Tectonic consequences of mid-ocean ridge evolution and subduction

Mid-ocean ridges are a fundamental but insufficiently understood component of the global plate tectonic system. Mid-ocean ridges control the landscape of the Earth's ocean basins through seafloor spreading and influence the evolution of overriding plate margins during midocean ridge subduction. The majority of new crust created at the surface of the Earth is formed at mid-ocean ridges and the accretion process strongly influences the morphology of the seafloor, which interacts with ocean currents and mixing to influence ocean circulation and regional and global climate. Seafloor spreading rates are well known to influence oceanic basement topography. However, I show that parameters such as mantle conditions and spreading obliquity also play significant roles in modulating seafloor topography. I find that high mantle temperatures are associated with smooth oceanic basement, while cold and/or depleted mantle is associated with rough basement topography. In addition spreading obliquities greater than > 45° lead to extreme seafloor roughness. These results provide a predictive framework for reconstructing the seafloor of ancient oceans, a fundamental input required for modelling ocean-mixing in palaeoclimate studies. The importance of being able to accurately predict the morphology of vanished ocean floor is demonstrated by a regional analysis of the Adare Trough, which shows through an analysis of seismic stratigraphy how a relatively rough bathymetric feature can strongly influence the flow of ocean bottom currents. As well as seafloor, mid-ocean ridges influence the composition and morphology of overriding plate margins as they are consumed by subduction, with implications for landscape and natural resources development. Mid-ocean ridge subduction also effects the morphology and composition of the overriding plate margin by influencing the tectonic regime experienced by the overriding plate margin and impacting on the volume, composition and timing of arc-volcanism. Investigation of the Wharton Ridge slab window that formed beneath Sundaland between 70 Ma and 43 Ma reveals that although the relative motion of an overriding plate margin is the dominant force effecting tectonic regime on the overriding plate margin, this can be overridden by extension caused by the underlying slab window. Mid-ocean ridge subduction can also affect the balance of global plate motions. A longstanding controversy in global tectonics concerns the ultimate driving forces that cause periodic plate reorganisations. I find strong evidence supporting the hypothesis that the plates themselves drive instabilities in the plate-mantle system rather than major mantle overturns being the driving mechanism. I find that rapid sub-parallel subduction of the Izanagi mid-ocean ridge and subsequent catastrophic slab break o_ likely precipitated a global plate reorganisation event that formed the Emperor-Hawaii bend, and the change in relative plate motion between Australia and Antarctica at approximately 50 M

Insights on the kinematics of the India-Eurasia collision from global geodynamic models

The Eocene India-Eurasia collision is a first order tectonic event whose nature and chronology remains controversial. We test two end-member collision scenarios using coupled global plate motion-subduction models. The first, conventional model, invokes a continental collision soon after ∼60 Ma between a maximum extent Greater India and an Andean-style Eurasian margin. The alternative scenario involves a collision between a minimum extent Greater India and a NeoTethyan back-arc at ∼60 Ma that is subsequently subducted along southern Lhasa at an Andean-style margin, culminating with continent-continent contact at ∼40 Ma. Our numerical models suggest the conventional scenario does not adequately reproduce mantle structure related to Tethyan convergence. The alternative scenario better reproduces the discrete slab volumes and their lateral and vertical distribution in the mantle, and is also supported by the distribution of ophiolites indicative of Tethyan intraoceanic subduction, magmatic gaps along southern Lhasa and a two-stage slowdown of India. Our models show a strong component of southward mantle return flow for the Tethyan region, suggesting that the common assumption of near-vertical slab sinking is an oversimplification with significant consequences for interpretations of seismic tomography in the context of subduction reference frames

Development of the Australian-Antarctic depth anomaly

The oceanic Australian-Antarctic Discordance (AAD) contains two unusual features: (1) N–S trending anomalously deep bathymetries and (2) rough basement morphologies in young (45° spreading obliquities

Erosional unconformity or non-deposition? An alternative interpretation of the Eocene seismic stratigraphy offshore Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

