Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 5 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5847, pp. 83 - 86
DOI: 10.1126/science.1143769
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

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

J. M. Whittaker,1* R. D. Müller,1 G. Leitchenkov,2 H. Stagg,3 M. Sdrolias,1 C. Gaina,4 A. Goncharov3

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.

1 EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia.
2 VNII Okeangeologia (Antarctic Branch), St. Petersburg 190121, Russia.
3 Geoscience Australia, Canberra 2601, Australia.
4 Center for Geodynamics, Norwegian Geological Survey, Trondheim 7491, Norway.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: j.whittaker{at}geosci.usyd.edu.au

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Bent Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Track: Inheriting the Mantle Wind.
J. Tarduno, H.-P. Bunge, N. Sleep, and U. Hansen (2009)
Science 324, 50-53
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Circum-Pacific arc flare-ups and global cooling near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.
B. R. Jicha, D. W. Scholl, and D. K. Rea (2009)
Geology 37, 303-306
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Naturaliste Plateau, offshore Western Australia: A submarine window into Gondwana assembly and breakup.
J. A. Halpin, A. J. Crawford, N. G. Direen, M. F. Coffin, C. J. Forbes, and I. Borissova (2008)
Geology 36, 807-810
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time".
A. A. Tikku and N. G. Direen (2008)
Science 321, 490c
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Major Australian-Antarctic Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time".
J. M. Whittaker, R. D. Muller, G. Leitchenkov, H. Stagg, M. Sdrolias, C. Gaina, and A. Goncharov (2008)
Science 321, 490d
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics.
R. D. Muller, M. Sdrolias, C. Gaina, B. Steinberger, and C. Heine (2008)
Science 319, 1357-1362
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)