Geodynamic model of the evolution of the Pacific Ocean

The present Pacific Ocean differs significantly in its structure and evolution from the expanding Atlantic Ocean. The Pacific is asymmetric. Its mid-ocean ridge is located not along its median line but is closer to South America and adjoins North America. The Pacific is surrounded by a ring of subduction zones but has marginal seas only at its Eurasian margins. After the breakup of Pangea, the Atlantic began to open and the Pacific began to close. This paper examines the evolution of the Pacific Ocean and, in particular, the formation mechanisms of its present structures. Numerical modeling of the long-term drift of a large continent is performed, with the initial position of the continent corresponding to the state after the breakup of the supercontinent. At first the continent, driven by the nearest descending mantle flow, begins to approach a subduction zone. Since the mantle flows beneath a large continent have different directions, its velocity is a few times lower than that of the mantle flows near the subduction zone. As a result, a zone of extension arises at the active continental margin and a fragment is broken off from the continent; this fragment rapidly moves away and stops above the descending mantle flow as in a trap. A marginal sea forms at the active continental margin. The continent continues its slow movement toward the subduction zone. The oceanic lithosphere, which earlier sank vertically, begins to descend obliquely. This evolutionary stage corresponds to the present position of Eurasia. The modeling shows how the interaction of the continent with the mantle causes the subduction zone to roll back toward the ocean. Subsequently, the continent nevertheless catches up with the subduction zone, and they move together for a while. The marginal sea then closes and high compressive stresses arise at the active continental margin. This state corresponds to the present position of South America. During the subsequent drift, the continent together with the subduction zone reaches the mid-ocean ridge and partially overrides it. This state corresponds to North America, which was the first to break off from Pangea and passed through the stages of both Eurasia and South America. The large and slowly moving Eurasia, which formed only at the time of Pangea, is still in the first evolutionary stage of the Pacific Ocean closure.