|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
1 Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA
2 Department of Earth Sciences, National Central University, Chungli, Taiwan, Republic of China
3 Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2115, USA
We propose a model that involves breakoff of the east-dipping Eurasian slab beneath the Taiwan orogen to account for the flipping of subduction polarity in northern Taiwan. The breakoff was initiated in southern Ryukyu in the early Pliocene and then propagated southwestward into Taiwan, like an opening zipper. Detachment of the Eurasian slab has created a mantle window for the north-dipping Philippine Sea plate to move in laterally, causing a switch in the subduction polarity. Slab breakoff not only provides a testable model for the lithospheric structure of Taiwan, but also accounts for the high heat flow, rapid uplift, synorogenic extension, deep-focus earthquakes, and north-diminishing crustal contraction in the Taiwan mountain belt.
Key Words: tectonics • lithospheric structure • subduction • collision • Taiwan
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  P. D. Clift, H. Schouten, and P. Vannucchi Arc-continent collisions, sediment recycling and the maintenance of the continental crust Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2009; 318(1): 75 - 103. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W.-C. Chi and D. L. Reed Evolution of shallow, crustal thermal structure from subduction to collision: An example from Taiwan Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2008; 120(5-6): 679 - 690. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. R. Dickinson Accretionary Mesozoic-Cenozoic expansion of the Cordilleran continental margin in California and adjacent Oregon Geosphere, April 1, 2008; 4(2): 329 - 353. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. D. Clift, A. T.S. Lin, A. Carter, F. Wu, A. E. Draut, T.-H. Lai, L.-Y. Fei, H. Schouten, and L. Teng Post-collisional collapse in the wake of migrating arc-continent collision in the Ilan Basin, Taiwan Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2008; 436(0): 257 - 278. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. F. Dewey Inaugural Article: Orogeny can be very short PNAS, October 25, 2005; 102(43): 15286 - 15293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. D. Clift, H. Schouten, and A. E. Draut A general model of arc-continent collision and subduction polarity reversal from Taiwan and the Irish Caledonides Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2003; 219(1): 81 - 98. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Carena, J. Suppe, and H. Kao Active detachment of Taiwan illuminated by small earthquakes and its control of first-order topography Geology, October 1, 2002; 30(10): 935 - 938. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
