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Published March 6, 1998 | public
Journal Article

Cretaceous Vertical Motion of Australia and the Australian-Antarctic Discordance

Abstract

A three-dimensional model of mantle convection in which the known history of plate tectonics is imposed predicts the anomalous Cretaceous vertical motion of Australia and the present-day distinctive geochemistry and geophysics of the Australian-Antarctic Discordance. The dynamic models infer that a subducted slab associated with the long-lived Gondwanaland-Pacific converging margin passed beneath Australia during the Cretaceous, partially stagnated in the mantle transition zone, and is presently being drawn up by the Southeast Indian Ridge.

Additional Information

© 1998 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 3 November 1997; accepted 28 January 1998. This report represents contribution 8489 of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology. Some of the work reported here was conducted as part of the Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre (AGCRC) and is published with the consent of the Director, AGCRC. We thank J. Veevers for taking the time to discuss the geologic constraints on Mesozoic subduction beneath Australia and K. Gallagher and J. Veevers for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023