Holocene

A data set comprising 110 spreading rates, 78 transform fault azimuths, and 142 earthquake slip vectors has been inverted to yield a new instantaneous plate motion model, designated Relative Motion 2 (RM2). The model represents a considerable improvement over our previous estimate, RM1 [Minster et al., 1974]. The mean averaging interval for the spreading rate data has been reduced to less than 3 m.y. A detailed comparison of RM2 with angular velocity vectors which best fit the data along individual plate boundaries indicates that RM2 performs close to optimally in most regions, with several notable exceptions. The model systematically misfits data along the India‐Antarctica and Pacific‐India plate boundaries. We hypothesize that these discrepancies are manifestations of internal deformation within the Indian plate; the data are compatible with northwest‐southeast compression across the Ninetyeast Ridge at a rate of about 1 cm/yr. RM2 also fails to satisfy the east‐west trending transform fault azimuths observed in the French‐American Mid‐Ocean Undersea Study area, which is shown to be a consequence of closure constraints about the Azores triple junction. Slow movement between North and South America is required by the data set, although the angular velocity vector describing this motion remains poorly constrained. The existence of a Bering plate, postulated in our previous study, is not necessary if we accept the proposal of Engdahl and others that the Aleutian slip vector data are biased by slab effects. Absolute motion models are derived from several kinematical hypotheses and compared with the data from hot spot traces younger than 10 m.y. Although some of the models are inconsistent with the Wilson‐Morgan hypothesis, the overall resolving power of the hot spot data is poor, and the directions of absolute motion for the several slower‐moving plates are not usefully constrained.

@article{doi101029jb083ib11p05331,
    author = "Minster, J. B. and Jordan, T. H.",
    title = "Present‐day plate motions",
    year = "1978",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "A data set comprising 110 spreading rates, 78 transform fault azimuths, and 142 earthquake slip vectors has been inverted to yield a new instantaneous plate motion model, designated Relative Motion 2 (RM2). The model represents a considerable improvement over our previous estimate, RM1 [Minster et al., 1974]. The mean averaging interval for the spreading rate data has been reduced to less than 3 m.y. A detailed comparison of RM2 with angular velocity vectors which best fit the data along individual plate boundaries indicates that RM2 performs close to optimally in most regions, with several notable exceptions. The model systematically misfits data along the India‐Antarctica and Pacific‐India plate boundaries. We hypothesize that these discrepancies are manifestations of internal deformation within the Indian plate; the data are compatible with northwest‐southeast compression across the Ninetyeast Ridge at a rate of about 1 cm/yr. RM2 also fails to satisfy the east‐west trending transform fault azimuths observed in the French‐American Mid‐Ocean Undersea Study area, which is shown to be a consequence of closure constraints about the Azores triple junction. Slow movement between North and South America is required by the data set, although the angular velocity vector describing this motion remains poorly constrained. The existence of a Bering plate, postulated in our previous study, is not necessary if we accept the proposal of Engdahl and others that the Aleutian slip vector data are biased by slab effects. Absolute motion models are derived from several kinematical hypotheses and compared with the data from hot spot traces younger than 10 m.y. Although some of the models are inconsistent with the Wilson‐Morgan hypothesis, the overall resolving power of the hot spot data is poor, and the directions of absolute motion for the several slower‐moving plates are not usefully constrained.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/jb083ib11p05331",
    doi = "10.1029/jb083ib11p05331",
    openalex = "W2009930154",
    references = "doi1010160012821x78900511, doi101029jz072i008p02131, doi101038226243a0, doi101111j1365246x1971tb02190x, doi101111j1365246x1972tb02351x, doi101111j1365246x1974tb00613x, doi101111j1365246x1975tb00631x, doi101126science1894201419, doi101130001676061969801639totcam20co2, doi10113000167606197283619ssitna20co2, doi101130mem132p7, sykes1967mechanism"
}

The raised Holocene sediments on Kikai-jima of the Central Ryukyus form four, topogra-phically well defined, marine terraces around the entire coast of the island. They consist principally of reefoid limestones resting unconformably on wave-cut benches and other erosoinal surfaces of either Pleistocene limestones (Araki Limestone and Ryukyu Limestone) or Pliocene mudstone (Somachi Formation). The limestone varies in lithology from coralalgal boundstones to foraminiferal-algal grainstones with other minor facies. About 30 radiocarbon dates of corals indicate that on each terrace the topographically higher limestones are in general older than the more seaward, lower limestones. Coral dates within a given terrace suggest that a lateral seaward accretion was more likely than a vertical growth pattern for the reefs. Radiometric dating, extensive aerial photo-interpretation and detailed topographic pro-filing with the use of an autolevel along twenty transects perpendicular to the shoreline have established the existence of four ancient strand lines between 6, 800 y. B. P. and 1, 500 y. B. P. All of the strand lines appear to represent an interval of relative high still stand of sea level. The highest and oldest shoreline that is confirmed at the local development of notches attains at least 13m above the present mean sea level. The present altitudes of this as well as other abandoned shorelines are as follows: +9 to +13m for Terrace I (6, 000 to 6, 800 y. B. P.), +5 to +7m for Terrace II (3, 500 to 5, 200 y. B. P.), +2.5 to +5m for Terrace III (3, 000 to 3, 500 y. B. P.) and +1.5 to +2m for Terrace IV (1, 500 to 2, 500 y. B. P.), respectively. The present elevation of the four strand lines are attributed to local uplift due to the island-arc neotectonism which has an average rate of 1.5 to 2.0mm/year for the last 130, 000 years. The steady rate of uplift suggests that original elevation of the strand lines was fairly close to the present sea level. No evidence has been found to substantiate the view that any of these still stands was appreciably above the level of the present sea. The oxygen isotope measurement of fossil molluscs associated with the dated corals seems to be in accordance with this contention. If a fluctuation of sea level should be sought, a relative drop in the magnitude of 2 to 3m below the present sea level may possibly be postulated twice, one at 5, 500_??_6, 000 y. B. P. and the other at 1, 500_??_2, 500 y. B. P. Two maxima of sea level rise can also be inferred, one with +1 to +3m above the present sea level between 6, 000 y. B. P. and 7, 000 y. B. P., and the other of +1m between 3, 500 y. B. P. and 5, 000 y. B. P. At Kikai, formation of the reefs was initiated during the interval represented by the oldest terrace (Terrace I), but it was not as active as elsewhere in the Pacific then, even though the time was possibly the culmination of sea level change and may well be correlated with that of "Climatic Optimum". Instead, the reef growth around Kikai was the greatest between 5, 000 y. B. P. and 3, 500 y. B. P. This is shown by the next younger terrace (Terrace II), which has the largest and best preserved intact fringing reef among the Holocene sediments on the island. Both of the two youngest terraces (Terraces III and IV) may indicate rather brief duration of relative high stand when the reef growth was similar to that of the present-day.

@article{doi104157grj51109,
    author = "Ôta, Yôko and Machida, Hiroshi and Hori, Nobuyuki and Konishi, Kenji and Omura, Akio",
    title = "HOLOCENE RAISED CORAL REEFS OF KIKAI-JIMA (RYUKYU ISLANDS)",
    year = "1978",
    journal = "Geographical Review of Japan",
    abstract = {The raised Holocene sediments on Kikai-jima of the Central Ryukyus form four, topogra-phically well defined, marine terraces around the entire coast of the island. They consist principally of reefoid limestones resting unconformably on wave-cut benches and other erosoinal surfaces of either Pleistocene limestones (Araki Limestone and Ryukyu Limestone) or Pliocene mudstone (Somachi Formation). The limestone varies in lithology from coralalgal boundstones to foraminiferal-algal grainstones with other minor facies. About 30 radiocarbon dates of corals indicate that on each terrace the topographically higher limestones are in general older than the more seaward, lower limestones. Coral dates within a given terrace suggest that a lateral seaward accretion was more likely than a vertical growth pattern for the reefs. Radiometric dating, extensive aerial photo-interpretation and detailed topographic pro-filing with the use of an autolevel along twenty transects perpendicular to the shoreline have established the existence of four ancient strand lines between 6, 800 y. B. P. and 1, 500 y. B. P. All of the strand lines appear to represent an interval of relative high still stand of sea level. The highest and oldest shoreline that is confirmed at the local development of notches attains at least 13m above the present mean sea level. The present altitudes of this as well as other abandoned shorelines are as follows: +9 to +13m for Terrace I (6, 000 to 6, 800 y. B. P.), +5 to +7m for Terrace II (3, 500 to 5, 200 y. B. P.), +2.5 to +5m for Terrace III (3, 000 to 3, 500 y. B. P.) and +1.5 to +2m for Terrace IV (1, 500 to 2, 500 y. B. P.), respectively. The present elevation of the four strand lines are attributed to local uplift due to the island-arc neotectonism which has an average rate of 1.5 to 2.0mm/year for the last 130, 000 years. The steady rate of uplift suggests that original elevation of the strand lines was fairly close to the present sea level. No evidence has been found to substantiate the view that any of these still stands was appreciably above the level of the present sea. The oxygen isotope measurement of fossil molluscs associated with the dated corals seems to be in accordance with this contention. If a fluctuation of sea level should be sought, a relative drop in the magnitude of 2 to 3m below the present sea level may possibly be postulated twice, one at 5, 500\_??\_6, 000 y. B. P. and the other at 1, 500\_??\_2, 500 y. B. P. Two maxima of sea level rise can also be inferred, one with +1 to +3m above the present sea level between 6, 000 y. B. P. and 7, 000 y. B. P., and the other of +1m between 3, 500 y. B. P. and 5, 000 y. B. P. At Kikai, formation of the reefs was initiated during the interval represented by the oldest terrace (Terrace I), but it was not as active as elsewhere in the Pacific then, even though the time was possibly the culmination of sea level change and may well be correlated with that of "Climatic Optimum". Instead, the reef growth around Kikai was the greatest between 5, 000 y. B. P. and 3, 500 y. B. P. This is shown by the next younger terrace (Terrace II), which has the largest and best preserved intact fringing reef among the Holocene sediments on the island. Both of the two youngest terraces (Terraces III and IV) may indicate rather brief duration of relative high stand when the reef growth was similar to that of the present-day.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.4157/grj.51.109",
    doi = "10.4157/grj.51.109",
    openalex = "W2314234004",
    references = "doi1010160025322770900496"
}

