Teclonophysics, 183 (1990) l-7

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.. Amsterdam

The west Pacific geodynamic model

Jean Aubouin
DPpartement de Gbotectonique, VniversitP Pierre et Marie Curie, Tour 26, 1 er Etage, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris CPdex 05 (France)
(Received January 15,1989; revised version accepted October 6, 1989)

ABSTRACT

Aubouin, J., 1990. The west Pacific geodynamic model. In: J. Angelier (Editor), Geodynamic Evolution of the Eastern
Eurasian Margin. Tectonophysics, 183: l-7.

Between the Asian and Australian continents on the western side and the general subduction of the Central Pacific on the
eastern side, the west Pacific presents two types of subduction: towards the continents and towards the ocean. As a
consequence, at the present day there are two main typesof marginal sea.-the Japan Sea and the South China Sea-and, in
the geological past, two types of orogenesis-the Japanese and the Taiwanese types. These are the models of the two main
erogenic belts, respectively the Circum-Pacific and Tethyan.
For a long period of the past, the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea were the tectonic model of reference. However with the
increase in geological studies, oceanographic research, geophysical surveying, the west Pacific gradually became an alternative
model which grew more useful with each passing day. The present-day trench-island arc-marginal sea system appears to be a
good model for the first stages of erogenic belts, whereas the mountains of the east Eurasian margins provide an example of
the completion of formation of such belts. The coexistence of different stages of mountain building is the main reason for the
increasing interest shown by earth scientists in the west Pacific.

Marginal seas and islands arcs: the Japan Sea and
South China Sea models
The West Pacific (Fig. 1) is bounded by the
Asian and Australian continents on the western
side and the general subduction of the Pacific
towards Asia and Australia on the eastern side,
with a zone of predominant strike-slip between the
northwest Pacific and the southwest Pacific re-
lated to the differential motion of Australia with
respect to Asia.
In between, in the west Pacific, subduction
either dips towards the main continents, Asia and
Australia (in other words, to the west), or towards
the main Pacific Ocean (to the east). If the first
case is the general-and for this reason accepted
very often as the main model-the second is
therefore well developed from the South China
Sea to southwest Pacific (see Aubouin, 1982).
As a consequence, marginal seas belong to two
main types (Fig. 2):
(A) The classical, Japan Sea type, beyond and
above a subduction zone dipping towards the main
continent, in this case Asia. The present status in
opening of the sea with the development of exten-
sional structures processes; both are related to the
subduction, even though strike-slip is variously
associated with the latter. As examples, the
Okhotsk Sea, Lau basin and probably the Bering
Sea basins (see below) belong to this type, as does
also the Okinawa trough, which represents the
first stages of opening.
(B) The more original South China Sea type of
marginal sea occurs in front of and below a sub-
duction zone dipping towards the main ocean, in
this case the Pacific, facing the main continent;
the present status comprises both closing and
opening of the sea, the first motion related to
present day subduction, the second related either
to an antecedent subduction with an opposiing
dip, or to an autonomous evolution of the east
Eurasian margin as a consequence of the great

0040-1951/90/$03.50 0 1990 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

2 J. AUBOUIN

India-Asia collision as proposed by Tapponnier posite vergence, an example is the North Fiji
et al. (1982). basin. which is a locus of complex opening.
The Tasman Sea is of the South China Sea (b) Between two subductions of the same ver-
type, but with a more complex evolution. gence, beyond and above one, in front and below
Two secondary types of marginal sea can be the other. The relevant example here is the Philip-
observed by combination of the two preceding pine Sea, which is a place of both opening and
types (Fig. 1): closing.
(a) Between and above two subductions of op- The question of the role of strike-slip motion is