The sedimentary stratigraphy along the conjugate Australian-Antarctic continental margins provide insights into their tectonic evolution as well as changes in paleoceanographic conditions in the Southern Ocean. A comprehensive network of multichannel seismic reflection data as well as geological information from drill cores have been used to interpret the stratigraphic evolution of these margins. However, a number of alternative seismic interpretations exist for the Antarctic side, particularly due to sparse drill core information. A prominent high-amplitude reflector observed along the margin, extending from the continental shelf to the foot-of-slope, is at the centre of debate. Recently, two major hiatuses (from 33.6 - 47.9 Ma and 51.06 - 51.9 Ma) were recovered by the IODP drill core U1356A offshore Wilkes Land and correlated to this prominent reflector. Previous seismic stratigraphic investigations interpreted this structure as an erosional unconformity and proposed different events as a possible cause for this formation, including first arrival of the continental glaciation at the coast at about 34 Ma, increase in spreading rate between Australia and Antarctica at about 45 Ma and drastic global sea level drop of 70 m at about 43 Ma. However, such a large-scale erosion must consequently lead to a re-deposition of a significantly large amount of sediment somewhere along the margins, but, to date, no such deposition is observed in the seismic reflection data. Here, we present an alternative seismo-stratigraphic interpretation based on correlation to the sedimentary structures along the Australian margin.We argue that the prominent unconformity is formed due to non-deposition of sediment between �47.8 and �33.6 Ma. The sedimentary units underlying this unconformity show strong similarities in structure, seismic characteristics and variation along the margin with sequences that are partly exposed to the seafloor at the foot of the Australian slope. On the Australian flank, the age of these exposed sediment sequences ranges from �65 Ma to �45 Ma. Low to no sedimentation from 45 Ma to the present-day offshore Australia has been interpreted to explain the exposure of these old sediment units. We propose that non-deposition occurred along both margins from �45 Ma, until large-scale glacial deposition started at 33.6 Ma along the Antarctic margin. Using our new interpretation, we create paleo-bathymetric reconstructions using the software BALPAL at �83 Ma, �65 Ma and �45 Ma. The resulting paleo-bathymetric maps provide essential information, e.g. for paleo–oceanographic and –climatic investigations in the Southern Ocean

The sensitivity of the Eocene-Oligocene Southern Ocean to the strength and position of wind stress

The early Cenozoic opening of the Tasmanian Gateway (TG) and Drake Passage (DP), alongside the synergistic action of the westerly winds, led to a Southern Ocean transition from large, subpolar gyres to the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). However, the impact of the changing latitudinal position and strength of the wind stress in altering the early Southern Ocean circulation has been poorly addressed. Here, we use an eddy-permitting ocean model (0.25∘) with realistic late Eocene paleo-bathymetry to investigate the sensitivity of the Southern Ocean to paleo-latitudinal migrations (relative to the gateways) and strengthening of the wind stress. We find that southward wind stress shifts of 5 or 10∘, with a shallow TG (300 m), lead to dominance of subtropical waters in the high latitudes and further warming of the Antarctic coast (increase by 2 ∘C). Southward migrations of wind stress with a deep TG (1500 m) cause the shrinking of the subpolar gyres and cooling of the surface waters in the Southern Ocean (decrease by 3–4 ∘C). With a 1500 m deep TG and maximum westerly winds aligning with both the TG and DP, we observe a proto-ACC with a transport of ∼47.9 Sv. This impedes the meridional transport of warm subtropical waters to the Antarctic coast, thus laying a foundation for thermal isolation of the Antarctic. Intriguingly, proto-ACC flow through the TG is much more sensitive to strengthened wind stress compared to the DP. We suggest that topographic form stress can balance surface wind stress at depth to support the proto-ACC while the sensitivity of the transport is likely associated with the momentum budget between wind stress and near-surface topographic form stress driven by the subtropical gyres. In summary, this study proposes that the cooling of Eocene Southern Ocean is a consequence of a combination of gateway deepening and the alignment of maximum wind stress with both gateways.publishedVersio

Southern Ocean biogenic blooms freezing-in Oligocene colder climates

AbstractCrossing a key atmospheric CO2 threshold triggered a fundamental global climate reorganisation ~34 million years ago (Ma) establishing permanent Antarctic ice sheets. Curiously, a more dramatic CO2 decline (~800–400 ppm by the Early Oligocene(~27 Ma)), postdates initial ice sheet expansion but the mechanisms driving this later, rapid drop in atmospheric carbon during the early Oligocene remains elusive and controversial. Here we use marine seismic reflection and borehole data to reveal an unprecedented accumulation of early Oligocene strata (up to 2.2 km thick over 1500 × 500 km) with a major biogenic component in the Australian Southern Ocean. High-resolution ocean simulations demonstrate that a tectonically-driven, one-off reorganisation of ocean currents, caused a unique period where current instability coincided with high nutrient input from the Antarctic continent. This unrepeated and short-lived environment favoured extreme bioproductivity and enhanced sediment burial. The size and rapid accumulation of this sediment package potentially holds ~1.067 × 1015 kg of the ‘missing carbon’ sequestered during the decline from an Eocene high CO2-world to a mid-Oligocene medium CO2-world, highlighting the exceptional role of the Southern Ocean in modulating long-term climate.</jats:p