The island of Taiwan is a byproduct of one of the few active collisions between a continent, represented by the Eurasian continental shelf, and an island arc, represented by the northern extension of the Luzon arc on the Philippine Sea plate. To understand better the evolution and current tectonics of this collision, we selected 1260 well‐recorded earthquakes from an initial set of 50,000 located by the Taiwan Telemetered Seismograph Network for the determination of one‐ and three‐dimensional P and S wave velocity structures beneath the island. The results for both structures and earthquake relocations reveal that the island is divided tectonically into three distinct zones. In the east, the Philippine oceanic plate is underthrusting the Eurasian plate east of a north‐south boundary that is well defined by both seismic activity and a region of high velocity. In the south, the Eurasian continental plate is underthrusting the Philippine Sea plate south of an east‐west boundary at about 23°N that is sharply defined by both subcrustal seismicity and a zone of relatively low velocities. The dip of the subducted continent is shallow until it reaches the Luzon island arc 50 km east of the main island. Structure under the main part of the island north of 230N reveals a shallow dipping zone of low velocities in the west above 25 km depth that narrows and steepens below that depth to at least 50 km beneath the central range. The dip of this low‐velocity region is outlined by a narrow zone of seismicity that extends to depths of 100 km. This seismic zone lies in a velocity “saddle” and marks an apparent offset in the central low‐velocity region at 24°N. Evidence for the subduction of the Eurasian continent beneath Taiwan therefore exists everywhere beneath the island, and the low‐velocity regions in the mantle support, but do not require, the subduction of some 6–16 km of lower continental crust to depths of at least 50 km. The distinct change in both the velocity structure and the seismic activity at 23°N and the offset of the low‐velocity regions at 24°N argue for abrupt changes in the nature of subduction across these latitudes. These changes may be caused by an interaction of the Luzon island arc with the subducted continental shelf that mimics a similar interaction evident at the surface. Finally, the velocity structure of the subducting Philippine sea plate suggests that the earthquakes beneath 70 km depth are not occurring within the highest‐velocity regions of the plate, but are probably located near the upper edge of the plate. There is also evidence from earthquake locations and velocity structure that suggests that the subducting plate is segmented, and that subduction is presently occurring as far south as 22°N.

@article{doi101029jb092ib10p10547,
    author = "Roecker, S. W. and Yeh, Y.‐H. and Tsai, Y.-B.",
    title = "Three‐dimensional P and S wave velocity structures beneath Taiwan: Deep structure beneath an arc‐continent collision",
    year = "1987",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "The island of Taiwan is a byproduct of one of the few active collisions between a continent, represented by the Eurasian continental shelf, and an island arc, represented by the northern extension of the Luzon arc on the Philippine Sea plate. To understand better the evolution and current tectonics of this collision, we selected 1260 well‐recorded earthquakes from an initial set of 50,000 located by the Taiwan Telemetered Seismograph Network for the determination of one‐ and three‐dimensional P and S wave velocity structures beneath the island. The results for both structures and earthquake relocations reveal that the island is divided tectonically into three distinct zones. In the east, the Philippine oceanic plate is underthrusting the Eurasian plate east of a north‐south boundary that is well defined by both seismic activity and a region of high velocity. In the south, the Eurasian continental plate is underthrusting the Philippine Sea plate south of an east‐west boundary at about 23°N that is sharply defined by both subcrustal seismicity and a zone of relatively low velocities. The dip of the subducted continent is shallow until it reaches the Luzon island arc 50 km east of the main island. Structure under the main part of the island north of 230N reveals a shallow dipping zone of low velocities in the west above 25 km depth that narrows and steepens below that depth to at least 50 km beneath the central range. The dip of this low‐velocity region is outlined by a narrow zone of seismicity that extends to depths of 100 km. This seismic zone lies in a velocity “saddle” and marks an apparent offset in the central low‐velocity region at 24°N. Evidence for the subduction of the Eurasian continent beneath Taiwan therefore exists everywhere beneath the island, and the low‐velocity regions in the mantle support, but do not require, the subduction of some 6–16 km of lower continental crust to depths of at least 50 km. The distinct change in both the velocity structure and the seismic activity at 23°N and the offset of the low‐velocity regions at 24°N argue for abrupt changes in the nature of subduction across these latitudes. These changes may be caused by an interaction of the Luzon island arc with the subducted continental shelf that mimics a similar interaction evident at the surface. Finally, the velocity structure of the subducting Philippine sea plate suggests that the earthquakes beneath 70 km depth are not occurring within the highest‐velocity regions of the plate, but are probably located near the upper edge of the plate. There is also evidence from earthquake locations and velocity structure that suggests that the subducting plate is segmented, and that subduction is presently occurring as far south as 22°N.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/jb092ib10p10547",
    doi = "10.1029/jb092ib10p10547",
    openalex = "W1963597238",
    references = "doi1010160040195177901688, doi1010160040195186900053, doi101029jb081i023p04381, doi101029jb085ib03p01365, doi101029jb085ib09p04801, doi101029jb087ib02p00945, doi101029jb088ib10p08226, doi101029rg013i001p00057, doi101306c1ea526016c911d78645000102c1865d, openalexw2482783126"
}

Samples of Holocene fossil coral from uplifted reefs of three tectonically distinct, yet geographically proximal regions of Taiwan have been dated by uranium-series and (14)C isotopes. Applying corrections for altitude change caused by sea level fluctuations enables evaluation of long-term average Holocene uplift rates for three areas across an active convergent margin: (i) the Hengchun Peninsula of the Eurasian tectonic plate; (ii) the Eastern Coastal Range of Taiwan, a plate boundary; and (iii) two offshore islands, Lanyu and Lutao, both situated on the leading edge of the adjoining Philippine Plate. The data indicate that while all three areas have experienced uplift through the Holocene, plate collision has caused significantly higher uplift rates in the region directly along the plate boundary.

@article{doi101126science2484952204,
    author = "Wang, Chung‐Ho and Burnett, William C.",
    title = "Holocene Mean Uplift Rates Across an Active Plate-Collision Boundary in Taiwan",
    year = "1990",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Samples of Holocene fossil coral from uplifted reefs of three tectonically distinct, yet geographically proximal regions of Taiwan have been dated by uranium-series and (14)C isotopes. Applying corrections for altitude change caused by sea level fluctuations enables evaluation of long-term average Holocene uplift rates for three areas across an active convergent margin: (i) the Hengchun Peninsula of the Eurasian tectonic plate; (ii) the Eastern Coastal Range of Taiwan, a plate boundary; and (iii) two offshore islands, Lanyu and Lutao, both situated on the leading edge of the adjoining Philippine Plate. The data indicate that while all three areas have experienced uplift through the Holocene, plate collision has caused significantly higher uplift rates in the region directly along the plate boundary.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.248.4952.204",
    doi = "10.1126/science.248.4952.204",
    openalex = "W1995967605",
    references = "doi1010160025322770900496, doi1010160025322788900916, doi1010160033589474900076, doi1010160033589478900339, doi1010160033589479900760, doi1010160040195186900065, doi101016004019519090191a, doi101029jb073i006p02271, doi101029jb092ib10p10547, doi101126science1593812297"
}

Samples of Holocene fossil coral from uplifted reefs of three tectonically distinct, yet geographically proximal regions of Taiwan have been dated by uranium-series and 14 C isotopes. Applying corrections for altitude change caused by sea level fluctuations enables evaluation of long-term average Holocene uplift rates for three areas across an active convergent margin: (i) the Hengchun Peninsula of the Eurasian tectonic plate; (ii) the Eastern Coastal Range of Taiwan, a plate boundary; and (iii) two offshore islands, Lanyu and Lutao, both situated on the leading edge of the adjoining Philippine Plate. The data indicate that while all three areas have experienced uplift through the Holocene, plate collision has caused significantly higher uplift rates in the region directly along the plate boundary.