1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 160” 1700 l8Oo 1700
I

EURASIAN

PLATE /,

CENTRAL

PACIFIC PLATE ..
-i

Subductmn zones and trenches

Fig. 1. Subductions, trenches, island arcs and marginal seas in the west Pacific. 1-16 = Trenches and subductions in the west Pacijic.
I-IO = boundary of the central Pacific (subductions with vergence towards the continent (I-7). predominant strike-slip (a-10)):
I = Aleutian trench; 2 = KuriJ trench; 3 = Japan trench; 4 = Bonin and Marianna trenches; 5 = Yap trench; 6 = Palau trench;
7 = Tonga-Kermadec trench; 8 = New Guinea trench; 9 = West Melanesian trench; 10 = Vitiaz trench. 13-16 = trenches and
subduction within the west Pacific. 13 = Manila trench; 14 = New Britain trench; 15 = Solomon trench; 16 = New Hebrides trench.
I7 = Trenches and subduction in the Indian Ocean (i.e. the Java trench). a-y = Marginal seas. a = Aleutian basin; b = Kamtchakta
basin; c = Bowers basin; d = Okhotsk Sea; e = Japan Sea; j= Bonin basin; g = Marianna basin; h = Parece-Vela basin; i = West
Philippines basin; j+ g + h + i = Philippine Sea; j = Okinawa trough; k = South China Sea; I= Sulu Sea; m = Celebes basin;
n = Bismarck Sea; o = Solomon basin; p = Woodlark basin; 9 = Coral Sea; r = Tasman Sea; s = New Caledonia basin; t = South
Fiji basin; u = North Fiji basin: 6 = Lau-Havre basin; w = Flares basin: x = Banda Sea; y = Weber basin.
THE WEST PACIFIC GEODYNAMIC MODEL
Fig. 2. Japan Sea (A) and South China Sea (B) models of marginal seas.
unanswered. Nevertheless, at the northeastern limit
of the per&Australian islands arc system, along
the Vitiaz, West Melanesian and New Guinea
trenches, very important strike-slip related to the
drift of Australia is present almost everywhere
(e.g. Howell et al., 1985; I&rig et al., 1986). De-
spite the clear presence of strike-slip
proof, particularly palaeomagnetic proof, is as yet
poor.
In the course of time, the position of the sub-
duction may have changed, and it may have either
kept the same dip as in the Philippines Sea where
the subduction zone was migrating eastward from
the Oligocene to Present (Karig, 1973 or it may
have changed dip, as is suspected around the
Philippines Archipelago (Roeder, 1977).
Finally, the location of a marginal sea may
have changed, as the Japan Sea is possibly begin-
ning to do so today: the first indication of west-
ward thrusting of Northern Japan is, perhaps, a
3
Oceanic
lithosphere
classical back-arc thrusting, but this can also be
the beginning of a new subduction (Lallemand et
al., 1985).
All the marginal seas are recent: the oldest is
the Tasman Sea, which was initiated at the end of
the Cretaceous (80 Ma), whereas the others are all
here, the of Tertiary age, Paleogene and mainly Neogene.
Some are still actively opening, such as the Bonin
and Marianna basins, North Fiji basin, Lau basin.
The Okinawa and Coriolis troughs represent just
the beginning of the opening process. Other
marginal seas are now passive, such as the South
China Sea, Tasman Sea, West Philippine basin
and Parece-Vela basin in the Philippine Sea.
All are more recent than the subducting oc-
eanic crust, precluding the idea of the origin of
marginal seas by trapping of oceanic crust which
was formerly proposed for the Celebes Sea, Sulu
Sea and Bering Sea. The recent ODP Leg 126
excluded this proposition for the Celebes basin
4 J. AUBOUIN

and Sulu Sea on the basis that the crust of the as seamounts (e.g., the Kashima seamounts and
former is of Eocene age (45 Ma) and the crust of Japan trench (Mogi and Nishizawa, 1980;
the latter is of Miocene age (15 Ma). Kobayashi et al., 1987)) and aseismic ridges (e.g.,
Keeping all these remarks in mind, the Japan the Nazca ridge and Peru trench (see Kulm et al,,
Sea and South China Sea are the two mains types 1981)) can be subducted.
of marginal seas. They represent two types of Within ancient mountains, almost all the thrust
erogenic model. complexes rest upon a continental basement know
as a foreland. Sometimes, as in the Himalayas,
such a disposition is also called “continental sub-
Orogenic belts: The Japan and Taiwan models duction”, but it is clear that this is another term
for subduction because it is pure intracontinental
With regard to the balance of subduction and deformation which can be understood as a hyper-
collision, it appears that continental collision is colfision effect after a sequence of successive colli-
the main tectonic process. sions.
At the present time, it has been proved that at In this case, Hypercollision means that after the
most only the top the of sedimentary cover is continental margins have collided the shortening
accreted at the front of the subduction, whereas continues, as in the Himalayas or the Eastern
the lower part, below a detachment plane, travels Alps, producing large intracontinental thrusts
down into the subduction zone together with the comparable to the Main Central Thrust in the
oceanic lithosphere (e.g., the Barbados ridge, Himalayas (Fig. 4) or the Eastern Alps Thrust.
Biju-Duval et al. (1981)) Nankai trough, Nasu et The situation is different in the Andes where
al., (1982), Le Pichon et al. (1987). Moreover, in continental subduction has also been described on
some cases, all the oceanic material, lithosphere the eastern side: here, no oceanic space whatsover
and sedimentary cover, travels into the subduction was involved. Thus, with regard to the different
zone (e.g., the Middle America trench, Aubouin et meanings, the use of the term “continental sub-
al., 1984). Even the great submarine features such duction” (or A-type subduction) is questionnable.

