fixed input datasets. We used fossil data from the Paleobiology Database to identify inconsistencies between fossils paleo-environments and published paleogeographic maps, and to improve the location of inferred terrestrial-marine boundaries by resolving these inconsistencies. As a result, the overall consistency ratio between the paleogeography and fossil collections was improved from 76.9 % to 96.1 %. We estimated the surface areas of global paleogeographic features (shallow marine environments, landmasses, mountains and ice sheets), and reconstructed the global continental flooding history since the late Paleozoic based on the amended paleogeographies. Finally, we discuss the relationships between emerged land area and total continental crust area through time, continental growth models, and strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) signatures in ocean water. Our study highlights the flexibility of digital paleogeographic models linked to state-of-the-art plate tectonic reconstructions in order to better understand the interplay of continental growth and eustasy, with wider implications for understanding Earth's paleotopography, ocean circulation, and the role of mantle convection in shaping long-wavelength topography.

Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 07-03-2008

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.1151540

Abstract: Earth's long-term sea-level history is characterized by widespread continental flooding in the Cretaceous period (∼145 to 65 million years ago), followed by gradual regression of inland seas. However, published estimates of the Late Cretaceous sea-level high differ by half an order of magnitude, from ∼40 to ∼250 meters above the present level. The low estimate is based on the stratigraphy of the New Jersey margin. By assimilating marine geophysical data into reconstructions of ancient ocean basins, we model a Late Cretaceous sea level that is 170 (85 to 270) meters higher than it is today. We use a mantle convection model to suggest that New Jersey subsided by 105 to 180 meters in the past 70 million years because of North America's westward passage over the subducted Farallon plate. This mechanism reconciles New Jersey margin–based sea-level estimates with ocean basin reconstructions.

A global-scale plate reorganization event at 105−100Ma

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2012

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2012.08.023

A Global Data Set of Present‐Day Oceanic Crustal Age and Seafloor Spreading Parameters

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 10-2020

DOI: 10.1029/2020GC009214

Controls on back‐arc basin formation

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-2006

DOI: 10.1029/2005GC001090

Abstract: The relationship between subduction and back‐arc spreading has been well known since the early days of plate tectonics. However, the reasons why back‐arc basins are associated with some subduction systems but not all has remained elusive. We examine the kinematic controls on subduction and back‐arc basins for both the present‐day and Cenozoic to differentiate between the major competing hypotheses for back‐arc basin formation and to explain their temporal and spatial distribution. Our new data set of subduction and back‐arc basin parameters uses a new set of paleo‐oceanic age grids (Müller et al., 2005) associated with a moving Atlantic‐Indian Ocean hot spot reference frame (O'Neill et al., 2005). The plate model includes detailed reconstructed spreading histories of back‐arc basins based on marine geophysical and satellite gravity data. Our combined rotation and oceanic paleo‐age model provides the age distribution of subducting lithosphere through space and time, convergence rates, and the absolute motion of the downgoing and overriding plates. We find that back‐arc basins develop when the age of subducting normal oceanic lithosphere is greater than 55 million years. Additionally, we establish an age‐dip relationship showing that the intermediate dip angle of the subducting slab is always greater than 30° with back‐arc spreading. Our results suggest that back‐arc basin formation is always preceded by an absolute motion of the overriding plate away from the subduction hinge, thereby creating accommodation space between the overriding and subducting plates. Once back‐arc extension is established, it continues regardless of overriding plate motion, indicating back‐arc spreading is not a simple consequence of overriding plate behaviour. The landward migration of the overriding plate as a precursor to back‐arc extension may indicate that extension on the overriding plate is influenced by the oceanward lateral flow of the mantle. However, once back‐arc extension is established, rollback of the subduction hinge appears to be the primary force responsible for the continued creation of accommodation space. Our analysis indicates the driving mechanism for back‐arc extension is a combination of surface kinematics, properties of the downgoing slab, the effect of lateral mantle flow on the slab, and mantle wedge dynamics.

