South-Sandwich Archives - Accessible Science Graphics Collection

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.

Schematic tectonic reconstruction of the South Sandwich SZI event (modified from Dalziel et al., 2013b). The arrival of the Chile ridge at the South America trench might have triggered a flip in subduction polarity, but the South Sandwich subduction zone is suggested to have initiated as a newly destructive boundary. Shown are the new subduction zone (pink line), other active subduction zones (solid purple lines), spreading ridges (solid red lines), and transform faults (red dashed lines).

South Sandwich subduction zone initiation

The South Sandwich SZI event is estimated to have occurred between 39 and 29 Ma as a new destructive boundary.

End of content

No more pages to load