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Tag: New Hebrides

Subduction zone initiation reconstructions

Subduction zone initiation (SZI) reconstructions for selected events since around 100 Ma. The reconstructed events are based on the whole Earth Sciences community point-of-view of the SZI database.

Subduction zone initiation (SZI) reconstructions for selected events since around 100 Ma. The reconstructed events are based on the whole Earth Sciences community point-of-view of the SZI database (www.SZIdatabase.org). Represented are SZI events of the Pacific subduction realm (Ryukyu at around 6 Ma, Philippine at around 9 Ma, New Hebrides-New Britain at around 10 Ma, Halmahera at around 16 Ma, Tonga-Kermadec at around 48 Ma, and Izu-Bonin-Mariana at around 52 Ma) and remaining SZI events (South-Sandwich at around 40 Ma, Cascadia at around 48 Ma, Lesser Antilles at around 49 Ma, Sunda-Java at around 50 Ma, Aleutian at around 53 Ma, and the two SZI events, Anatolia and Oman, at around 104 Ma). Shown are the new subduction zones (pink lines), other active (solid purple lines) and inactive (dashed purple lines) subduction zones, spreading ridges (solid red lines) and transform faults (red dashed lines).

  • Creator: Valentina Magni
  • This version: 15.11.2022
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Valentina Magni from Crameri et al. (2020) is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.
  • Related reference: Crameri, F., V. Magni, M. Domeier, G.E. Shephard, K. Chotalia, G. Cooper, C. Eakin, A.G. Grima, D. Gürer, A. Király, E. Mulyukova, K. Peters, B. Robert, and M. Thielmann (2020), A transdisciplinary and community-driven database to unravel subduction zone initiation, Nature Communications, 11, 3750. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17522-9
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New Hebrides-New Britain subduction zone initiation

The New Hebrides-New Britain (NHNB) SZI event evolved into the New Hebrides, San Cristobal, and New Britain trenches by subduction polarity reversal at around 10 Ma.

Schematic tectonic reconstruction of the New Hebrides-New Britain SZI event (modified from Schellart et al., 2006 and Holm et al., 2016). The collision of the Ontong Java plateau with the trench of the Melanesian subduction zone is suggested to have caused a flip in subduction polarity, initiating the New Hebrides-New Britain subduction zone. Shown are the new subduction zone (pink line) and other active (solid purple lines) and inactive (dashed purple lines) subduction zones.

The New Hebrides – New Britain (NHNB) SZI event evolved into the present-day subduction system that includes the New Hebrides, San Cristobal, and New Britain trenches. The Australian plate currently subducts below a former portion of itself, lying to the north-east, that today makes up the North Fiji Basin (e.g. Schellart et al., 2006). These trenches are all currently connected to each other and initiated at similar times, which is why their onset is here attributed to one single event.

It has been suggested that the onset of the NHNB subduction zone, which is related to subduction of the Australian plate below the Pacific plate, originated by a reversal in subduction polarity at around 10 Ma. While some studies favour a time period for the SZI event between 10 and 6 Ma (Chase, 1971; Auzende et al., 1988), others suggest an onset age of between 14–11 Ma (Greene et al., 1994; Schellart et al., 2006). This polarity reversal likely occurred as a result of the collision of the Ontong Java plateau with the Vitiaz trench (e.g. Greene et al., 1994; Holm et al. 2013). The Ontong Java plateau lies on the Pacific plate that was subducting below the Australian plate during the collision, prior to the polarity reversal.

For more details on the geologic record, corresponding plate reconstruction, and seismic tomography, see the SZI Database.

  • Creators: Fabio Crameri, Valentina Magni, Matthew Domeier, Ágnes Király, Grace Shephard
  • This version: 17.06.2025
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: These graphics from Crameri et al. (2020) are available via the open-access s-ink.org repository.
  • Related reference: Crameri, F., V. Magni, M. Domeier, G.E. Shephard, K. Chotalia, G. Cooper, C. Eakin, A.G. Grima, D. Gürer, A. Király, E. Mulyukova, K. Peters, B. Robert, and M. Thielmann (2020), A transdisciplinary and community-driven database to unravel subduction zone initiation, Nature Communications, 11, 3750. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17522-9
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