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Science 18 August 1995:
Vol. 269. no. 5226, pp. 956 - 959
DOI: 10.1126/science.269.5226.956
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Articles

Polar Standstill of the Mid-Cretaceous Pacific Plate and Its Geodynamic Implications

John A. Tarduno 1 and William W. Sager 2

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.
2 Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.

Paleomagnetic data from the Mid-Cretaceous Mountains suggest that Pacific plate motion during the Early to mid-Cretaceous was slow, less than 0.3 degree per year, resembling the polar standstill observed in coeval rocks of Eurasia and North America. There is little evidence for a change in plate motion that could have precipitated the major volcanic episode of the early Aptian that is marked by the formation of the Ontong Java Plateau. During the volcanism, oceanic plates bordering the Pacific plate moved rapidly. Large-scale northward motion of the Pacific plate began after volcanism ceased. This pattern suggests that mantle plume volcanism exerted control on plate tectonics in the Cretaceous Pacific basin.

Submitted on March 2, 1995
Accepted on May 23, 1995


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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J. Tarduno, H.-P. Bunge, N. Sleep, and U. Hansen (2009)
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A plate model for Jurassic to Recent intraplate volcanism in the Pacific Ocean basin.
A. D. Smith (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 430, 471-495
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Early Cretaceous Pacific palaeomagnetic pole from Ontong Java Plateau basement rocks.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)