@article{wang1990holocene,
    author = "Wang, Chung-Ho and Burnett, William C.",
    title = "Holocene Mean Uplift Rates Across an Active Plate-Collision Boundary in Taiwan",
    year = "1990",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Samples of Holocene fossil coral from uplifted reefs of three tectonically distinct, yet geographically proximal regions of Taiwan have been dated by uranium-series and 14 C isotopes. Applying corrections for altitude change caused by sea level fluctuations enables evaluation of long-term average Holocene uplift rates for three areas across an active convergent margin: (i) the Hengchun Peninsula of the Eurasian tectonic plate; (ii) the Eastern Coastal Range of Taiwan, a plate boundary; and (iii) two offshore islands, Lanyu and Lutao, both situated on the leading edge of the adjoining Philippine Plate. The data indicate that while all three areas have experienced uplift through the Holocene, plate collision has caused significantly higher uplift rates in the region directly along the plate boundary.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.248.4952.204",
    doi = "10.1126/science.248.4952.204",
    number = "4952",
    openalex = "W1995967605",
    pages = "204-206",
    volume = "248",
    references = "doi1010160025322770900496, doi1010160025322788900916, doi1010160033589474900076, doi1010160033589478900339, doi1010160033589479900760, doi1010160040195186900065, doi101016004019519090191a, doi101029jb073i006p02271, doi101029jb092ib10p10547, doi101126science1593812297"
}

@misc{wang1990holocene1,
    author = "Wang, C.-H. and Burnett, W. C",
    title = "Holocene mean uplift rates across an active plate-collision boundary in Taiwan",
    year = "1990",
    howpublished = "Science, v. 248, p. 204-206",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Wang, C.-H., and Burnett, W. C., 1990, Holocene mean uplift rates across an active plate-collision boundary in Taiwan: Science, v. 248, p. 204-206.}"
}

We have studied geometries and rates of late Cenozoic thrust faulting and folding along the northern piedmont of the Tien Shan mountain belt, West of Urumqi, where the M = 8.3 Manas earthquake occurred on December 23, 1906. The northern range of the Tien Shan, rising above 5000 m, overthrusts a flexural foredeep, filled with up to 11,000 m of sediment, of the Dzungarian basement. Our fieldwork reveals that the active thrust reaches the surface 30 km north of the range front, within a 200‐km‐long zone of Neogene‐Quaternary anticlines. Fault scarps are clearest across inset terraces within narrow valleys incised through the anticlines by large rivers flowing down from the range. In all the valleys, the scarps offset vertically the highest terrace surface by the same amount (10.2±0.7 m). Inferring an early Holocene age (10±2 kyr) for this terrace, which is continuous with the largest recent fans of the piedmont, yields a rate of vertical throw of 1.0±0.3mm/yr on the main active thrust at the surface. A quantitative morphological analysis of the degradation of terrace edges that are offset by the thrust corroborates such a rate and yields a mass diffusivity of 5.5±2.5 m 2 /kyr. A rather fresh surface scarp, 0.8±0.15 m high, that is unlikely to result from shallow earthquakes with 6 < M < 7 in the last 230 years, is visible at the extremities of the main fold zone. We associate this scarp with the 1906 Manas earthquake and infer that a structure comprising a deep basement ramp under the range, gently dipping flats in the foreland, and shallow ramps responsible for the formation of the active, fault propagation anticlines could have been activated by that earthquake. If so, the return period of a 1906 type event would be 850 ±380 years. The small size of the scarp for an earthquake of this magnitude suggests that a large fraction of the slip at depth (≈⅔) is taken up by incremental folding near the surface. Comparable earthquakes might activate flat detachments and ramp anticlines at a distance from the front of other rising Quaternary ranges such as the San Gabriel mountains in California or the Mont Blanc‐Aar massifs in the Alps. We estimate the finite Cenozoic shortening of the folded Dzungarian sediments to be of the order of 30 km and the Cenozoic shortening rate to have been 3 ± 1.5 mm/yr. Assuming comparable shortening along the Tarim piedmont and minor additional active thrusting within the mountain belt, we infer the rate of shortening across the Tien Shan to be at least 6 ± 3 mm/yr at the longitude of Manas (≈85.5°E). A total shortening of 125±30 km is estimated from crustal thickening, assuming local Airy isostatic equilibrium. Under the same assumption, serial N‐S sections imply that Cenozoic shortening across the belt increases westwards to 203±50 km at the longitude of Kashgar (≈ 76 °E), as reflected by the westward increase of the width of the belt. This strain gradient implies a clockwise rotation of Tarim relative to Dzungaria and Kazakhstan of 7±2.5° around a pole located near the eastern extremity of the Tien Shan, west of Hami (≈96°E, 43.5°N), comparable to that revealed by paleomagnetism between Tarim and Dzungaria (8.6° ± 8.7°). A 6 mm/yr rate of shortening at the longitude of Manas would imply a rate of rotation of 0.45°/m.y. and would be consistent with a shortening rate of 12 mm/yr north of Kashgar. Taking such values to be representative of Late Cenozoic rates would place the onset of reactivation of the Tien Shan by the India‐Asia collision in the early to middle Miocene (16 +22/−9 m.y.), in accord with the existence of particularly thick late Neogene and Quaternary deposits. Such reactivation would thus have started much later than the collision, roughly at the time of the great mid‐Miocene changes in tectonic regimes, denudation and sedimentation rates observed in southeast Asia, the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal, and of the correlative rapid change in seawater Sr isotopic ratio (20 to 15 Ma). Like these other changes, the rise of the Tien Shan might be a distant consequence of the end of Indochina's escape.

@article{doi10102992jb01963,
    author = "Avouac, Jean‐Philippe and Tapponnier, P. and Bai, Meixiang and You, Hongzi and Wang, G.",
    title = "Active thrusting and folding along the northern Tien Shan and Late Cenozoic rotation of the Tarim relative to Dzungaria and Kazakhstan",
    year = "1993",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "We have studied geometries and rates of late Cenozoic thrust faulting and folding along the northern piedmont of the Tien Shan mountain belt, West of Urumqi, where the M = 8.3 Manas earthquake occurred on December 23, 1906. The northern range of the Tien Shan, rising above 5000 m, overthrusts a flexural foredeep, filled with up to 11,000 m of sediment, of the Dzungarian basement. Our fieldwork reveals that the active thrust reaches the surface 30 km north of the range front, within a 200‐km‐long zone of Neogene‐Quaternary anticlines. Fault scarps are clearest across inset terraces within narrow valleys incised through the anticlines by large rivers flowing down from the range. In all the valleys, the scarps offset vertically the highest terrace surface by the same amount (10.2±0.7 m). Inferring an early Holocene age (10±2 kyr) for this terrace, which is continuous with the largest recent fans of the piedmont, yields a rate of vertical throw of 1.0±0.3mm/yr on the main active thrust at the surface. A quantitative morphological analysis of the degradation of terrace edges that are offset by the thrust corroborates such a rate and yields a mass diffusivity of 5.5±2.5 m 2 /kyr. A rather fresh surface scarp, 0.8±0.15 m high, that is unlikely to result from shallow earthquakes with 6 < M < 7 in the last 230 years, is visible at the extremities of the main fold zone. We associate this scarp with the 1906 Manas earthquake and infer that a structure comprising a deep basement ramp under the range, gently dipping flats in the foreland, and shallow ramps responsible for the formation of the active, fault propagation anticlines could have been activated by that earthquake. If so, the return period of a 1906 type event would be 850 ±380 years. The small size of the scarp for an earthquake of this magnitude suggests that a large fraction of the slip at depth (≈⅔) is taken up by incremental folding near the surface. Comparable earthquakes might activate flat detachments and ramp anticlines at a distance from the front of other rising Quaternary ranges such as the San Gabriel mountains in California or the Mont Blanc‐Aar massifs in the Alps. We estimate the finite Cenozoic shortening of the folded Dzungarian sediments to be of the order of 30 km and the Cenozoic shortening rate to have been 3 ± 1.5 mm/yr. Assuming comparable shortening along the Tarim piedmont and minor additional active thrusting within the mountain belt, we infer the rate of shortening across the Tien Shan to be at least 6 ± 3 mm/yr at the longitude of Manas (≈85.5°E). A total shortening of 125±30 km is estimated from crustal thickening, assuming local Airy isostatic equilibrium. Under the same assumption, serial N‐S sections imply that Cenozoic shortening across the belt increases westwards to 203±50 km at the longitude of Kashgar (≈ 76 °E), as reflected by the westward increase of the width of the belt. This strain gradient implies a clockwise rotation of Tarim relative to Dzungaria and Kazakhstan of 7±2.5° around a pole located near the eastern extremity of the Tien Shan, west of Hami (≈96°E, 43.5°N), comparable to that revealed by paleomagnetism between Tarim and Dzungaria (8.6° ± 8.7°). A 6 mm/yr rate of shortening at the longitude of Manas would imply a rate of rotation of 0.45°/m.y. and would be consistent with a shortening rate of 12 mm/yr north of Kashgar. Taking such values to be representative of Late Cenozoic rates would place the onset of reactivation of the Tien Shan by the India‐Asia collision in the early to middle Miocene (16 +22/−9 m.y.), in accord with the existence of particularly thick late Neogene and Quaternary deposits. Such reactivation would thus have started much later than the collision, roughly at the time of the great mid‐Miocene changes in tectonic regimes, denudation and sedimentation rates observed in southeast Asia, the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal, and of the correlative rapid change in seawater Sr isotopic ratio (20 to 15 Ma). Like these other changes, the rise of the Tien Shan might be a distant consequence of the end of Indochina's escape.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/92jb01963",
    doi = "10.1029/92jb01963",
    openalex = "W1972705099",
    references = "doi10102992jb02280, doi101029jb082i020p02981, doi101029jb089ib07p05681, doi101038342637a0, doi101038345405a0, doi101111j1365246x1990tb06579x, doi101126science1894201419, doi10113000917613198210611petian20co2, doi101144gslsp19860190107, doi102475ajs2837684"
}