Ridge subduction sparked reorganization of the Pacific plate-mantle system 60-50 million years ago

A reorganization centered on the Pacific plate occurred ~53–47 million years ago. A “top-down” plate tectonic mechanism, complete subduction of the Izanagi plate, as opposed to a “bottom-up” mantle flow mechanism, has been proposed as the main driver. Verification based on marine geophysical observations is impossible as most ocean crust recording this event has been subducted. Using a forward modeling approach, which assimilates surface plate velocities and shallow thermal structure of slabs into mantle flow models, we show that complete Izanagi plate subduction and margin-wide slab detachment induced a major change in sub-Pacific mantle flow, from dominantly southward before 60 Ma to north-northeastward after 50 Ma. Our results agree with onshore geology, mantle tomography, and the inferred motion of the Hawaiian hot spot and are consistent with a plate tectonic process driving the rapid plate-mantle reorganization in the Pacific hemisphere between 60 and 50 Ma. This reorganization is reflected in tectonic changes in the Pacific and surrounding ocean basins

Nano-assemblies of cationic mPEG brush block copolymers with gadolinium polyoxotungstate [Gd(W5O18)2]9− form stable, high relaxivity MRI contrast agents

Polyoxometalates (POMs) incorporating paramagnetic ions, such as gadolinium, show promise as contrast agents for application in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Specifically, [Gd(W5O18)2]9− (denoted as GdWO) has been reported to have a higher relaxivity than commercially available contrast agents, but it's clinical utility has been limited by the intrinsic instability of POMs at physiological pH (7.4). In the current report we present a stability study on neat GdWO and nano-assemblies of block copolymers with GdWO in the pH range 5.0–7.4 to assess their suitability as MRI contrast agents. Neat GdWO only maintained structural stability between pH 5.4 and 6.4, and demonstrated poor MRI contrast at pH 7.4. To address this pH instability, GdWO was self-assembled with cationic mPEG brush block copolymers containing 20 or 40 units derived from the cationic monomer, 2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). Nano-assemblies with different charge ratios were synthesised and characterised according to their size, stability, contrasting properties and toxicity. The longitudinal relaxivity (r1) of the nano-assemblies was found to be dependent on the charge ratio, but not on the length of the cationic polymer block. Further investigation of PDMAEMA20 nano-assemblies demonstrated that they were stable over the pH range 5.0–7.4, exhibiting a higher r1 than either neat GdWO (2.77 s−1 mM−1) or clinical MRI contrast agent Gd-DTPA (4.1 s−1 mM−1) at pH 7.4. Importantly, the nano-assembly with the lowest charge ratio (0.2), showed the highest r1 (12.1 s−1 mM−1) whilst, stabilising GdWO over the pH range studied, eliciting low toxicity with MDA-MB231 cells

Australian-Antarctic breakup and seafloor spreading: Balancing geological and geophysical constraints

The motion of diverging tectonic plates is typically constrained by geophysical data from preserved ocean crust. However, constraining plate motions during continental rifting and the breakup process relies on balancing evidence from a diverse range of geological and geophysical observations, often subject to differing interpretations. Reconstructing the evolution of rifting and breakup between Australia and Antarctica epitomizes the challenges involved in creating detailed models of Pangea breakup. In this example, differing degrees of emphasis on and alternative interpretations of offshore geophysical data, in particular magnetic anomalies and seismic reflection profiles, and onshore geological data, lead to starkly contrasting views of how the continents were configured at the onset of Mesozoic rifting. Here, we critically review reconstructions of rifting and breakup in the light of all available geological and geophysical data, including magnetic anomalies, fracture zones, conjugate crustal domains, amounts of continental extension, continental geology, plate boundary locations, break-up ages and stratigraphy. We identify the most viable plate tectonic reconstructions both with and without the input of the oldest, more controversial magnetic anomaly interpretations, and discuss implications for reconstructions of other margin pairs. Our analysis highlights key discrepancies between reconstructions based solely on geological piercing points, and those based on a range of constraints. These insights provide a powerful framework for reducing the range of viable models for Australian-Antarctic rifting, and provide key lessons for future efforts aimed at constraining pre- and syn-rift plate tectonic reconstructions. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.S.E.W. and R.D.M. were supported by ARC grants DP130101946 and IH130200012 . J.M.W. was supported by ARC grant DE140100376 . J.A.H was supported under Australian Research Council ‘s Special Research Initiative for Antarctic Gateway Partnership SR140300001 . S.E.W. and J.M.W. were supported by ARC grant DP180102280