IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v405y2000i6784d10.1038_35012586.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mesozoic plate-motion history below the northeast Pacific Ocean from seismic images of the subducted Farallon slab

Author

Listed:
  • Hans-Peter Bunge

    (Princeton University)

  • Stephen P. Grand

    (Department of Geological Sciences University of Texas)

Abstract

The high-resolution seismic imaging of subducted oceanic slabs1,2 has become a powerful tool for reconstructing palaeogeography3. The images can now be interpreted quantitatively by comparison with models of the general circulation of the Earth's mantle4. Here we use a three-dimensional spherical computer model of mantle convection5,6 to show that seismic images of the subducted Farallon plate provide strong evidence for a Mesozoic period of low-angle subduction under North America. Such a period of low-angle subduction has been invoked independently to explain Rocky Mountain uplift far inland from the plate boundary during the Laramide orogeny7. The computer simulations also allow us to locate the largely unknown Kula–Farallon spreading plate boundary, the location of which is important for inferring the trajectories of ‘suspect’ terrain across the Pacific basin8.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans-Peter Bunge & Stephen P. Grand, 2000. "Mesozoic plate-motion history below the northeast Pacific Ocean from seismic images of the subducted Farallon slab," Nature, Nature, vol. 405(6784), pages 337-340, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:405:y:2000:i:6784:d:10.1038_35012586
    DOI: 10.1038/35012586
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35012586
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35012586?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:405:y:2000:i:6784:d:10.1038_35012586. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.