A Comparative Study of Convolutional Neural Networks and Conventional Machine Learning Models for Lithological Mapping Using Remote Sensing Data

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 09-02-2022

DOI: 10.3390/RS14040819

Abstract: Lithological mapping is a critical aspect of geological mapping that can be useful in studying the mineralization potential of a region and has implications for mineral prospectivity mapping. This is a challenging task if performed manually, particularly in highly remote areas that require a large number of participants and resources. The combination of machine learning (ML) methods and remote sensing data can provide a quick, low-cost, and accurate approach for mapping lithological units. This study used deep learning via convolutional neural networks and conventional ML methods involving support vector machines and multilayer perceptron to map lithological units of a mineral-rich area in the southeast of Iran. Moreover, we used and compared the efficiency of three different types of multispectral remote-sensing data, including Landsat 8 operational land imager (OLI), advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER), and Sentinel-2. The results show that CNNs and conventional ML methods effectively use the respective remote-sensing data in generating an accurate lithological map of the study area. However, the combination of CNNs and ASTER data provides the best performance and the highest accuracy and adaptability with field observations and laboratory analysis results so that almost all the test data are predicted correctly. The framework proposed in this study can be helpful for exploration geologists to create accurate lithological maps in other regions by using various remote-sensing data at a low cost.

Influence of subduction history on South American topography

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2015

DOI: 10.1016/J.EPSL.2015.08.006

Development of the Australian-antarctic depth anomaly

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 11-2010

DOI: 10.1029/2010GC003276

Subduction history reveals Cretaceous slab superflux as a possible cause for the mid-Cretaceous plume pulse and superswell events

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 03-2020

DOI: 10.1016/J.GR.2019.09.001

Provenance of plumes in global convection models

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 05-2015

DOI: 10.1002/2015GC005751

Cenozoic uplift of south Western Australia as constrained by river profiles

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 05-2014

DOI: 10.1016/J.TECTO.2014.03.010

A global review and digital database of large-scale extinct spreading centers

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 21-04-2017

DOI: 10.1130/GES01379.1

Insights on the kinematics of the India‐Eurasia collision from global geodynamic models

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 04-2012

DOI: 10.1029/2011GC003883

Sequestration and subduction of deep-sea carbonate in the global ocean since the Early Cretaceous

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Date: 12-12-2018

DOI: 10.1130/G45424.1

The deep Earth origin of the Iceland plume and its effects on regional surface uplift and subsidence

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 26-08-2016

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2016-118

Abstract: Abstract. The present-day seismic structure of the mantle under the North Atlantic indicates that the Iceland hotspot represents the surface expression of a deep mantle plume, which is thought to have erupted in the North Atlantic during the Paleocene. The spatial and temporal evolution of the plume since its eruption is still highly debated, and little is known about its deep mantle history. Here, a paleogeographically constrained global mantle flow model is used to investigate the evolution of deep Earth flow and surface dynamic topography in the North Atlantic since the Jurassic. The model shows that over the last ~ 100 Myr a remarkably stable pattern of convergent flow has prevailed in the lowermost mantle near the tip of the African Large Low-Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP), making it an ideal plume nucleation site. The present-day location of the model plume is ~ 10° southeast from the inferred present-day location of the Iceland plume. We apply a constant surface rotation to the model through time, derived from correcting for this offset at present-day. A comparison between the rotated model dynamic topography evolution and available offshore geological and geophysical observations across the region confirms that a widespread episode of Paleocene transient uplift followed by early Eocene anomalous subsidence can be explained by the mantle-driven effects of a plume head ~ 2000 km in diameter, arriving beneath central western Greenland during the Paleocene. The rotated model plume eruption location beneath Western Greenland is compatible with previous models. The mantle flow model underestimates the magnitude of observed anomalous subsidence during the Paleocene in some parts of the North Atlantic by as much as several hundred meters, which we attribute to upper mantle convection processes, not captured by the model.

