Abstract The Indo-Pacific convergence region is the best target to solve the two remaining
challenges of the plate tectonics theory, ie, subduction initiation and the driving force of plate …

The paradigm of plate tectonics holds that ocean plates are rigid during drift and only
experience tectonic deformation at subduction zones, but new findings from the Pacific …

Subduction initiation is fundamental for the plate tectonics theory, which has drawn wide
attentions [1–5]. Ocean-continent transition [1], emergence of plume head [5], age contrast …

As part of a revised global plate tectonic model for 140 Ma to the present, including the
reconstruction of now subducted ocean floor [Müller, et al., 2007], we present a revised plate …

Plate tectonics requires the formation of plate boundaries. Particularly important is the
enigmatic initiation of subduction: the sliding of one plate below the other, and the primary …

The notorious~ 60° bend separating the Hawaiian and Emperor chains marked a prominent
change in the motion of the Pacific plate at~ 47 Ma (million years ago), but the origin of that …

A complicated subduction system, the New-Guinea-Solomon arc (PN-SL), exists in the
convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates at the eastern end of …

Plate tectonic reconstructions of three of the best-defined Cenozoic subduction initiation (SI)
events in the western Pacific, Izu-Bonin-Mariana, Vanuatu, and Puysegur subduction zones …

A reorganization centered on the Pacific plate occurred~ 53–47 million years ago. A “top‐
down” plate tectonic mechanism, complete subduction of the Izanagi plate, as opposed to a …

Half of all subduction zones extant today initiated during the Cenozoic, implying that
subduction initiation is a continuous process and that it must be relatively easy …