A global set of present plate boundaries on the Earth is presented in digital form. Most come from sources in the literature. A few boundaries are newly interpreted from topography, volcanism, and/or seismicity, taking into account relative plate velocities from magnetic anomalies, moment tensor solutions, and/or geodesy. In addition to the 14 large plates whose motion was described by the NUVEL‐1A poles (Africa, Antarctica, Arabia, Australia, Caribbean, Cocos, Eurasia, India, Juan de Fuca, Nazca, North America, Pacific, Philippine Sea, South America), model PB2002 includes 38 small plates (Okhotsk, Amur, Yangtze, Okinawa, Sunda, Burma, Molucca Sea, Banda Sea, Timor, Birds Head, Maoke, Caroline, Mariana, North Bismarck, Manus, South Bismarck, Solomon Sea, Woodlark, New Hebrides, Conway Reef, Balmoral Reef, Futuna, Niuafo'ou, Tonga, Kermadec, Rivera, Galapagos, Easter, Juan Fernandez, Panama, North Andes, Altiplano, Shetland, Scotia, Sandwich, Aegean Sea, Anatolia, Somalia), for a total of 52 plates. No attempt is made to divide the Alps‐Persia‐Tibet mountain belt, the Philippine Islands, the Peruvian Andes, the Sierras Pampeanas, or the California‐Nevada zone of dextral transtension into plates; instead, they are designated as “orogens” in which this plate model is not expected to be accurate. The cumulative‐number/area distribution for this model follows a power law for plates with areas between 0.002 and 1 steradian. Departure from this scaling at the small‐plate end suggests that future work is very likely to define more very small plates within the orogens. The model is presented in four digital files: a set of plate boundary segments; a set of plate outlines; a set of outlines of the orogens; and a table of characteristics of each digitization step along plate boundaries, including estimated relative velocity vector and classification into one of 7 types (continental convergence zone, continental transform fault, continental rift, oceanic spreading ridge, oceanic transform fault, oceanic convergent boundary, subduction zone). Total length, mean velocity, and total rate of area production/destruction are computed for each class; the global rate of area production and destruction is 0.108 m 2 /s, which is higher than in previous models because of the incorporation of back‐arc spreading.

@article{doi1010292001gc000252,
    author = "Bird, Peter",
    title = "An updated digital model of plate boundaries",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems",
    abstract = "A global set of present plate boundaries on the Earth is presented in digital form. Most come from sources in the literature. A few boundaries are newly interpreted from topography, volcanism, and/or seismicity, taking into account relative plate velocities from magnetic anomalies, moment tensor solutions, and/or geodesy. In addition to the 14 large plates whose motion was described by the NUVEL‐1A poles (Africa, Antarctica, Arabia, Australia, Caribbean, Cocos, Eurasia, India, Juan de Fuca, Nazca, North America, Pacific, Philippine Sea, South America), model PB2002 includes 38 small plates (Okhotsk, Amur, Yangtze, Okinawa, Sunda, Burma, Molucca Sea, Banda Sea, Timor, Birds Head, Maoke, Caroline, Mariana, North Bismarck, Manus, South Bismarck, Solomon Sea, Woodlark, New Hebrides, Conway Reef, Balmoral Reef, Futuna, Niuafo'ou, Tonga, Kermadec, Rivera, Galapagos, Easter, Juan Fernandez, Panama, North Andes, Altiplano, Shetland, Scotia, Sandwich, Aegean Sea, Anatolia, Somalia), for a total of 52 plates. No attempt is made to divide the Alps‐Persia‐Tibet mountain belt, the Philippine Islands, the Peruvian Andes, the Sierras Pampeanas, or the California‐Nevada zone of dextral transtension into plates; instead, they are designated as “orogens” in which this plate model is not expected to be accurate. The cumulative‐number/area distribution for this model follows a power law for plates with areas between 0.002 and 1 steradian. Departure from this scaling at the small‐plate end suggests that future work is very likely to define more very small plates within the orogens. The model is presented in four digital files: a set of plate boundary segments; a set of plate outlines; a set of outlines of the orogens; and a table of characteristics of each digitization step along plate boundaries, including estimated relative velocity vector and classification into one of 7 types (continental convergence zone, continental transform fault, continental rift, oceanic spreading ridge, oceanic transform fault, oceanic convergent boundary, subduction zone). Total length, mean velocity, and total rate of area production/destruction are computed for each class; the global rate of area production and destruction is 0.108 m 2 /s, which is higher than in previous models because of the incorporation of back‐arc spreading.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/2001gc000252",
    doi = "10.1029/2001gc000252",
    openalex = "W1676343945",
    references = "doi1010291999jb900351, doi10102991gl01532, doi10102992jb00132, doi10102993gl00128, doi10102993jb00782, doi10102994gl02118, doi10102995jb00317, doi10102996jb03736, doi10102998tc02698, doi101029jb073i006p01959, doi101029jb077i023p04432, doi101029jb083ib11p05331, doi101029jb093ib12p15085, doi101029jb094ib06p07293, doi101111j1365246x1972tb02351x, doi101111j1365246x1990tb06579x"
}

Geodynamic controls on Late Pliocene–Holocene kinematics of the Hellenic forearc are assessed using the fan–deltaic basin fill of the Messaras forearc basin of south–central Crete. Previously unrecognized 070° sinistral faults developed in wrench-dominated transtension with strike-slip:normal-slip ratios of 10:1 to 100:1. Coeval folds developed in proximity to the 070° sinistral faults during deposition of the Galini Formation, making them candidates to have developed in transtension, and new chronostratigraphic and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data constrain the age of initial sinistral transtension and associated folding to c. 3.4 Ma. Sinistral fault activity continued through Late Holocene time based on the ages of displaced units with implications for seismic hazards in central Crete. The Messaras structural assemblages are symptomatic of the regional-scale Hellenic forearc with Plio-Pleistocene basins both offshore and onshore Crete controlled by sinistrally dominated 070° faults and secondary 020° extensional oversteps. Although the post-Miocene plate-convergence vectors became increasingly oblique, deformation in transtension, not transpression, has driven Hellenic forearc kinematics. Incipient collision with an African promontory blocked further outward expansion of the Aegean plate boundary along western Crete but induced forearc slivers to be displaced northeastward and sheared sinistrally off the free expanding edge of Aegea as the Cretan–Rhodes forearc was simultaneously stretched. Such a kinematic regime has probably operated since c. 3.4 Ma when the Messaras 070° wrench-dominated system became active and represents tectonic escape during incipient continental collision.

@article{tenveen2003incipient,
    author = "ten Veen, Johan H. and Kleinspehn, Karen L.",
    title = "Incipient continental collision and plate-boundary curvature: Late Pliocene–Holocene transtensional Hellenic forearc, Crete, Greece",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Journal of the Geological Society",
    abstract = "Geodynamic controls on Late Pliocene–Holocene kinematics of the Hellenic forearc are assessed using the fan–deltaic basin fill of the Messaras forearc basin of south–central Crete. Previously unrecognized 070° sinistral faults developed in wrench-dominated transtension with strike-slip:normal-slip ratios of 10:1 to 100:1. Coeval folds developed in proximity to the 070° sinistral faults during deposition of the Galini Formation, making them candidates to have developed in transtension, and new chronostratigraphic and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data constrain the age of initial sinistral transtension and associated folding to c. 3.4 Ma. Sinistral fault activity continued through Late Holocene time based on the ages of displaced units with implications for seismic hazards in central Crete. The Messaras structural assemblages are symptomatic of the regional-scale Hellenic forearc with Plio-Pleistocene basins both offshore and onshore Crete controlled by sinistrally dominated 070° faults and secondary 020° extensional oversteps. Although the post-Miocene plate-convergence vectors became increasingly oblique, deformation in transtension, not transpression, has driven Hellenic forearc kinematics. Incipient collision with an African promontory blocked further outward expansion of the Aegean plate boundary along western Crete but induced forearc slivers to be displaced northeastward and sheared sinistrally off the free expanding edge of Aegea as the Cretan–Rhodes forearc was simultaneously stretched. Such a kinematic regime has probably operated since c. 3.4 Ma when the Messaras 070° wrench-dominated system became active and represents tectonic escape during incipient continental collision.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764902-067",
    doi = "10.1144/0016-764902-067",
    number = "2",
    openalex = "W2148804897",
    pages = "161-181",
    volume = "160",
    references = "doi101016001670379290334f, doi1010160016703793904512, doi1010160040195179901318, doi101016019181419090093e, doi1010291999jb900351, doi10102996pa01125, doi101111j1365246x1991tb03906x, doi1011300016760619881001666ssf23co2, doi102110pec88010071, doi102110pec95040129"
}