A tectonic-rules based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago – implications for supercontinent cycles and plate-mantle system evolution

Publisher: Copernicus GmbH

Date: 26-01-2022

DOI: 10.5194/SE-2021-154

Abstract: Abstract. Understanding the long-term evolution of Earth's plate-mantle system is reliant on absolute plate motion models in a mantle reference frame, but such models are both difficult to construct and controversial. We present a tectonic rules-based optimisation approach to construct a plate motion model in a mantle reference frame covering the last billion years and use it as a surface boundary condition for mantle flow models. Our plate motion model results in lithospheric net rotation consistently below 0.25°/Myr, in agreement with mantle flow models, while trench motions are confined to a relatively narrow range of −2/+2 cm/yr since 320 Ma, during Pangea stability and dispersal. In contrast, the period from 600 Ma to 320 Ma, nicknamed here the "zippy tricentenary", displays twice the trench motion scatter compared to more recent times, reflecting a predominance of short and highly mobile subduction zones. Our model supports an orthoversion evolution from Rodinia to Pangea with Pangea offset approximately 90° eastwards relative to Rodinia—this is the opposite sense of motion compared to a previous orthoversion hypothesis based on paleomagnetic data. In our coupled plate-mantle model a broad network of basal mantle ridges forms between 1000 and 600 Ma, reflecting widely distributed subduction zones. Between 600 and 500 Ma a short-lived degree-2 basal mantle structure forms in response to a band of subduction zones confined to low-latitudes, generating extensive antipodal lower mantle upwellings centred at the poles. Subsequently the northern basal structure migrates southward and morphs into a Pacific-centred upwelling while the southern structure is dissected by subducting slabs and disintegrates into a network of ridges between 500 and 400 Ma. From 400 to 200 Ma, a stable Pacific-centred degree-1 convective planform emerges, lacking an antipodal counterpart due to the closure of the Iapetus and Rheic oceans between Laurussia and Gondwana as well as coeval subduction between Baltica and Laurentia and around Siberia, populating the mantle with slabs until 320 Ma when Pangea is assembled. A basal degree-2 structure forms subsequent to Pangea breakup, after the influence of previously subducted slabs in the African hemisphere on the lowermost mantle has faded away. This succession of mantle states is distinct from previously proposed mantle convection models. This Solid Earth Evolution Model for the last 1000 million years (SEEM1000) forms the foundation for a multitude of spatio-temporal data analysis approaches.

Episodicity in back-arc tectonic regimes

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 12-2008

DOI: 10.1016/J.PEPI.2008.04.012

Alignment between seafloor spreading directions and absolute plate motions through time

Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Date: 17-02-2016

DOI: 10.1002/2015GL067155

Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL0992245

Start Date: 09-2009

End Date: 10-2016

Amount: $3,088,350.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0559471

Start Date: 05-2005

End Date: 10-2008

Amount: $180,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0557326

Start Date: 02-2005

End Date: 02-2008

Amount: $240,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0989312

Start Date: 02-2010

End Date: 12-2013

Amount: $525,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882854

Start Date: 03-2008

End Date: 09-2013

Amount: $6,000,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100032

Start Date: 05-2017

End Date: 06-2018

Amount: $900,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0347688

Start Date: 2003

End Date: 06-2007

Amount: $474,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP220100173

Start Date: 11-2022

End Date: 11-2025

Amount: $407,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100181

Start Date: 03-2012

End Date: 12-2015

Amount: $650,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP130101946

Start Date: 2013

End Date: 06-2018

Amount: $420,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0986377

Start Date: 03-2009

End Date: 03-2012

Amount: $300,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100002

Start Date: 2014

End Date: 12-2016

Amount: $1,025,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989506

Start Date: 10-2009

End Date: 12-2009

Amount: $500,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP210100173

Start Date: 01-2023

End Date: 01-2026

Amount: $415,676.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0566892

Start Date: 10-2005

End Date: 10-2006

Amount: $220,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200012

Start Date: 2015

End Date: 03-2021

Amount: $2,748,358.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE190100021

Start Date: 09-2019

End Date: 09-2022

Amount: $4,320,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100051

Start Date: 2016

End Date: 12-2018

Amount: $3,000,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100047

Start Date: 2014

End Date: 12-2016

Amount: $3,600,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354605

Start Date: 12-2003

End Date: 12-2004

Amount: $10,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354683

Start Date: 12-2003

End Date: 12-2004

Amount: $10,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354575

Start Date: 01-2004

End Date: 06-2004

Amount: $30,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council