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 plate history in North Pacific since the Late Cretaceous remains debated. Traditional
plate reconstructions suggest successive subduction of the Izanagi Plate and the Pacific …

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 …

The theory of plate tectonics acknowledges that drifting lithospheric plates are rigid and do
not undergo substantial deformation except near or at plate boundaries. However, studies …

The configuration and kinematics of continental deformation and its marginal plate tectonics
on the Earth's surface are intrinsic manifestations of plate-mantle coupling. The complex …

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 …

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 …

Subduction initiation (SI) creates new subduction zones and provides driving forces for plate
tectonics, being a key process of theplate tectonic regime on Earth. Although SI has been …

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 …