3-D VP and VS models for the crust and upper mantle beneath the Taiwan area have been determined using selected high-resolution earthquake data from an island-wide seismic network and two local seismic arrays. Lateral structural variations in the upper crust, as also evident from surface geology, are responsible for the observed large traveltime residuals or station corrections. Prior shallow velocity information inferred from traveltime residuals and joint hypocentral determination (JHD) station corrections for the uppermost crust is essential to facilitate a reliable tomographic inversion. A finite-difference method, that is efficient and accurate for a highly heterogeneous velocity structure, is applied to calculate P- and S-wave traveltimes from the source to receiving stations. All earthquakes in the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau's catalogue are then relocated using the resultant 3-D VP and VS models. The depth of the Moho varies significantly, especially along the east—west direction. In the western Coastal Plain and Western Foothills the depth of the Moho is around 35 km, which deepens gradually eastward, reaches a maximum depth of ∼55 km beneath the eastern Central Mountain Range, shallows up rapidly beneath the Longitudinal Valley and Coastal Range, and merges with the thin Philippine Sea Plate offshore of eastern Taiwan. In central Taiwan, the Central Mountain Range is bounded to the east and west by two steeply westward dipping active faults from the upper crust to a depth of about 30 km. Therefore, the uplifted and thickened Central Mountain Range serves as a backstop for the converging Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. The crust beneath the Central Mountain Range is characterized by a brittle, high-velocity and seismically active upper crust (<15 km) and a ductile, low-velocity and aseismic mid-to-lower crust (below 15 km), most probably due to the high geothermal activity from the excess heat supplied from the hot upper mantle beneath the thin oceanic crust to the east, from the surrounding hotter upper mantle beneath the thickened continental crust, and from shear heating during active collision. The collision zone in eastern Taiwan is characterized by an active and steeply eastward dipping seismic zone along a region of low VP and high VP/VS ratio near the Taitung region in southeastern Taiwan. It transforms into an active westward steeply dipping seismic zone along a transition zone between the high VP and VS oceanic crust and the low VP and VS continental crust near Hualien region in central eastern Taiwan. There is no apparent seismicity within many sedimentary basins imaged from the tomographic inversion. However, a few basins are either bounded on one side by an active fault or are characterized by blind faults beneath. The geometry of the subduction zone in northeastern Taiwan can be clearly imaged from the relocated earthquake locations. Behind the subduction, a region of low VP and high VP/VS ratio at depths of 5 to 10 km can be identified beneath the Tatun-Chilung volcano group indicating a potential magma reservoir. Two steeply dipping linear seismic zones in the volcano region may mark the upward escape paths of the magmatic materials in the region.

@article{doi101111j1365246x200502657x,
    author = "Kim, Kwang‐Hee and Chiu, Jer‐Ming and Pujol, José and Chen, Kou-Cheng and Huang, Bor‐Shouh and Yeh, Yih‐Hsiung and Shen, Peng",
    title = "Three-dimensional V P and V S structural models associated with the active subduction and collision tectonics in the Taiwan region",
    year = "2005",
    journal = "Geophysical Journal International",
    abstract = "3-D VP and VS models for the crust and upper mantle beneath the Taiwan area have been determined using selected high-resolution earthquake data from an island-wide seismic network and two local seismic arrays. Lateral structural variations in the upper crust, as also evident from surface geology, are responsible for the observed large traveltime residuals or station corrections. Prior shallow velocity information inferred from traveltime residuals and joint hypocentral determination (JHD) station corrections for the uppermost crust is essential to facilitate a reliable tomographic inversion. A finite-difference method, that is efficient and accurate for a highly heterogeneous velocity structure, is applied to calculate P- and S-wave traveltimes from the source to receiving stations. All earthquakes in the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau's catalogue are then relocated using the resultant 3-D VP and VS models. The depth of the Moho varies significantly, especially along the east—west direction. In the western Coastal Plain and Western Foothills the depth of the Moho is around 35 km, which deepens gradually eastward, reaches a maximum depth of ∼55 km beneath the eastern Central Mountain Range, shallows up rapidly beneath the Longitudinal Valley and Coastal Range, and merges with the thin Philippine Sea Plate offshore of eastern Taiwan. In central Taiwan, the Central Mountain Range is bounded to the east and west by two steeply westward dipping active faults from the upper crust to a depth of about 30 km. Therefore, the uplifted and thickened Central Mountain Range serves as a backstop for the converging Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. The crust beneath the Central Mountain Range is characterized by a brittle, high-velocity and seismically active upper crust (<15 km) and a ductile, low-velocity and aseismic mid-to-lower crust (below 15 km), most probably due to the high geothermal activity from the excess heat supplied from the hot upper mantle beneath the thin oceanic crust to the east, from the surrounding hotter upper mantle beneath the thickened continental crust, and from shear heating during active collision. The collision zone in eastern Taiwan is characterized by an active and steeply eastward dipping seismic zone along a region of low VP and high VP/VS ratio near the Taitung region in southeastern Taiwan. It transforms into an active westward steeply dipping seismic zone along a transition zone between the high VP and VS oceanic crust and the low VP and VS continental crust near Hualien region in central eastern Taiwan. There is no apparent seismicity within many sedimentary basins imaged from the tomographic inversion. However, a few basins are either bounded on one side by an active fault or are characterized by blind faults beneath. The geometry of the subduction zone in northeastern Taiwan can be clearly imaged from the relocated earthquake locations. Behind the subduction, a region of low VP and high VP/VS ratio at depths of 5 to 10 km can be identified beneath the Tatun-Chilung volcano group indicating a potential magma reservoir. Two steeply dipping linear seismic zones in the volcano region may mark the upward escape paths of the magmatic materials in the region.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2005.02657.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1365-246x.2005.02657.x",
    openalex = "W2119231855",
    references = "doi101016004019519090191a"
}

The Longitudinal Valley fault is a key element in the active tectonics of Taiwan. It is the principal structure accommodating convergence across one of the two active sutures of the Taiwan orogeny. To understand more precisely its role in the suturing process, we analyzed fluvial terraces along the Hsiukuluan River, which cuts across the Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan in the fault's hanging wall block. This allowed us to determine both its subsurface geometry and its long‐term slip rate. The uplift pattern of the terraces is consistent with a fault‐bend fold model. Our analysis yields a listric geometry, with dips decreasing downdip from about 50° to about 30° in the shallowest 2.5 km. The Holocene rate of dip slip of the fault is about 22.7 mm/yr. This rate is less than the 40 mm/yr rate of shortening across the Longitudinal Valley derived from GPS measurements. The discrepancy may reflect an actual difference in millennial and decadal rates of convergence. An alternative explanation is that the discrepancy is accommodated by a combination of slip on the Central Range fault and subsidence of the Longitudinal Valley floor. The shallow, listric geometry of the Longitudinal Valley fault at the Hsiukuluan River valley differs markedly from the deep listric geometry illuminated by earthquake hypocenters near Chihshang, 45 km to the south. We hypothesize that this fundamental along‐strike difference in geometry of the fault is a manifestation of the northward maturation of the suturing of the Luzon volcanic arc to the Central Range continental sliver.

