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Melanesian back-arc basin and arc development: Constraints from the eastern Coral Sea

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 22:48 authored by Seton, M, Mortimer, N, Williams, S, Quilty, P, Gans, P, Sebastien MeffreSebastien Meffre, Micklethwaite, S, Zahirovic, S, Moore, J, Matthews, KJ
The eastern Coral Sea is a poorly explored area at the north-eastern corner of the Australian Tectonic Plate, where interaction between the Pacific and Australian plate boundaries, and accretion of the world's largest submarine plateau - the Ontong Java Plateau - has resulted in a complex assemblage of back-arc basins, island arcs, continental plateaus and volcanic products. This study combines new and existing magnetic anomaly profiles, seafloor fabric from swath bathymetry data, Ar–Ar dating of E-MORB basalts, palaeontological dating of carbonate sediments, and plate modelling from the eastern Coral Sea. Our results constrain commencement of the opening of the Santa Cruz Basin and South Rennell Trough to c. 48 Ma and termination at 25-28 Ma. Simultaneous opening of the Melanesian Basin/Solomon Sea further north suggests that a single > 2000 km long back-arc basin, with at least one triple junction existed landward of the Melanesian subduction zone from Eocene–Oligocene times. The cessation of spreading corresponds with a reorganisation of the plate boundaries in the area and the proposed initial soft collision of the Ontong Java Plateau. The correlation between back-arc basin cessation and a widespread plate reorganisation event suggests that back-arc basins may be used as markers for both local and global plate boundary changes.

History

Publication title

Gondwana Research

Volume

39

Pagination

77-95

ISSN

1342-937X

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Place of publication

The Netherlands

Rights statement

Copyright 2016 International Association for Gondwana Research

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences

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