Intra-Plate Deformation of the Pacific: Evidence from Oceanic Plateaux and Geodynamic Models
Bibliographic record
Abstract
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 have shown that intra-plate deformation is a feature for continental lithosphere and can originate from different mechanisms such as lithospheric drips, delamination, and in-plane stresses. On the other hand, there is not well-known understanding of tectonic deformation within the interior of ocean plates. We compile data to show there is geological and geophysical evidence documenting that the drifting Pacific plate has been undergoing appreciable extensional deformation at the locations of its oceanic plateaux. Namely, the Ontong Java, Shatsky Rise, Hess Rise, and Manihiki plateaux show extensive evidence for normal faults, horst-graben structures, and extension related magmatic activity at a significant distance from plate boundaries. Furthermore, this deformation occurred after the initial emplacement of their associated large igneous provinces (LIPs) and before their arrival to subduction zones.We present numerical geodynamic experiment results demonstrating that terranes embedded in ocean plates can undergo extensional deformation prior their accretion to the overriding plate due to slab-pull (e.g., a “subduction pulley”). Our numerical models show that the subduction pulley is also a valid mechanism for the extensional deformation of the Pacific oceanic plateaux even at remote locations from the plate boundaries. For instance, tensional stress originated from down-going slabs can be transmitted through strong oceanic lithosphere over long distances (>1000 km) and deform the plate at its weak oceanic plateaux regions. The numerical experiments further demonstrate that high crustal thickness reduces the bulk strength of ocean lithosphere at the location of oceanic plateaux and makes them susceptible to slab-pull related extension—manifesting on the surface as intra-ocean plate deformation.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".