@article{doi1010292005jb003971,
    author = "Shyu, J. Bruce H. and Sieh, K. and Avouac, Jean‐Philippe and Chen, Wen‐Shan and Chen, Yue‐Gau",
    title = "Millennial slip rate of the Longitudinal Valley fault from river terraces: Implications for convergence across the active suture of eastern Taiwan",
    year = "2006",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "The Longitudinal Valley fault is a key element in the active tectonics of Taiwan. It is the principal structure accommodating convergence across one of the two active sutures of the Taiwan orogeny. To understand more precisely its role in the suturing process, we analyzed fluvial terraces along the Hsiukuluan River, which cuts across the Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan in the fault's hanging wall block. This allowed us to determine both its subsurface geometry and its long‐term slip rate. The uplift pattern of the terraces is consistent with a fault‐bend fold model. Our analysis yields a listric geometry, with dips decreasing downdip from about 50° to about 30° in the shallowest 2.5 km. The Holocene rate of dip slip of the fault is about 22.7 mm/yr. This rate is less than the 40 mm/yr rate of shortening across the Longitudinal Valley derived from GPS measurements. The discrepancy may reflect an actual difference in millennial and decadal rates of convergence. An alternative explanation is that the discrepancy is accommodated by a combination of slip on the Central Range fault and subsidence of the Longitudinal Valley floor. The shallow, listric geometry of the Longitudinal Valley fault at the Hsiukuluan River valley differs markedly from the deep listric geometry illuminated by earthquake hypocenters near Chihshang, 45 km to the south. We hypothesize that this fundamental along‐strike difference in geometry of the fault is a manifestation of the northward maturation of the suturing of the Luzon volcanic arc to the Central Range continental sliver.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jb003971",
    doi = "10.1029/2005jb003971",
    openalex = "W2034203819",
    references = "doi101016004019519090191a"
}

A unique GPS velocity field that spans the entire Southeast Asia region is presented. It is based on 10 years (1994–2004) of GPS data at more than 100 sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The majority of the horizontal velocity vectors have a demonstrated global accuracy of ∼1 mm/yr (at 95% confidence level). The results have been used to (better) characterize the Sundaland block boundaries and to derive a new geokinematic model for the region. The rotation pole of the undeformed core of the Sundaland block is located at 49.0°N–94.2°E, with a clockwise rotation rate of 0.34°/Myr. With respect to both geodetically and geophysically defined Eurasia plate models, Sundaland moves eastward at a velocity of 6 ± 1 to 10 ± 1 mm/yr from south to north, respectively. Contrary to previous studies, Sundaland is shown to move independently with respect to South China, the eastern part of Java, the island of Sulawesi, and the northern tip of Borneo. The Red River fault in South China and Vietnam is still active and accommodates a strike‐slip motion of ∼2 mm/yr. Although Sundaland internal deformation is general very small (less than 7 nanostrain/yr), important accumulation of elastic deformation occurs along its boundaries with fast‐moving neighboring plates. In particular in northern Sumatra and Malaysia, inland‐pointing trench‐perpendicular residual velocities were detected prior to the megathrust earthquake of 26 December 2004. Earlier studies in Sumatra already showed this but underestimated the extent of the deformation zone, which reaches more than 600 km away from the trench. This study shows that only a regional Southeast Asia network spanning thousands of kilometers can provide a reference frame solid enough to analyze intraplate and interplate deformation in detail.

@article{doi1010292005jb003868,
    author = "Simons, Wim and Socquet, Anne and Vigny, C. and Ambrosius, B. A. C. and Abu, S. Haji and Promthong, Chaiwat and Subarya, C. and Sarsito, Dina A. and Matheussen, S. and Morgan, Peter and Spakman, Wim",
    title = "A decade of GPS in Southeast Asia: Resolving Sundaland motion and boundaries",
    year = "2007",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "A unique GPS velocity field that spans the entire Southeast Asia region is presented. It is based on 10 years (1994–2004) of GPS data at more than 100 sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The majority of the horizontal velocity vectors have a demonstrated global accuracy of ∼1 mm/yr (at 95\% confidence level). The results have been used to (better) characterize the Sundaland block boundaries and to derive a new geokinematic model for the region. The rotation pole of the undeformed core of the Sundaland block is located at 49.0°N–94.2°E, with a clockwise rotation rate of 0.34°/Myr. With respect to both geodetically and geophysically defined Eurasia plate models, Sundaland moves eastward at a velocity of 6 ± 1 to 10 ± 1 mm/yr from south to north, respectively. Contrary to previous studies, Sundaland is shown to move independently with respect to South China, the eastern part of Java, the island of Sulawesi, and the northern tip of Borneo. The Red River fault in South China and Vietnam is still active and accommodates a strike‐slip motion of ∼2 mm/yr. Although Sundaland internal deformation is general very small (less than 7 nanostrain/yr), important accumulation of elastic deformation occurs along its boundaries with fast‐moving neighboring plates. In particular in northern Sumatra and Malaysia, inland‐pointing trench‐perpendicular residual velocities were detected prior to the megathrust earthquake of 26 December 2004. Earlier studies in Sumatra already showed this but underestimated the extent of the deformation zone, which reaches more than 600 km away from the trench. This study shows that only a regional Southeast Asia network spanning thousands of kilometers can provide a reference frame solid enough to analyze intraplate and interplate deformation in detail.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jb003868",
    doi = "10.1029/2005jb003868",
    openalex = "W2032173908",
    references = "doi1010292003jb002944, doi101046j1365246x200301917x, simons1999observing"
}

We present global positioning system (GPS) measurements for the period 1995–2005 at 125 campaign‐surveyed sites in northern Taiwan. Based on elastic, rotating block modeling analyses derived from the GPS data, we describe the transitional tectonics from arc–continent (Luzon–Chinese) collision to the converging Ryukyu trench subduction and back‐arc opening along the Chinese continental margin. Station velocities relative to station S01R, in the Chinese stable continental margin, were estimated from coordinate time series of each station by using the weighted least squares technique. We found two distinct deformation patterns in two geological areas, which are basically separated by the surface projection of the NW‐trending boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate across northern Taiwan: (1) a waning collision area to the west and (2) a transition zone to the east. In the waning collision area, the horizontal velocity field shows vectors of 0.3–7.3 mm/yr toward the NW in the foothills and the Hsuehshan Range of northwestern Taiwan. The tectonic blocks represent a significant NW–SE internal contraction along with a small block rotation rate (<3.0°/Myr). The transition zone can be further divided into an outer range and inner range with distinguishing rotation rates and deformation behaviors. In the outer range of the transition zone, velocities of 1.0–7.8 mm/yr from south to north rotating from 008° to 143° is found in the northernmost foothills and the Hsuehshan Range. The tectonic blocks within the outer range are characterized by a coherent rotation (low internal strain rate of <0.10 μ strain/yr) with an angular velocity of ∼5.1°/Myr, where the Euler pole is located near its southeastern boundary. In the inner range of transition zone, a larger clockwise rotation from west to east, with horizontal velocities of 9.3–41.2 mm/yr from 053° to 146°, are found in the northernmost Central Range. The tectonic blocks of the inner range reveal a remarkable NW–SE internal extension with an ultrarapid clockwise rotation (∼47.3°/Myr) where the Euler pole is near the southern boundary of the range close to the collision corner with the colliding Luzon arc. The trench roll‐back together with back‐arc opening are interpreted to be substantially superposed on the arc–continent collision‐induced rotation in the transition zone with particular regard to the inner range of the northeast Taiwan mountain belt.

@article{doi1010292007jb005414,
    author = "Rau, Ruey‐Juin and Ching, Kuo‐En and Hu, Jyr‐Ching and Lee, Jian‐Cheng",
    title = "Crustal deformation and block kinematics in transition from collision to subduction: Global positioning system measurements in northern Taiwan, 1995–2005",
    year = "2008",
    journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres",
    abstract = "We present global positioning system (GPS) measurements for the period 1995–2005 at 125 campaign‐surveyed sites in northern Taiwan. Based on elastic, rotating block modeling analyses derived from the GPS data, we describe the transitional tectonics from arc–continent (Luzon–Chinese) collision to the converging Ryukyu trench subduction and back‐arc opening along the Chinese continental margin. Station velocities relative to station S01R, in the Chinese stable continental margin, were estimated from coordinate time series of each station by using the weighted least squares technique. We found two distinct deformation patterns in two geological areas, which are basically separated by the surface projection of the NW‐trending boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate across northern Taiwan: (1) a waning collision area to the west and (2) a transition zone to the east. In the waning collision area, the horizontal velocity field shows vectors of 0.3–7.3 mm/yr toward the NW in the foothills and the Hsuehshan Range of northwestern Taiwan. The tectonic blocks represent a significant NW–SE internal contraction along with a small block rotation rate (<3.0°/Myr). The transition zone can be further divided into an outer range and inner range with distinguishing rotation rates and deformation behaviors. In the outer range of the transition zone, velocities of 1.0–7.8 mm/yr from south to north rotating from 008° to 143° is found in the northernmost foothills and the Hsuehshan Range. The tectonic blocks within the outer range are characterized by a coherent rotation (low internal strain rate of <0.10 μ strain/yr) with an angular velocity of ∼5.1°/Myr, where the Euler pole is located near its southeastern boundary. In the inner range of transition zone, a larger clockwise rotation from west to east, with horizontal velocities of 9.3–41.2 mm/yr from 053° to 146°, are found in the northernmost Central Range. The tectonic blocks of the inner range reveal a remarkable NW–SE internal extension with an ultrarapid clockwise rotation (∼47.3°/Myr) where the Euler pole is near the southern boundary of the range close to the collision corner with the colliding Luzon arc. The trench roll‐back together with back‐arc opening are interpreted to be substantially superposed on the arc–continent collision‐induced rotation in the transition zone with particular regard to the inner range of the northeast Taiwan mountain belt.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/2007jb005414",
    doi = "10.1029/2007jb005414",
    openalex = "W2021801577",
    references = "doi1011300813723582147"
}

