SIO 160 Lecture 5 – Plate tectonics on a plane

Triple junctions

Read chapter 5.10-11 in KK&V (pages 113-120)

Read chapter 2 in Cox and Hart
Arabian
Plate
(= BVA)
(= AVB)
(= BVA)
(= AVB)
Examples

Second
X triple
junction

Cascadia
trench

Mendocino triple
X junction
Mendocino
transform
San Andreas
fault
Topography

Central
Indian ridge

Indian
X Ocean triple
junction

Southeast Indian
Southwest ridge
Indian ridge
Satellite derived Carlsberg ridge
gravity

Slow
spreading

Indian
X Ocean triple
junction

Very slow
spreading Intermediate
spreading rate
X

Bouvet Triple
Junction
RFF
Gravity

South Atlantic
ridge Southwest
Indian ridge

South America – Bouvet triple

Antarctic ridge junction
Eurasian
plate

Japan
trench

Nankai X Japan triple junction

Trough
Izu-Bonin
trench Pacific
plate

Philippine
plate
Velocity line and bisects
the velocity
is || to ridge vector

Velocity line
passes
through AB

Velocity line where A is the

passes overriding plate
through A is
|| to trench
 Special
St"-l case: non-orthogonal
Ca'se-
^!
spreading
w-L! d Co* { W; h**^t a
nvr'
Cox HartoV^d
& r4', Ch. 2rye*'["'"5

:_r
Note: The velocity line ab
oI is parallel to the ridge and
is not necessarily
/
/17 orthogonal to AB
A o-----'+--'-"---4 ts
I

r*^.'at wffi*' L.k*

Real world example: Reykjanes
RptB
Ridge
 Iceland
hotspot

Reykjanes
North ridge

American Eurasian
plate plate

Mid-Atlantic ridge
Gravity
Iceland
hotspot

Reykjanes
ridge

Mid-Atlantic ridge
Gravity

South Atlantic
ridge Southwest
Indian ridge

South America – Bouvet triple

Antarctic ridge junction
Bouvet Triple Junction
Bouvet Triple Junction
Bouvet Triple Junction

F
F
USGS
 J = Juan de
Fuca plate
J

C = Cocos plate
C
 <i--
_(E
i.9 o
:, c d": ,..:-:7
J
(g
oo o = !.E.9
z E o-
- o
L!
()
{.
o
c)
o :9=- P
c) o co
^o$'z
r-,PL,'/ c
q) c ;A:L!
G e
(E a io' 6+;
(g o
E d a
o l9 .9
o o.
l.
:= < >E -- e
o
(g ^ 9.q E !
(L
. { * E3
i5 -.+
F ! !P

Which is why there is a

e s 46

fault running through

(The Hayward fault)

Berkeley Stadium
= !5 =
Ev 3
-
qE 5E
qE
o i
d! x
Juan de
Fuca ridge Juan de
Fuca plate
Cascadia
trench

Blanco
transform
fault

Gorda North
rise American
platre
Gorda
plate

X
Mendocino
transform
Pacific plate fault

San
Andreas
fault
Rivera T.J.:
R\!ev"* r,T,l
Flips
FI',js between TRF-f and
b etr,r.c.l.1 l< F TFF
-u-r-
Ar"ot
n -T
-F-
t- F

r 11 F

n-i)
I

I
13

bc, a-u

'f' r 14
t l- l-

^\
lt\- l)

bL a.C
)
 I
fr}Yln 65 Mq (65-71) 56 Mo ( 56-61)
-"-artlilllt
-^.'':_.....- fll+1,

t{a
t.\
aa KuLA I
|,Q
xUor
FA?

i\ .tr \
\}..4
,f/
\Yr-r
\*5
,o"oraff\
PAClFlc\
\

(O- 5)
PRESENT
Blghl
GMB=GreatMagnetic 37Mo (37- 43)
c
\ *'-.,{

60.
" plctrtc I
-

Use spreading rates and

directions based on Pac-Far
l,l:&. vo roft-

and Pac-Kula magnetic P.L:

anomalies to determine Kula-
Far ridge location PACIFIC
FARALLOI

Atwater 1989
Digital isochrons of the ocean floor

note: TJ in Southern Chile

 Topography

Nazca plate

2010 EQ Mag. 8.8

1960 EQ Mag. 9.5

South America is
gradually South
overriding the American
Chile ridge plate
X
Chile triple
junction

Antarctic plate
Gravity

X
trench collision
during and after a ridge-
Study what happens before
tq
r

Far-NoAm
Compare Pac-
I 6-0 o
d ,D(o + !C= o
: +
=
5 97 5
-.<- tr
qiir >ci:
:

f ,its o ^vz
g-ii
-{ :91

6r " . : - >r n
;
dif * 6
j J'" z --i
a !!sn

a <;6
9;
n
' 60- 31.
>s
:d
d5
o- dla
!
Maksymowicz et al. (2012)
 /h
J| |
">P' U1Y\A^
South Chile
*_.dr..".r.--."-
^t
A2 4V*tu".
configurations
Nrg rA
\9 ffr''.
I\
?
t-
I
t>
t>

f r(.
t-

"tf
K

N- fY
fti
i:
I
sc pt T.J.
-l-..1- migrates
w-ty.t'{a slowly
T.J. migrates rapidly K. southwards gr,"AwrL
r.J. *'YJ't "^"4 slr,"'{
northwards *
*a,lin*L
both
r .4 lt configurations
(a116ft'lvt a"aare
| | r,(
ffi>44stable
bYw vl
X
New ocean
crust
forming at
axis

Subducted
half-seamount?

X
TJ

Axis is
buried by
sediments
Ridge subduction: The shape of the Central
Spreading at the Chile anomaly indicates when
triple junction layer 2A stops being
formed;
Between line 8 and 9 the
axial magnetic high
dissapears

Compare Pac-Ant ridge profile:

Note the small “axial high” right
over the axis; due to really
fresh basalts
There is a gap in volcanism south of the triple junction
corresponding to the segments where the crust
passing beneath the volcanic line (~125 km depth)
didn’t form at a spreading center;

Slab
window

This indicates that water

squeezed from subducted
oceanic crust is important in
generating magmas
(1987)

Similarities between
Southern Chile trench
and Cascadia:
Is subduction of young
crust a predictor of large
earthquakes?
(But, 120 Ma crust
involved in Japan 2011)