Origin and evolution of marginal basins of the NW Pacific: Diffuse-plate tectonic reconstructions

TL;DR

This study reconstructs the formation and evolution of NW Pacific marginal basins, emphasizing large east Eurasian motions due to Indo-Asia collision, challenging traditional rigid plate models.

Contribution

It introduces a new method for restoring diffuse deformation and presents detailed plate reconstructions at key geological times, linking basin evolution with Tibetan Plateau uplift.

Findings

Eastern Eurasia moved about 1200 km northward during rifting.

Reconstruction shows basin formation correlates with Tibetan Plateau uplift stages.

Proto-Philippine Sea basin was initially located 20° south of its current position.

Abstract

Formation of the gigantic linked dextral pull-apart basin system in the NW Pacific is due to NNE- to ENE-ward motion of east Eurasia. This mainly was a response to the Indo-Asia collision which started about 50 Ma ago. The displacement of east Eurasia can be estimated using three aspects: (1) the magnitude of pull-apart of the dextral pull-apart basin system, (2) paleomagnetic data from eastern Eurasia and the region around the Arctic, and (3) the shortening deficits in the Large Tibetan Plateau. All the three aspects indicate that there was a large amount (about 1200 km) of northward motion of the South China block and compatible movements of other blocks in eastern Eurasia during the rifting period of the basin system. Such large motion of the eastern Eurasia region contradicts any traditional rigid plate tectonic reconstruction, but agrees with the more recent concepts of non-rigidity of both continental and oceanic lithosphere over geological times. Based on these estimates, the method developed for restoration of background diffuse deformation of the Eurasian plate and the region around the Arctic, and the related kinematics of the marginal basins, we present plate tectonic reconstruction of these marginal basins in global plate tectonic settings at the four key times: 50, 35, 15 and 5 Ma. The plate tectonic reconstruction shows that the first-order rift stage and post-rift stage of the marginal basins are correlated with the first-order slow uplift stage and the rapid uplift stage of the Tibetan Plateau, respectively. The proto-Philippine Sea basin was trapped as a sinistral transpressional pop-up structure at a position that was 20{\deg}south of its present position. While the Japan arc migrated eastward during the rifting period of the Japan Sea basin, the Shikoku Basin opened and the Parece Vela Basin widened.