@article{nugroho2009plate,
    author = "Nugroho, Hendro and Harris, Ron and Lestariya, Amin W. and Maruf, Bilal",
    title = "Plate boundary reorganization in the active Banda Arc–continent collision: Insights from new GPS measurements",
    year = "2009",
    journal = "Tectonophysics",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.01.026",
    doi = "10.1016/j.tecto.2009.01.026",
    number = "1-2",
    openalex = "W2024604632",
    pages = "52-65",
    volume = "479",
    references = "doi1010291999jb900362, doi1010292000jb900150, doi1010292001jb000324, doi1010292001jb000561, doi1010292005jb003868, doi1010292005jb003963, doi10102994gl02118, doi101029jb088ib09p07429, doi101029jb093ib12p15163, doi10130694886ca9170411d78645000102c1865d"
}

Abstract We present a new global model of plate motions and strain rates in plate boundary zones constrained by horizontal geodetic velocities. This Global Strain Rate Model (GSRM v.2.1) is a vast improvement over its predecessor both in terms of amount of data input as in an increase in spatial model resolution by factor of ∼2.5 in areas with dense data coverage. We determined 6739 velocities from time series of (mostly) continuous GPS measurements; i.e., by far the largest global velocity solution to date. We transformed 15,772 velocities from 233 (mostly) published studies onto our core solution to obtain 22,511 velocities in the same reference frame. Care is taken to not use velocities from stations (or time periods) that are affected by transient phenomena; i.e., this data set consists of velocities best representing the interseismic plate velocity. About 14% of the Earth is allowed to deform in 145,086 deforming grid cells (0.25° longitude by 0.2° latitude in dimension). The remainder of the Earth's surface is modeled as rigid spherical caps representing 50 tectonic plates. For 36 plates we present new GPS‐derived angular velocities. For all the plates that can be compared with the most recent geologic plate motion model, we find that the difference in angular velocity is significant. The rigid‐body rotations are used as boundary conditions in the strain rate calculations. The strain rate field is modeled using the Haines and Holt method, which uses splines to obtain an self‐consistent interpolated velocity gradient tensor field, from which strain rates, vorticity rates, and expected velocities are derived. We also present expected faulting orientations in areas with significant vorticity, and update the no‐net rotation reference frame associated with our global velocity gradient field. Finally, we present a global map of recurrence times for M w =7.5 characteristic earthquakes.

@article{doi1010022014gc005407,
    author = "Kreemer, Corné and Blewitt, Geoffrey and Klein, Elliot C.",
    title = "A geodetic plate motion and Global Strain Rate Model",
    year = "2014",
    journal = "Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems",
    abstract = "Abstract We present a new global model of plate motions and strain rates in plate boundary zones constrained by horizontal geodetic velocities. This Global Strain Rate Model (GSRM v.2.1) is a vast improvement over its predecessor both in terms of amount of data input as in an increase in spatial model resolution by factor of ∼2.5 in areas with dense data coverage. We determined 6739 velocities from time series of (mostly) continuous GPS measurements; i.e., by far the largest global velocity solution to date. We transformed 15,772 velocities from 233 (mostly) published studies onto our core solution to obtain 22,511 velocities in the same reference frame. Care is taken to not use velocities from stations (or time periods) that are affected by transient phenomena; i.e., this data set consists of velocities best representing the interseismic plate velocity. About 14\% of the Earth is allowed to deform in 145,086 deforming grid cells (0.25° longitude by 0.2° latitude in dimension). The remainder of the Earth's surface is modeled as rigid spherical caps representing 50 tectonic plates. For 36 plates we present new GPS‐derived angular velocities. For all the plates that can be compared with the most recent geologic plate motion model, we find that the difference in angular velocity is significant. The rigid‐body rotations are used as boundary conditions in the strain rate calculations. The strain rate field is modeled using the Haines and Holt method, which uses splines to obtain an self‐consistent interpolated velocity gradient tensor field, from which strain rates, vorticity rates, and expected velocities are derived. We also present expected faulting orientations in areas with significant vorticity, and update the no‐net rotation reference frame associated with our global velocity gradient field. Finally, we present a global map of recurrence times for M w =7.5 characteristic earthquakes.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/2014gc005407",
    doi = "10.1002/2014gc005407",
    openalex = "W2097951601",
    references = "doi101007s0019000600303, doi1010291999jb900351, doi1010292000jb000033, doi1010292001gc000252, doi1010292003jb002944, doi1010292005gl025546, doi1010292005jb004051, doi1010292011jb008930, doi10102991gl01532, doi10102992jb01963, doi101038226239a0, doi101046j1365246x200301917x, doi101111j1365246x200904491x, nugroho2009plate"
}

We present a revised global plate motion model with continuously closing plate boundaries ranging from the Triassic at 230 Ma to the present day, assess differences among alternative absolute plate motion models, and review global tectonic events. Relatively high mean absolute plate motion rates of approximately 9–10 cm yr −1 between 140 and 120 Ma may be related to transient plate motion accelerations driven by the successive emplacement of a sequence of large igneous provinces during that time. An event at ∼100 Ma is most clearly expressed in the Indian Ocean and may reflect the initiation of Andean-style subduction along southern continental Eurasia, whereas an acceleration at ∼80 Ma of mean rates from 6 to 8 cm yr −1 reflects the initial northward acceleration of India and simultaneous speedups of plates in the Pacific. An event at ∼50 Ma expressed in relative, and some absolute, plate motion changes around the globe and in a reduction of global mean plate speeds from about 6 to 4–5 cm yr −1 indicates that an increase in collisional forces (such as the India–Eurasia collision) and ridge subduction events in the Pacific (such as the Izanagi–Pacific Ridge) play a significant role in modulating plate velocities.

@article{doi101146annurevearth060115012211,
    author = "Müller, R. Dietmar and Seton, Maria and Zahirovic, Sabin and Williams, Simon and Matthews, Kara J. and Wright, Nicky M. and Shephard, Grace E. and Maloney, Kayla and Barnett‐Moore, Nicholas and Hosseinpour, Maral and Bower, Dan J. and Cannon, John",
    title = "Ocean Basin Evolution and Global-Scale Plate Reorganization Events Since Pangea Breakup",
    year = "2016",
    journal = "Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences",
    abstract = "We present a revised global plate motion model with continuously closing plate boundaries ranging from the Triassic at 230 Ma to the present day, assess differences among alternative absolute plate motion models, and review global tectonic events. Relatively high mean absolute plate motion rates of approximately 9–10 cm yr −1 between 140 and 120 Ma may be related to transient plate motion accelerations driven by the successive emplacement of a sequence of large igneous provinces during that time. An event at ∼100 Ma is most clearly expressed in the Indian Ocean and may reflect the initiation of Andean-style subduction along southern continental Eurasia, whereas an acceleration at ∼80 Ma of mean rates from 6 to 8 cm yr −1 reflects the initial northward acceleration of India and simultaneous speedups of plates in the Pacific. An event at ∼50 Ma expressed in relative, and some absolute, plate motion changes around the globe and in a reduction of global mean plate speeds from about 6 to 4–5 cm yr −1 indicates that an increase in collisional forces (such as the India–Eurasia collision) and ridge subduction events in the Pacific (such as the Izanagi–Pacific Ridge) play a significant role in modulating plate velocities.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012211",
    doi = "10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012211",
    openalex = "W2178317302",
    references = "doi101016jearscirev201203002, doi101016jearscirev201206007, doi101016jgloplacha201610002, doi1010292001gc000252, doi1010292007rg000227, doi10102994jb03098, doi10102996jb01781, doi101126science1151540, doi101126science1258213, openalexw2883478268"
}

Abstract Preserved sets of marine terraces and palaeoshorelines above subduction zones provide an opportunity to explore the long‐term deformation that occurs as a result of upper‐plate extension. We investigate uplifted palaeoshorelines along the South Central Crete Fault and over its western tip, located above the Hellenic Subduction Zone, in order to derive uplift rates and examine the role that known extensional faults contribute to observed coastal uplift. We have mapped palaeoshorelines and successfully dated four Late‐Quaternary wave‐cut platforms using in situ 36 Cl exposure dating. These absolute ages are used to guide a correlation of palaeoshorelines with Quaternary sea level highstands from 76.5 to ~900 ka; the results of which suggest that uplift rates vary along fault strikes but have been constant for up to 600 ka in places. Correlation of palaeoshorelines across the South Central Crete Fault results in a throw‐rate of 0.41 mm/year and, assuming repetition of 1.1‐m slip events, a fault‐specific earthquake recurrence interval of approximately 2,700 years. Elastic‐half‐space modeling implies that coastal uplift is related to offshore upper‐plate extensional faults. These faults may be responsible for perturbing the uplift rate signals in the south central Crete area. Our findings suggest that where uplifted marine terraces are used to make inferences about the mechanisms responsible for uplift throughout the Hellenic Subduction Zone, and other subduction zones worldwide, the impact of upper‐plate extensional faults over multiple seismic cycles should also be considered.

