Mid-Cretaceous Tectonic Evolution of the Tongareva Triple Junction in the Southwest Pacific Basin

该项目将检验西南太平洋海盆部分白垩纪中期构造演化的假说。该假说认为，在Ontong爪哇和Manihiki高原停止热点火山活动后不久，板块构造就发生了重组，原本位于Nova广州海槽的太平洋、法拉隆和凤凰板块的三重连接点转移到了Manihiki高原的东北角。用多波束测深、侧向扫描、磁强计、船载重力和卫星重力测量将确定三重结点的轨迹。

This project will test a hypothesis for the mid-Cretaceous tectonic evolution of a portion of the southwest Pacific Basin. The hypothesis suggests that a plate-tectonic reorganization occurred soon after hotspot volcanism ceased on the Ontong Java and Manihiki plateaus, and the triple junction among the Pacific, Farallon, and Phoenix plates that had been located at the Nova Canton trough shifted to the northeast corner of the Manihiki plateau. A usrvey with multibeam bathymetric, side-scan, magnetometer, and shipboard and satellite gravity will determine the track of the triple junction.