Island
Main continent arc/ block
Marginal sea

Main continent Island

I
Cordlllera 1 block /arc

7 Marginal sea

JAPAN TYPE / UPPER JURASSIC

Fig. 3. Japan-type (A) and Taiwan-type (B) models of orogenesis. (A) adapted from Charvet and Fabbri, 1987; (B) adapted from
Stephan et al. (1986).
THE WEST PACIFIC GEODYNAMIC MODEL 5

500s 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50”N
I I I I I I I I I I I -
QUANTANG
INDIA
gj@g-“-‘“A 140 Myr BP

Deccan Traps

I I 1 I I I I 1

500s 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50°N

Fig. 4. Sequence of subduction-collision (140-40 Ma)-hypercollision (40 Ma-Present) during the formation of the Himalayas (after
All&e et al., 1984). KS = Kokoxi suture zone (140 Ma); BNS = Bangong-Nujiang suture zone (100 Ma); ITS = Indus-Tsang PO
suture zone (40 Ma); M. C. T. = Main Central Thrust (20 Ma); M. B. T. = Main Basal Thrust (Present).

In the west Pacific erogenic belts, there are two
types of island arc-continent collision (Aubouin,
1980, 1981) (Fig. 3):
(1) The Taiwan type, in the Neogene, when the
island arc was thrust towards and onto the conti-
nent (see Stephan et al., 1986).
(2) The Japan type, in the late Jurassic, when
the island arc (Kurosegawa block) was thrust to-
wards but beneath the continental margin (see
Charvet and Fabbri, 1987). At the time the pre-
sent Japan Sea did not exist, it is no older than the
Neogene).
The Taiwan type, which moreover is a good
example of transition along strike between sub-
duction and collision (Bowin et al., 1978) is the
model for the Alpine orogenesis of which the two
main aspects, disregarding the details, are con-
tinental vergence and thrusting above the con-
tinental margin. The Taiwan-type collision is
clearly related to the South China type of margi-
nal sea. It can be observed in eastern Indonesia,
east of Timor, where the Indonesian island arc
begins to collide with the Australian margin
(Norwick, 1979; Karig et al., 1987; Reed et al.,
1987). In addition, this type of collision is prepar-
ing to occur in the New Hebrides, and it has also
been documented recently in the Sulu Sea and
Celebes basin during the ODP Leg 124 drilling.
The Japan type is the model for Californian
orogenesis of which the main aspect is oceanic
vergence. In California, the problem of the Salinian
blocks is identical to the Kurosegawa block prob-
lem: an “orphan” in the California context, the
Salinian block is more easily understood as a
remnant of continental crust under the Cali-
fornian thrust complex outcropping between two
strike-slip faults of the San Andreas complex (Hsti,
1971) than as a slice of continental crust having
only undergone a large longitudinal displacement
(see Beck et al., 1980; Howell et al., 1985). Even if
the second interpretation can be proved in the
future, the Japanese and Californian Mesozoic
6 .I. AUBOUIN

orogenies will still belong to the same type, with Auzende, J.M., Eissen, J.P.. Caprais, M.P., Gente, P., Guenely,
predominant “collages” coexisting with collision S.. Harmegnies, F.. Lagabrielle. Y Lapouille, A., Lefevre.
C.. Maillet, P.. Maze, J.P., Ondreas, H.. Schaaf. A. and
giving birth to the observed thrusts.
Singh. R.. 1986. Accretion oceanique et deformation dans
In the course of time, while a complex Alpine la partie meridionale du bassin Nord-Fidjien: resultats
belt grew in the Tethys area (Aubouin, 1980,1981), Preliminaires de la campagne oceanographique SEAPSO
the evolution was a sequence of successive colli- III du N.O. Jean-Charcot (Decembre 1985). CR. Acad. Sci.
sions of the Japan and Taiwan types ending in a Paris. Ser. 111, 303: 93 9X.
Auzende, J.M.. Eissen, J.P.. Lafoy. Y.. Gente, P. and Chailou.
continent-continent Collision (of the Tethyan
J.L.. 1988. Seafloor spreading in the North Fiji Basin
type) and giving the last touch of Alpine tectonic
(Southwest Pacific). Tectonophysics, 146: 317-351.
“excess” with the formation of huge thrusts. When, Barrier, E. and Angeher, .I., 1986. Active collision in Eastern
after the last collision, the shortening continues. Taiwan: the Coastal Range. Tectonophysics. 125: 39-72.
“ hypercollision” involving intracontinental thrusts Beck, M., Cox. A. and Jones. D.L.. 1980. Penrose Conference
report: Mesozoic and Cenozoic microplate tectonics of
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western North America. Geology. 8 (9): 454-456.
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Biju-Duval, B.. Moore, J.C.. Backinton, G.. Bergen. J.A..
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