@article{doi1010292018tc005410,
    author = "Robertson, Jennifer and Meschis, Marco and Roberts, Gerald and Ganas, Athanassios and Gheorghiu, Delia M.",
    title = "Temporally Constant Quaternary Uplift Rates and Their Relationship With Extensional Upper‐Plate Faults in South Crete (Greece), Constrained With 36 Cl Cosmogenic Exposure Dating",
    year = "2019",
    journal = "Tectonics",
    abstract = "Abstract Preserved sets of marine terraces and palaeoshorelines above subduction zones provide an opportunity to explore the long‐term deformation that occurs as a result of upper‐plate extension. We investigate uplifted palaeoshorelines along the South Central Crete Fault and over its western tip, located above the Hellenic Subduction Zone, in order to derive uplift rates and examine the role that known extensional faults contribute to observed coastal uplift. We have mapped palaeoshorelines and successfully dated four Late‐Quaternary wave‐cut platforms using in situ 36 Cl exposure dating. These absolute ages are used to guide a correlation of palaeoshorelines with Quaternary sea level highstands from 76.5 to \textasciitilde 900 ka; the results of which suggest that uplift rates vary along fault strikes but have been constant for up to 600 ka in places. Correlation of palaeoshorelines across the South Central Crete Fault results in a throw‐rate of 0.41 mm/year and, assuming repetition of 1.1‐m slip events, a fault‐specific earthquake recurrence interval of approximately 2,700 years. Elastic‐half‐space modeling implies that coastal uplift is related to offshore upper‐plate extensional faults. These faults may be responsible for perturbing the uplift rate signals in the south central Crete area. Our findings suggest that where uplifted marine terraces are used to make inferences about the mechanisms responsible for uplift throughout the Hellenic Subduction Zone, and other subduction zones worldwide, the impact of upper‐plate extensional faults over multiple seismic cycles should also be considered.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/2018tc005410",
    doi = "10.1029/2018tc005410",
    openalex = "W2921542579",
    references = "tenveen2003incipient"
}

@article{chen2020helium,
    author = "Chen, Ai-Ti and Sano, Yuji and Byrne, Timothy B. and Takahata, Naoto and Yang, Tsanyao Frank and Wang, Yunshuen and Shen, Chuan-Chou",
    title = "Helium Isotopic Signature of a Plate Boundary Suture in an Active Arc–Continent Collision",
    year = "2020",
    journal = "ACS Earth and Space Chemistry",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00038",
    doi = "10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00038",
    number = "8",
    openalex = "W3042795513",
    pages = "1237-1246",
    volume = "4",
    references = "doi1010160040195177900294, doi1010160040195186900041, doi101016jepsl201402026, doi101016jtecto200811016, doi101016s0016703702008505, doi101021je60049a019, doi101038ngeo2730, doi101126science27853411278, doi101130b255271, doi102343geochemj36191"
}

The plasma boundary layer is analyzed for a plasma in contact with a conducting plain surface where the ion temperature is comparable with the electron temperature and the plasma pressure is sufficiently high. The variations of electrical potential from the plasma-presheath boundary to the wall is studied using the fluidal formalism of plasma in three approaches; plasma and sheath asymptotic solutions and full solution. In the full solution approach, fluidal equations lead to a singularity when the ion velocity reaches the ion thermal speed. It is shown that removing the singularity causes a well-defined eigenvalue problem and leads to smooth solutions for the model equations. Some of the applicable aspects such as the floating velocity and density of ions, the floating electrical potential and an estimation of the floating thickness of the boundary layer are obtained. The dependency of these quantities on the ionization degree, the ion temperature and ion-neutral collision is examined too.

@article{khoram2021effect,
    author = "Khoram, Mansour and Masoudi, S. Farhad",
    title = "Effect of constant collision mean free time on the boundary layer of the active collisional warm plasma",
    year = "2021",
    journal = "Scientific Reports",
    abstract = "The plasma boundary layer is analyzed for a plasma in contact with a conducting plain surface where the ion temperature is comparable with the electron temperature and the plasma pressure is sufficiently high. The variations of electrical potential from the plasma-presheath boundary to the wall is studied using the fluidal formalism of plasma in three approaches; plasma and sheath asymptotic solutions and full solution. In the full solution approach, fluidal equations lead to a singularity when the ion velocity reaches the ion thermal speed. It is shown that removing the singularity causes a well-defined eigenvalue problem and leads to smooth solutions for the model equations. Some of the applicable aspects such as the floating velocity and density of ions, the floating electrical potential and an estimation of the floating thickness of the boundary layer are obtained. The dependency of these quantities on the ionization degree, the ion temperature and ion-neutral collision is examined too.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97750-1",
    doi = "10.1038/s41598-021-97750-1",
    number = "1",
    openalex = "W3199038972",
    volume = "11",
    references = "doi1010020471724254, doi101016jsurfcoat200508018, doi1010631872536, doi101103physrev34876, doi1012019780367801489, doi1012019780367802615, doi1012019781420034127, doi1018870750305592, openalexw1676109228, openalexw3209837422"
}

Abstract This study examines the geochemical characteristics of soil gas emissions along the Chihshang Fault (CSF) in eastern Taiwan, with a focus on carbon dioxide (CO 2) flux, soil gas isotopes, and gas composition. Situated within the tectonically active boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, the CSF forms part of the Longitudinal Valley Fault system and is characterized by complex fault structures and high seismic activity. Previous research suggested a potential for mantle-derived gas emissions in this area, motivating this comprehensive study aimed at quantifying CO 2 flux, identifying gas sources, and evaluating the role of the fault in facilitating gas migration. Soil gas surveys were conducted over a 3 km 2 area, employing CO 2 flux measurements, radon analysis, helium isotopes, and carbon isotope analyses to discern gas sources. The detection of high CO 2 fluxes along the fault and its branches suggests that the CSF plays a significant role in promoting the upward migration of crustal gases. The study categorizes soil gas emissions into deep-sourced and shallow-sourced groups: deep-sourced gases are characterized by high CO 2 flux, crustal helium isotope ratios, and elevated radon levels, indicative of an origin within the deep crust. In contrast, shallow-sourced gases exhibit lower CO 2 flux and isotopic signatures consistent with biogenic sources, likely influenced by the lithology of the Lichi mélange. Findings indicate that CO 2 emissions from the CSF reach approximately 78 tons/day, with an estimated annual emission of 0.028 Mt. When extrapolated to encompass all active faults in Taiwan, these emissions constitute a relatively small fraction of the country’s total CO 2 output. The results highlight the role of the CSF and its western subsidiary faults as conduits for crustal gas migration, with limited mantle contributions. Under ongoing compressive tectonic stress, the CSF may continue to generate new subsidiary faults near the surface. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into gas emission patterns along active faults, enhancing the understanding of fault-related degassing in tectonically active regions.

@article{doi101186s40562025003955,
    author = "Fu, Ching‐Chou and Mu, Chung‐Hsiang and Kuo‐Chen, Hao and Wang, Pei‐Ling and Lin, Li‐Hung and Walia, Vivek and Chen, Kuo-Hang and Wu, Kuowei",
    title = "Geochemical characteristics and origins of CO2 emissions within the tectonic collision boundary of the Chihshang fault, eastern Taiwan",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Geoscience Letters",
    abstract = "Abstract This study examines the geochemical characteristics of soil gas emissions along the Chihshang Fault (CSF) in eastern Taiwan, with a focus on carbon dioxide (CO 2) flux, soil gas isotopes, and gas composition. Situated within the tectonically active boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, the CSF forms part of the Longitudinal Valley Fault system and is characterized by complex fault structures and high seismic activity. Previous research suggested a potential for mantle-derived gas emissions in this area, motivating this comprehensive study aimed at quantifying CO 2 flux, identifying gas sources, and evaluating the role of the fault in facilitating gas migration. Soil gas surveys were conducted over a 3 km 2 area, employing CO 2 flux measurements, radon analysis, helium isotopes, and carbon isotope analyses to discern gas sources. The detection of high CO 2 fluxes along the fault and its branches suggests that the CSF plays a significant role in promoting the upward migration of crustal gases. The study categorizes soil gas emissions into deep-sourced and shallow-sourced groups: deep-sourced gases are characterized by high CO 2 flux, crustal helium isotope ratios, and elevated radon levels, indicative of an origin within the deep crust. In contrast, shallow-sourced gases exhibit lower CO 2 flux and isotopic signatures consistent with biogenic sources, likely influenced by the lithology of the Lichi mélange. Findings indicate that CO 2 emissions from the CSF reach approximately 78 tons/day, with an estimated annual emission of 0.028 Mt. When extrapolated to encompass all active faults in Taiwan, these emissions constitute a relatively small fraction of the country’s total CO 2 output. The results highlight the role of the CSF and its western subsidiary faults as conduits for crustal gas migration, with limited mantle contributions. Under ongoing compressive tectonic stress, the CSF may continue to generate new subsidiary faults near the surface. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into gas emission patterns along active faults, enhancing the understanding of fault-related degassing in tectonically active regions.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-025-00395-5",
    doi = "10.1186/s40562-025-00395-5",
    openalex = "W4410304435",
    references = "chen2020helium"
}